Books for Keeps 217 - the children's book magazine online

Digital version – browse, print or download

Can't see the preview?
Click here!

How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 217 - March 2016

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Love Song by Sophia Bennett. Thanks to Chicken House for their help with this cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 217 March 2016 .

BfK No. 217 Articles

Editorial 217

by Ferelith Hordon

Our (Shakespeare) revels are now just beginning…

Tony Bradman on the lasting appeal of the Bard

Prospero’s Island

Teresa Cremin reports on a fascinating experiential theatre project

Windows into Illustration: Ben Newman

Ben Newman on illustrating Professor Astro Cat

Authorgraph 217 Sophia Bennett

Sophia Bennett interviewed by Ferelith Hordon

Ten of the Best Books to Introduce Children to the Great Outdoors

Chosen by Margaret Mallett

Animal at the Story Museum

Geraldine McCaughrean on a new exhibition

The Write Course

MA courses in writing for children appraised by Geraldine Brennan

Funny Girls

Jenny McLachlan interviewed by Damian Kelleher

Louise Rennison Obituary

Louise Rennison remembered by her publisher Brenda Gardner

Good Reads 217

Chosen by members of Baring Bookworms Chatterbooks

I Wish I’d Written: Abi Elphinstone

Abi Elphinstone chooses

Two Children Tell: Rebecca and Nick And Michael

Rebecca and Nick and Michael Foreman

Classics in Short No 116

Brian Alderson on the magic saving of Racketty-Packetty House

A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH KENNETH OPPEL

The author answers questions on his new book The Nest.

HOMOPHONES AND LOST DOGS: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANN M MARTIN

The author of the Babysitters' Club talks about her new novel How to Look for a Lost Dog

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRITTA TECKENTRUP

Britta Teckentrup interviewed by Pam Dix

Editor's Choice

Where My Feet Go

Birgitta Sif

(Andersen Press)

When Little Panda wakes up in the morning, he is ready for adventure. Where will his feet take him as he travels through the day?

Birgitta Sif's endearing quirky little panda is the archetypal toddler. His world is that of the child as he...

‘I am Medusa Girl. Cold as rock, hard as stone’. This is how Fran armours herself against a world that in her eyes offers nothing but betrayal. The only brightness in her life, her step-brother, Monkey. Then even he is taken away, and Fran finds...

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

Under 5s

A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

Michelle Robinson

5
Where My Feet Go

Birgitta Sif

5
I’ll Wait, Mr Panda

Steve Antony

5
How to Find Gold

Viviane Schwarz

5
Quick Quack Quentin

Kes Gray

5
Pass It On

Sophy Henn

4
Little Home Bird

Jo Empson

4

Ages 5-8

A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

Michelle Robinson

5
Oscar the Guardian Cat

Chiara Valentina Segre

5
Quick Quack Quentin

Kes Gray

5
Do You Hear What I Hear?

Helen Borten

5
Before I Wake Up …

Britta Teckentrup

5
One Day on our Blue Planet in the Antartic

Ella Bailey

4
Pocket Pirates: The Great Drain Escape

Chris Mould

3
Finding Winnie

Lindsay Mattick

3
Unicorn in New York: Louie Lets Loose

Rachel Hamilton

3

Ages 8-10

Wildwitch Wildfire

Lene Kaaberbol

5
The Box of Demons

Daniel Whelan

5
Spooks and Scooters

Elen Caldecott

4
Perijee and Me

Ross Montgomery

4
Complete Bird Spotter’s Kit and National Trust Complete Bird Spotter Guide: A children’s guide to bird watching

Robin Swift

4
Beetle Boy

M.G. Leonard

4
The Secret Life of Daisy Fitzjohn

Tania Unsworth

4
Jim Reaper: Son of Grim

Rachel Delahaye

4

Ages 10-14

Rugby Flyer

Gerard Siggins

4
Perijee and Me

Ross Montgomery

4
Lois Lane Fallout

Gwenda Bond

4
The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth

Katherine Woodfine

4
Car Wash Wish

Sita Brahmachari

4
Moth Girls

Anne Cassidy

4
North Face

Matt Dickinson

4
Rebel of the Sands

Alwyn Hamilton

4
Time Travelling with a Hamster

Ross Welford

3
Trickster

Tom Moorhouse

3
A Dark Trade

Mary Hooper

0

Ages 14+

Needlework

Deirdre Sullivan

5
Crongton Knights

Alex Wheatle

5
How Hard Can Love Be?

Holly Bourne

5
Underwater

Marisa Reichardt

5
The Island

Olivia Levez

4
Salt to the Sea

Ruta Sepetys

4
More Of Me

Kathryn Evans

3

BfK News

2019 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD SHORTLIST

Shortlist announced for the UK’s only award for creative educational writing

The Society of Authors and the Authors’ Licensing& Collecting Society have announced the shortlist for the 2019 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing which stimulates and enhances the learning experience.

Blue Peter Book Award logo

Six books have made it onto the shortlists for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. There are two categories: Best Story, and – in non-fiction November – Best Book with Facts.

And we’re off… the nominations for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, Monday 4^th November.

2020 UKLA BOOK AWARDS THE LONGLISTS

UKLA Awards

A record number of submissions and a new category to highlight information books marks the 12^th longlists for the UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.

Jessica Love

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), the awards that celebrate the funniest children’s books.

Lollies logo

Morag Hood, Katherine Rundell and Jason Reynolds have been announced as the winners of the UKLA Book Awards 2019 for I Am Bat, The Explorer and Long Way Down respectively.

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Catherine Johnson for her book, Freedom (Scholastic 2018).

Catherine Johnsonn photo Andy Donohoe

‘Books are transformative because of their unique ability to develop three key magical powers: intelligence, creativity and, most important of all, empathy. Words are power; let’s take magic seriously.’ Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

Books for Keeps 217 - the children's book magazine online

Digital version – browse, print or download

BfK Newsletter

BfK No. 217 Articles

Editor's Choice

Where My Feet Go

New Talent

The Island

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 217

Under 5s

A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

Where My Feet Go

I’ll Wait, Mr Panda

How to Find Gold

Quick Quack Quentin

Pass It On

Little Home Bird

Ages 5-8

A Beginner's Guide to Bear Spotting

Oscar the Guardian Cat

Quick Quack Quentin

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Before I Wake Up …

One Day on our Blue Planet in the Antartic

Pocket Pirates: The Great Drain Escape

Finding Winnie

Unicorn in New York: Louie Lets Loose

Ages 8-10

Wildwitch Wildfire

The Box of Demons

Spooks and Scooters

Perijee and Me

Complete Bird Spotter’s Kit and National Trust Complete Bird Spotter Guide: A children’s guide to bird watching

Beetle Boy

The Secret Life of Daisy Fitzjohn

Jim Reaper: Son of Grim

Ages 10-14

Rugby Flyer

Perijee and Me

Lois Lane Fallout

The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth

Car Wash Wish

Moth Girls

North Face

Rebel of the Sands

Time Travelling with a Hamster

Trickster

A Dark Trade

Ages 14+

Needlework

Crongton Knights

How Hard Can Love Be?

Underwater

The Island

Salt to the Sea

More Of Me

BfK News