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Books for Keeps 116 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 116 - May 1999

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Colin and Jacqui Hawkins’ Daft Dog. They are interviewed by Stephanie Nettell. Thanks to HarperCollins for their help in producing this May cover.

BfK No. 116 Articles

Editorial - May 1999

News and comment from the Editor.
New Picture Books: Individual and Idiosyncratic

Quentin Blake on the outstanding titles from the new crop.
Windows into Illustration: Ian Beck

Ian Beck uses examples to analyse his approach.
Evaluating Picture Books

Joanna Carey on the skills of the illustrator.
Starting Out with Books

Clive Barnes on the need to support parents.
Authorgraph No.116: Colin and Jacqui Hawkins

Colin and Jacqui Hawkins interviewed by Stephanie Nettell.
BfK Briefing – May 1999

News * Events * Publications * Obituaries * Awards * Best Seller Chart * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.6: IBBY (International board on Books for Young People) British Section
I Wish I’d Written… Aquila

Jenny Nimmo chooses Andrew Norriss’s Aquila.

Good Reads: Lauriston Primary School

Reviews from pupils of Lauriston Primary School, London.
Classics in Short No.15: The Story of Babar

Brian Alderson on Jean de Brunhoff's The Story of Babar.

Editor's Choice

Whadayamean
John Burningham
(Jonathan Cape)
5

One day God wakes up and decides to visit earth, the planet he made as ‘a paradise where animals and people could live with air to breathe and water to drink’. Accompanied by two children on his journey, God is horrified by the pollution,...

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New Talent

Little Bo Peep’s Library Book
Cressida Cowell
(Hodder Children's Books)
5

Little Bo Peep has, of course, lost her sheep. Perhaps the library has a book about how to find them. The helpful librarian, Mother Goose, directs her to lamb in the cooking section where she meets Big Bad Wolf (browsing through Basic...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 116

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

Under 5s

  • All Fall Down; Cat on the Mat; Toot, Toot; The Fish Who Could Wish
    Brian Wildsmith
    5

  • I Want A Sister
    Tony Ross
    5

  • A Kiss Like This
    Catherine Anholt
    Laurence Anholt
    5

  • Little Bo Peep’s Library Book
    Cressida Cowell
    5

  • Truck Jam
    Paul Stickland
    4

  • Dazzling Diggers
    Tony Mitton
    4

  • Ring-a-Ring O'Roses: A Collection of Nursery Rhymes and Stories
    Justin Todd
    4

  • Blooming Cats
    David R Morgan
    4

  • Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse
    Kevin Henkes
    4

  • The Wrong Overcoat
    Hiawyn Oram
    4

  • Frog in Love
    Max Velthuijs
    4

  • Just Like Floss
    Kim Lewis
    4

  • The Gruffalo
    Julia Donaldson
    4

  • Brand New Baby
    Bob Graham
    4

  • Where is Little Croc?
    Alison Boyle
    3

  • Fergus Goes Quackers!
    Tony Maddox
    3

  • Jigsaw Farm
    Claire Duffett
    3

  • Love is a Handful of Honey
    Giles Andreae
    2

  • The Runaway Tractor; Pig Gets Stuck
    Heather Amery
    1

Ages 5-8

  • The Usborne First Book of Numbers
    Angela Wilkes
    Claudia Zeff
    5

  • The Oxford Treasury of World Stories
    Michael Harrison
    Christopher Stuart-Clark
    5

  • The House Cat
    Helen Cooper
    5

  • Gentle Giant Octopus
    Karen Wallace
    5

  • Brave Sister, The: A Story of the Arabian Nights
    5

  • Whadayamean
    John Burningham
    5

  • The Stone
    Dianne Hofmeyr
    4

  • Rome and Romans
    Heather Amery
    Patricia Vanags
    4

  • I'm Happy; I'm Shy
    Karen Bryant-Mole
    4

  • The Great Castle of Marshmangle
    Malachy Doyle
    4

  • Emmelina and the Monster
    June Crebbin
    4

  • Too Big!
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    3

  • Space Baby
    Annie Dalton
    3

  • Ruby's Recipes
    Akulah Agbami
    3

  • One Big Family: Sharing a Life in an African Village
    Ifeoma Onyefulu
    3

  • At Home; Going on a Trip; Having Fun; In the High Street
    Karen Bryant-Mole
    3

  • The Golden Cage
    Ivan Jones
    3

  • Geeta's Day: From dawn to dusk in an Indian village
    Prodeepta Das
    3

  • Dr White
    Jane Goodall
    3

  • There's a Monster Who Eats Books in our House
    Sally Grindley
    2

  • Iggy Pig at the Seaside; Iggy Pig's Dark Night
    Vivien French
    2

  • Return of the Killer Coat
    Susan Gates
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Land of the Long White Cloud
    Kiri Te Kanawa
    5

  • Fantastic Mr Fox
    Roald Dahl
    5

  • What Do We Think About Disability?; What Do We Think About Family Break-Up?
    Jillian Powell
    4

