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

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BfK No. 217 - March 2016
BfK 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)
5

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...

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New Talent

The Island
Olivia Levez
(Oneworld Publications)
4

‘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...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 217

  • 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

JESSICA LOVE NAMED WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 FOR JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Jessica Love

read more...
LOLLIES 2020 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

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

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HOOD, RUNDELL AND REYNOLDS UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

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.

read more...
CATHERINE JOHNSON WINS LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

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

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CRESSIDA COWELL ANNOUNCED AS NEW WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S LAUREATE

‘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

read more...
STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

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SLA School Librarian of the Year 2019 Announced

Ros Harding School Librarian of the Year

Ros Harding of The King’s School Chester has been awarded the honour of the School Librarian of the Year 2019. 2019 YA Book Prize winner Sara Barnard presented Ros Harding with her award at a special ceremony at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Kensington, London Kensington on 27 June.

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MUHAMMAD KHAN WINS 20TH BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award for outstanding debut novel for children is Muhammad Khan for his YA novel I Am Thunder. Set up in memory of author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase who both died in 1999, the award also recognizes his editor Lucy Pearse of Macmillan Children’s Books.

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The Children's Book Award 2019

Earlier this month, Arree Chung was named overall winner of The Children’s Book Award 2019. His book Mixed, which he wrote and illustrated, also won the Books for Younger Children category before going on to win the overall prize.

read more...
WINNERS OF THE 2019 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced at a ceremony at The British Library, hosted by broadcaster and writer Konnie Huq.

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