Editorial 99: July 1996
… yes, it’s us!
As we mention so modestly on our front cover, Books for Keeps has been awarded the 1996 Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of ‘distinguished service to children’s books’. To say we’re flattered and delighted is to understate the case by a number of Dolby decibels – we’ve been beaming with pride and pleasure ever since The Children’s Book Circle, who administer the Award, gave us the good news last month.
What’s especially satisfying, as the citation makes clear, is that this is an award to the whole BfK team: our regular reviewers and contributors (many of whom have been with us since the magazine was launched in March 1980) have been as crucial to our success as our backstage and editorial teams in Lee and Winchester. Of course, two team members – Jill Bennett and Stephanie Nettell – have been Eleanor Farjeon recipients in their own right already. In adding our name to theirs, as well as to previous winners like Margery Fisher, Brian Alderson, Kaye Webb, Nancy and Aidan Chambers, Robert Leeson and Eileen Colwell, the Children’s Book Circle has honoured us mightily. We’ll do our best to deserve it.
The presentation of the Award will be made in London on 17th September… which will coincide, we hope, with the publication of BfK’s One Hundredth Edition. Watch out for a very special number.
In the meantime, amongst all the notes of congratulation we’ve received, there was one which couldn’t help catching our eye. It came from the 1984 winner of the Eleanor Farjeon Award and, with her permission, we’ve reproduced it below.
Enjoy the issue!
HOT FROM THE PRESS
Poetry 0-13, co-published by BfK and the University of Reading’s Reading and Information Centre, is now available. Edited by Chris Powling and Morag Styles, with contributions from Prof. Brian Cox, Prue Goodwin, Iona Opie, Jill Pirrie and Michael Rosen amongst others, this Guide to Poetry for Children offers assessments by an expert critical team of more than 200 currently available books of verse. See page 10 of this issue for details.
