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Books for Keeps 215 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 215 - November 2015
Latest cover image as BfK 215 November 2015

This issue’s cover illustration is from Hare by Zoe Greaves illustrated by Leslie Sadleir. Thanks to Old Barn Books for their help with this Christmas cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 215 November 2015 .

BfK No. 215 Articles

Editorial 215

by Ferelith Hordon
Writing contemporary YA in the age of the internet

Is social media a threat to story telling? asks author Keren David
Authorgraph 215 Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers interviewed by Joanna Carey
Windows into Illustration: Benji Davies

Benji Davies takes us round Grandad’s Island
Books of the Year 2015

Books of the Year chosen by Books for Keeps contributors
Ten of the Best Books to Introduce Children to the Theatre

Geraldine Brennan chooses the best children’s books on the theatre
Books for Giving Christmas 2015

Andrea Reece plays Santa
Book list Books for Giving 2015

Detials for all the books featured in our Christmas Gift Guide
Award Winning Comics

recent winners highlighted by Hannah Sackett
Classics Wonderland

Classics for Christmas chosen by Imogen Russell Williams
Good Reads 215

Good Reads chosen by pupils at St Paul's CBS Secondary School, Dublin

I wish I’d Written: Sam Gayton

Sam Gayton chooses
Book Aid International – Inspiring Readers

Jenny Hayes on this vital programme
Two Children Tell: Rebecca and Nicholas Upside Down

Rebecca and Nicholas upside down
Classics in Short No.114

Alice Under Ground
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH NATASHA CARTHEW

The author of Winter Damage and The Light That Gets Lost
AN INTERVIEW WITH COSTA SHORTLISTED AUTHOR SALLY NICHOLLS

Sally Nicholls talks about her acclaimed new novel An Island of Our Own.
AN INTERVIEW WITH COSTA SHORTLISTED AUTHOR HAYLEY LONG

Martyn Bedford talks to Costa shortlisted author Hayley Long about Sophie Someone.
AN INTERVIEW WITH COSTA SHORTLISTED AUTHOR FRANCES HARDINGE

The author speaks to her editor Rachel Petty.
COSTA SHORTLISTED AUTHOR ANDREW NORRISS ON WRITING JESSICA’S GHOST

Author Andrew Norriss on the writing of his Costa shortlisted book Jessica's Ghost

Editor's Choice

The Crossover
Kwame Alexander
(Andersen Press)
5

Josh and Jordan are twins and both passionate about basketball; a passion inherited from their father who played professionally. But when Alexis arrives on the scene, their relationship starts to unravel.

The themes that run through this...

read more

New Talent

The Bear and the Piano
David Litchfield
(Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
5

What happens when a small bear finds a piano in the forest? He learns to play it, is discovered and whisked off to fame and fortune. But is this enough?

In this debut picture book, David Litchfield takes a theme that will have a resonance...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 215

  • Under 5s
  • Ages 5-8
  • Ages 8-10
  • Ages 10-14
  • Ages 14+
  • Books About Children's Books

Under 5s

  • Vikings in the Supermarket
    Nick Sharratt
    5

  • The Bear and the Piano
    David Litchfield
    5

  • Super Magic Happy Forest
    Matty Long
    5

  • Achoo!
    Virginie Morgand
    5

  • What’s Up Mumu?
    David Mackintosh
    5

  • Max at Night
    Ed Vere
    5

  • Elmer and the Flood
    David McKee
    4

  • The Snow Beast
    Chris Judge
    4

  • The Lion Inside
    Rachel Bright
    4

Ages 5-8

  • Vikings in the Supermarket
    Nick Sharratt
    5

  • Imaginary Fred
    Eoin Colfer
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • The Day the Crayons Came Home
    Drew Daywalt
    5

  • Leo: A Ghost Story
    Mac Barnett
    5

  • Mister Cleghorn’s Seal
    Judith Kerr
    5

  • The Prince and the Porker
    Peter Bently
    5

  • Home by Carson Ellis
    Carson Ellis
    5

  • The Lion and the Bird
    Marianne Dubuc
    5

  • Harper and the Scarlet Umbrella
    Cerrie Burnell
    5

  • Take Away the A
    Michaël Escoffier
    4

  • Hare
    Zoë Greaves
    4

  • The Colour Monster
    Anna Llenas
    4

  • Dog on a Train: The Special Delivery
    Kate Prendergast
    4

Ages 8-10

  • Imaginary Fred
    Eoin Colfer
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • Once Upon a Place
    5

  • How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury
    Cressida Cowell
    5

