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Books for Keeps 214 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 214 - September 2015
BfK 214 September 2014

This issue’s cover illustration is from One by Sarah Crossan. Thanks to Bloomsbury Children’s Books for their help with this September cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 214 September 2015 .

BfK No. 214 Articles

Editorial 214

Comment from the editor.
Where Have all the Stories Gone?

asks Prue Goodwin
Ten of the Best: Books to Introduce Children to Philosophy

John Newman chooses books to initiate philosophical discussion
Windows into Illustration: Kristjana S Williams

Kristjana S Williams on The Wonder Garden and working with old Victorian engravings
Heartsong: the creation of a story book duet

Jane Ray, Kevin Crossley-Holland and Antonio Vivaldi in harmony
Authorgraph 214: Sarah Crossan

The author of One and Apple and Rain interviewed by Clive Barnes.
Michael Foreman: Painting with Rainbows

Michael Foreman talks to Nick Tucker about his Seven Stories exhibition.
Reading Pictures: An Introduction to Visual Literacy

Part one in a new mini-series by Piet Grobler.
Good Reads 214

Good Reads chosen by the Chatterbooks group at Explore Acomb Library
I Wish I'd Written: Angie Sage

The author of the Septimus Heap and PathFinder series chooses.
Comics Across the Curriculum

Hannah Sackett on putting comics to work in the classroom.
Author and editor in conversation

David Fickling talks to Jenny Downham about her new novel Unbecoming
Two Children Tell: Nick and the Crazy Cowboy

by Virginia Lowe
Dorothy Butler Obituary

Dorothy Butler remembered.
Classics in Short No.113: Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song-Book

Little Tommy Thumb with his Pipe and his Drum
AN INTERVIEW WITH KATHERINE RUNDELL

Katherine Rundell talks wolves and wildernesses with Imogen Russell Williams.
AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNABEL PITCHER

Annabel Pitcher interviewed by Philip Womack
MEETING MAC BARNETT: AN INTERVIEW

The award-winning US author interviewed by Ferelith Hordon.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH NICK SHARRATT ON HIS BOOK VIKINGS IN THE SUPERMARKET

Nick Sharratt answers questions on his new book
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH RHIAN IVORY ABOUT HER BOOK THE BOY WHO DREW THE FUTURE

The author discusses her haunting new novel.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH HORATIO CLARE ABOUT HIS BOOK THE TERRIBLE YOOT

Horatio Clare answers questions about his first book for children, Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot.
AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR: AN INTERVIEW WITH BERNARDO ATXAGA AND MARGARET JULL COSTA

Daniel Hahn talks to the award-winning author and translator.

Editor's Choice

The White Book
Silvia Borando
(Walker Books)
5

The little boy is all alone. He stands holding a paint roller surrounded by white; the reader will remember though, that we have just passed a pot of pink paint. So the quest begins, going through the colours to find someone who will stay to play...

read more

New Talent

Longbow Girl
Linda Davies
(Chicken House Ltd)
4

Merry loves her home, Nanteos Farm, in the middle of Wales. It has been in her family for centuries and she is steeped in its history and traditions. Above all there is the tradition that the Owens of Nanteos would always provide an archer...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 214

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14
  • Ages 14+

Under 5s

  • The White Book
    Silvia Borando
    5

  • Lovely Old Lion
    Julia Jarman
    Susan Varley
    5

  • Give and Take
    Lucy Felix
    5

  • I’m a Girl!
    Yasmeen Ismail
    5

  • This Orq (he cave boy)
    David Elliott
    4

  • Let’s Go Outside
    Katja Spitzer
    4

  • My Stinky New School
    Rebecca Elliott
    4

  • My Alien and Me
    Smriti Prasadam-Halls
    4

  • Crunch!
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Mango & Bambang: The Not a Pig
    Polly Faber
    5

  • I Don’t Like Snakes
    Nicola Davies
    5

  • Whatever Happened to My Sister?
    Simona Ciraolo
    5

  • Are You the Pirate Captain?
    Gareth P Jones
    5

  • I Wish I Had a Pirate Hat
    Roger Stevens
    4

  • Katie McGinty Wants a Pet!
    Jenna Harrington
    4

  • How the Library (Not the Prince) Saved Rapunzel
    Wendy Meddour
    4

  • A Big Day for Migs!
    Jo Hodgkinson
    4

  • The Only Pupil in the School
    Liu Hsukung
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Flo of the Somme
    Hilary Robinson
    5

  • Cities Unfolded: London Through Time
    Angela McAllister
    4

  • Catsup High Detective Agency
    Margaret Ryan
    4

  • Notebooks of a Middle-School Princess
    Meg Cabot
    4

  • Meet at the Ark at Eight
    Ulrich Hub
    4

  • Poppy Pym and the Pharaoh’s Curse
    Laura Wood
    4

  • Aubrey and the Terrible Yoot
    Horatio Clare
    4

  • Future Ratboy and the Attack of the Killer Grannies
    Jim Smith
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Only We Know
    Simon Packham
    5

