Bfk 272 May 2025

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This issue’s cover illustration is from The First Year by Matt Goodfellow, cover illustration by Joe Todd-Stanton. Thanks to Otter-Barry Books for their help with this cover.

Book of the Week

Naeli and the Secret Song

Jasbinder Bilan
BfK Rating:
Price: £7.99
View Review

New Talent

A Better Nightmare

Megan Freeman
BfK Rating:
Price: £8.99
View Review

Editor's Choice

Badger Books

Paddy Donnelly
BfK Rating:
Price: £13.99
View Review

Articles

Frank Cottrell-Boyce and BookTrust release first Reading Rights Report
The Waterstones Children's Laureate's plan to build a brighter reading future
Editorial 272
News and comment from the children’s book world
Reading for Pleasure – Why the decline and what could we do about it?
Charlotte Hacking responds to recent reports on the state of children's reading for pleasure
The GLL Literary Foundation Takes Off
An update on the new library initiative supporting up and coming authors
Authorgraph 272: Matt Goodfellow
Matt Goodfellow interview by Clive Barnes
Windows into Illustration: Rébecca Dautremer
Rébecca Dautremer on creating The Ordinary Life of Jacominus Gainsborough
Picture This: Three Bears
Nicolette Jones examines some bear necessities of picturebook illustration
In Alice’s Footsteps – Mad Hatters and Paper Houses
Peter Hunt finds mad hatters and paper houses in Oxford
Beyond the Secret Garden: books for babies and toddlers
Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor read books for babies and toddlers
Owning It
Dr Rebecca Butler interviews the editors of a ground-breaking new anthology
Good Reads: London Academy of Excellence Tottenham
Good Reads chosen by students at the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham
Reimagining Little Red Riding Hood: an interview with Beth O’ Brien
An interview with debut author Beth O’ Brien
Valediction 22: Feeding the Fowls
An American contribution from Brian Alderson as he packs up his remarkable collection
Making Marnie Midnight: an interview with Laura Ellen Anderson
An interview with Laura Ellen Anderson

Book Reviews

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

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Books for Keeps,
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London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

Bfk 271 March 2025