  • The Wonder Garden
    Kristjana S Williams
    5

  • The Boy Who Fell Off the Mayflower
    P J Lynch
    5

  • City Atlas
    Georgia Cherry
    5

  • The Doldrums: A Badly Planned Adventure
    Nicholas Gannon
    4

  • The Secret Dinosaur Giants Awake!
    N.S. Blackman
    4

  • Precious and the Zebra Necklace
    Alexander McCall Smith
    4

  • Pugs of the Frozen North
    Philip Reeve
    Sarah McIntyre
    4

  • Evil Emperor Penguin
    Laura Ellen Anderson
    4

  • The Snow Sister
    Emma Carroll
    4

  • Nelly and the Quest for Captain Peabody
    Roland Chambers
    3

Ages 10-14

  • The School of Art

    The School of Art
    Teal Triggs
    5

  • Once Upon a Place
    5

  • The Crossover
    Kwame Alexander
    5

  • National Theatre: All About Theatre
    Marina McIntyre
    5

  • Lockwood and Co The Hollow Boy
    Jonathan Stroud
    5

  • Railhead
    Philip Reeve
    5

  • The Edge of Me
    Jane Brittan
    4

  • The Boy Who Sailed the Ocean in an Armchair
    Lara Williamson
    4

  • An Eagle in the Snow
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • First Class Murder
    Robin Stevens
    4

  • A Slice of the Moon
    Sandi Toksvig
    4

  • The Boy at the Top of the Mountain
    John Boyne
    3

Ages 14+

  • The Shepherd’s Crown
    Terry Pratchett
    5

  • Night Owls
    Jenn Bennett
    5

  • Railhead
    Philip Reeve
    5

  • The Big Lie
    Julie Mayhew
    5

  • The Edge of Me
    Jane Brittan
    4

  • Dangerous Lies
    Becca Fitzpatrick
    4

  • Bad Bones
    Graham Marks
    4

  • Thirteen Days of Midnight
    Leo Hunt
    4

  • Black Cairn Point
    Claire McFall
    4

  • The Light That Gets Lost
    Natasha Carthew
    4

  • All Sorts of Possible
    Rupert Wallis
    3

  • Dark Room
    Tom Becker
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • 100 Great Children’s Picture Books
    Martin Salisbury
    5

BfK News

BRANFORD BOASE AWARD SHORTLIST 2019

The children’s authors to watch: shortlist for the 2019 Branford Boase Award announced

Branford Boase Award shortlist 2019

read more...
THE YEAR'S BEST POETRY FOR CHILDREN: CLiPPA 2019 SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) has announced the 2019 shortlist for their poetry award, CLiPPA (The Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award). Children’s poetry is booming and there were a record number of entries for the CLiPPA, the only award for children’s poetry.

read more...
THE LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST 2019

Little Rebels prize logoThe shortlist for the 2019 Little Rebels Award has been announced. Seven books have made the list with war and conflict recurring themes.

read more...
SHORTLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Selected by volunteer Youth Librarians from longlists of 20 books per medal, there are eight on each shortlist.

Alongside previously shortlisted authors and illustrators, there are newcomers on each shortlist, and as the poetry boom for young readers continues, three verse novels make the Carnegie shortlist by US authors Elizabeth Acevedo, Kwame Alexander and Jason Reynolds.

The 2019 shortlists are as follows:

read more...
BLUE PETER BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q Raúf and The Colours of History by Clive Gifford, illustrated by Marc-Etienne Peintre, have been revealed as the 2019 Blue Peter Book Award winners.

read more...
LONGLISTS FOR 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

The longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced. Members of YLG have selected 20 books for each list from no less than 254 nominations.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS 2019

Funny Women win the Lollies!

Lollies winners 2019

Elys Dolan, Emer Stamp and Tom Gates creator Liz Pichon have been named the winners of the 2019 Laugh Out Loud Awards, or Lollies.

read more...
HILARY MCKAY WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH ‘PERFECT’ NOVEL

Hilary McKay has won the Costa Children’s Book Award for the second time for The Skylarks’ War, a story following the loves and losses of a family growing up against the backdrop of World War One. The judges described The Skylarks’ War as ‘as perfect a novel as you could ever want to read’. She receives £5,000 and her book is now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2018 Costa Book of the Year.

read more...
FAR FROM HOME WINS THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2018 Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s sole award for creative educational writing, is Far From Home: Refugees and Migrants Fleeing War, Persecution and Poverty by Cath Senker, a topical and richly illustrated book which sensitively examines the root causes of mass migrations of people in the 21st century.

Cath Senker wins EWA 2018

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2018 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

Canvases, Codes, Clean Water & Empathy

read more...
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