  • The Lion Graphic Bible
    Mike Maddox
    4

  • Extra Time; Ghost for Sale; Hostage; Lift Off; Tod in Biker City; What's Going on, Gus?
    Jenny Oldfield
    3

  • Little Dad
    Pat Moon
    3

  • Jeremy Brown and the Mummy's Curse; Jeremy Brown on Mars
    Simon Cheshire
    3

  • Fabulous Feasts
    Peter Kent
    3

  • Henry VIII; Victoria
    Gill Munton
    Katrian Siliprandi
    3

  • Who was Alexander the Great?; Who was Tutankhamun?
    David Nasmyth
    3

  • Dinosaur Pox
    Jeremy Strong
    3

  • Stars and Planets
    Alastair Smith
    2

Ages 10-14

  • A Hostage to War
    Tatiana Vassilieva
    5

  • Ethel & Ernest: A True Story
    Raymond Briggs
    5

  • Shadow Spinner
    Susan Fletcher
    4

  • The Interrex; The Relic Master
    Catherine Fisher
    4

  • The Oxford Treasury of Time Poems
    4

  • The Flesh Eater; The Midwinter Watch
    John Gordon
    4

  • Alcohol ¦ Animal Rights ¦ Genocide ¦ Mental Illness
    Emma Haughton
    4

  • Beauty and the Beast and other stories
    4

  • What's the Big Idea? - Food
    Emily Moore
    3

  • Stephen Biesty's Incredible Body
    Richard Platt
    3

  • The Sacrifice
    Diane Matcheck
    3

  • The Millennium
    Bob Fowke
    3

  • Dangerous Reality
    Malorie Blackman
    3

  • Brother Brother, Sister Sister
    Helen Dunmore
    3

  • Panther
    Martin Booth
    3

  • Macbeth
    3

  • Spin of the Sunwheel
    Elizabeth Arnold
    2

  • Bat and Bell; Chop and Change; Shock Tactics; Space Race
    Terry Deary
    Barbara Allen
    2

Ages 14+

  • Uncle Vampire
    Cynthia D Grant
    5

  • Against the Storm; Coming Home; The Frozen Waterfall; Watching the Watcher
    Gaye Hiçyilmaz
    4

  • Don't Look Back
    Sandra Chick
    4

  • SS World
    Terrance Dicks
    3

  • Soundtrack
    Julie Bertagna
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Jonathan Swift
    Victoria Glendinning
    5

  • No Go the Bogeyman
    Marina Warner
    5

  • Teaching Poetry in the Primary School: Perspectives for a New Generation; The Poetry Book for Primary Schools
    Dennis Carter
    3

BfK News

NATASHA FARRANT WINS 2020 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Natasha Farrant

Writer and literary scout Natasha Farrant has won the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award for Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, a book which the judges described as ‘pure heavenly escapism and a purely joyful read.’

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ROBIN WALKER WINS THE 2020 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD FOR BLACK HISTORY MATTERS

The winner of the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is Black History Matters: The Story of Black History, From African Kingdoms to Black Lives Matter. Written by acclaimed Black historian, Robin Walker, the 2020 judges praised this accessible, comprehensive and inspiring book which provides a timely introduction both to Black history and the Black Lives Matter movement.

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IBBY UK nominate Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2022

IBBY UK has announced that Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee will be the UK nominations for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

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SHORTLIST FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Debut authors Darren Charlton and Jenny Pearson join Natasha Farrant and Meg Rosoff on the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award.

The shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award has been announced. No less than 146 books were submitted and from those the judges have chosen a shortlist of four. They are:

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (Little Tiger)

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BOOKTRUST’S REPRESENTS INTERIM RESEARCH & CLPE REFLECTING REALITIES SURVEY 2020

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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SHORTLIST FOR THE 2021 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

The six books shortlisted for the 2021 Blue Peter Book Awards have been announced.

Blue Peter Book Award logo

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Happy National Non-Fiction November 2020

It’s National Non-Fiction November! Organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, National Non-Fiction November is an annual celebration of the power of non-fiction to inspire children and celebrate readers who have a passion for information and facts. 2020 is the 10th anniversary of National Non-Fiction November.

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JANE PORTER AND MAISIE PARADISE SHEARRING 2020 LITTLE REBELS AWARD WINNERS

Jane Porter and Maisie Paradise Shearring have won the 2020 Little Rebels Award for their picture book The Boy who Loved Everyone. They will share the £2000 prize.

Little Rebels logo 2020

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OU AND MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS LAUNCH BOOK CHAT SCHEME

The Open University (OU) is launching Book Chat: Reading with your Child, a resource which comprises three short films and support materials to help parents, families and carers read books conversationally and creatively to children. Working with Macmillan Children’s Books, the films use a selection of their picture books and a poetry collection to support families with reading to different ages of children.

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TOM PALMER WINS THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Tom Palmer

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