  • Wild Song
    Janis Mackay
    5

  • Fuzzy Mud
    Louis Sachar
    5

  • One
    Sarah Crossan
    5

  • Katy
    Jacqueline Wilson
    5

  • The Secrets of the Wild Wood
    Tonke Dragt
    5

  • The Lie Tree
    Frances Hardinge
    5

  • The Butterfly Shell
    Maureen White
    4

  • The Boy Who Drew the Future
    Rhian Ivory
    4

  • Longbow Girl
    Linda Davies
    4

  • My Name’s Not Friday
    Jon Walter
    4

  • Sophie Someone
    Hayley Long
    4

  • Gorilla Dawn
    Gill Lewis
    4

  • Madame Tussaud’s Apprentice
    Kathleen Benner Duble
    4

  • The Blackthorn Key
    Kevin Sands
    4

  • Poppy Pym and the Pharaoh’s Curse
    Laura Wood
    4

  • Here Be Dragons
    Sarah Mussi
    4

  • The Secret Dog
    Joe Friedman
    3

  • The Wolf Wilder
    Katherine Rundell
    3

Ages 14+

  • The Rest of Us Just Live Here
    Patrick Ness
    5

  • Girl on a Plane
    Miriam Moss
    5

  • One
    Sarah Crossan
    5

  • These Shallow Graves
    Jennifer Donnelly
    5

  • Lorali
    Laura Dockrill
    5

  • Fire Colour One
    Jenny Valentine
    5

  • Almost Grace
    Rosie Rowell
    4

  • The Butterfly Shell
    Maureen White
    4

  • The Secret Fire
    C.J. Daugherty
    Carina Rozenfeld
    4

  • Liquidator
    Andy Mulligan
    4

  • When I was Me
    Hilary Freeman
    4

  • The Curious Tale of the Lady Caraboo
    Catherine Johnson
    4

  • Monsters Emerald Fennell
    Emerald Fennell
    4

  • My Second Life
    Faye Bird
    4

  • The Edge of the Shadows
    Elizabeth George
    3

  • Drop
    Katie Everson
    3

  • The Accident Season
    3

BfK News

THE CLiPPA SHORTLIST 2017

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has announced the 2017 shortlist for the Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award (CLiPPA). Established in 2003, CLiPPA encourages and celebrates outstanding poetry published for children. 2017 is the 15th anniversary of the award, which remains the only annual award in the UK for published poetry for children.

read more...
KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE SHORTLIST 2017

Klaus Flugge Prize logoThe shortlist for the 2017 Klaus Flugge Prize was announced tonight 17 May at a special event at Foyles bookshop, Charing Cross Road.

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2017 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logoThe shortlist for the 2017 Branford Boase Award has been announced. The Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children.

read more...
WINNER OF THE INAUGURAL MARGARET MALLETT AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S NON-FICTION ANNOUNCED

The English Association has established a new prize in memory of Margaret Mallett, a Fellow of the English Association and a long-serving member of the editorial board of their journal English 4-11. Margaret, who died after a short illness in March 2017, was a passionate advocate for high quality books for children, and in particular non-fiction books. She had a deep and wide-ranging knowledge of children's literature, as readers of the reviews she wrote for Books for Keeps will know.

read more...
SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR SCHOOL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INFORMATION BOOK AWARD 2017

The School Library Association has announced the shortlist for the seventh annual SLA Information Book Award.

Chair of the Judges Chris Brown said; ‘This is the 7th year of the Awards and it is an absolute delight to have received more brilliant, attractive and amazing books than ever. Inevitably that wonderful abundance has made judging and choices more difficult and this shortlist reflects the incredibly high standards publishers are achieving in producing information books for our young readers.’

read more...
THE CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY SHORTLISTS 2017

The shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. More than ninety books were nominated by librarians for the awards, of these 20 in each category where longlisted. Eight have now made it onto the shortlists.

read more...
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2017 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

The longlist for the 2017 Klaus Flugge Prize is announced today (Wednesday 8 March 2017). Established in 2016, the Klaus Flugge Prize is awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s book illustration. It honours publisher Klaus Flugge, founder of children’s publisher Andersen Press and a supremely influential figure in picture books.

read more...
SHORTLIST FOR THE UKLA BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED

The shortlists for the 2017 UKLA Book Awards have been announced.

In three age categories, the awards recognise books that can ‘enhance all aspects of literacy learning’, and are the only awards chosen by teachers.

read more...
SCHOOL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION INFORMATION BOOK AWARD 2017: THE LONGLIST

The longlist for the School Library Association Information Book Award 2017 has been announced. The SLA Information Book Award is an annual event celebrating information books, and is designed to support school libraries and to reinforce the importance of non-fiction whilst highlighting the high standard of resources available. The shortlist will be announced next month and the 2017 award ceremony will take place in November.

UNDER 7s

A First Book of Animals by Nicola Davies illustrated by Petr Horacek Walker Books

read more...
THE BOOKSELLER YA BOOK PRIZE SHORTLIST

The Bookseller has announced the ten titles on the shortlist for The YA Book Prize 2017.

read more...
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