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Books for Keeps 205 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 205 - March 2014
BfK 205 March 2014

This issue’s cover illustration is from All I Said Was by Michael Morpurgo and Ross Collins. Thanks to Barrington Stoke for their help with this March cover and to Simon and Schuster for their support of the Authorgraph interview with Sophie McKenzie.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 205 March 2014 .

BfK No. 205 Articles

Editorial 205

Editorial
Red Squirrel books: the new picture book list from Barrington Stoke

A new type of picture book
What makes reading a pleasure?

Geraldine Brennan considers.
Adapting Emil

Adapting Emil for the National Theatre
CILIP Kate Greenaway Award shortlist 2014

The Kate Greenaway Shortlist 2014 assessed by Joanna Carey
Authorgraph number 205: Sophie McKenzie

Sophie McKenzie interviewed by Caroline Sanderson
Chris Haughton: Windows into Illustration

Shh! It’s Chris Haughton
Ten of the Best Books to Introduce Children to William Shakespeare

Ten of the Best books to introduce children to Shakespeare
Children's poetry today

Fiona Waters on the state of children's poetry
Books for Keeps Brilliant Bookshops: Urmston Bookshop

Welcome to Urmston
I Wish I'd Written ... Josh Lacey chooses

Josh Lacey choses a magnificent adventure story.
Good Reads Victoria Junior School, Workington

Chosen by pupils at Victoria Junior School, Workington, Cumbria
Briefing 2015

Awards and obituaries
Two Children Tell: Little Sal and Rebecca

Virgina Lowe on the impact of a favourite picturebook
Green shoots of Spring: Fine Feather Press

New non-fiction publisher in the spotlight
Books about children’s books

Brian Alderson reviews two books by university teachers.
Classics in Short Number 103

Boys and Girls, Widows and Witches, Snails and Sparrows all baked together in a Peacock Pie
AUTHOR JAMIE BUXTON ON HIS NEW NOVEL TEMPLE BOYS, ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS STORIES IN THE WORLD

Jamie Buxton explains the background to Temple Boys.
A Q& A with Sara Crowe about her debut novel Bone Jack

Sara Crowe answers our questions
NA’IMA B ROBERT INTERVIEW

Na'ima B Robert interviewed by Geraldine Brennan.

Editor's Choice

Hermelin, the Detective Mouse
Mini Grey
(Jonathan Cape)
5

A round cheese box bounces out of a van onto the street. The makers' name on the box is Hermelin. From the moment the book is opened, the reader is presented with clues; clues that lie in the detail of the illustration. How appropriate when the...

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New Talent

The Dark Inside
Rupert Wallis
(Simon & Schuster Childrens Books)
4

Rupert Wallis takes on some big themes in his laudably ambitious debut novel: the mysteries of good and evil, expiation and forgiveness.

The book tells the story of thirteen year old James. James’ mother has been killed in a car accident...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 205

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

Under 5s

  • Hugo the Hare’s Rainy Day
    Jez Alborough
    5

  • Cuckoo!
    Fiona Roberton
    5

  • There’s a Shark in the Bath
    Sarah McIntyre
    4

  • Do Dare Duck
    Joyce Dunbar
    4

  • So Cosy
    Lerryn Korda
    4

  • Hog In The Fog
    Julia Copus
    4

  • Hector and the Big Bad Knight
    Alex T Smith
    4

  • Never ask a Dinosaur to Dinner
    Gareth Edwards
    4

  • There’s a Dinosaur in my Bathtub
    Catalina Echeverri
    4

  • Millie Shares
    Claire Alexander
    3

  • Wimpy Shrimpy
    Matt Buckingham
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Hermelin, the Detective Mouse
    Mini Grey
    5

  • Shh! We have a plan
    Chris Haughton
    5

  • The Promise
    Nicola Davies
    5

  • Ug-A-Lug, Four Cavemen and a Prehistoric Pencil
    Jill Lewis
    5

  • Captain Beastlie’s Pirate Party
    Lucy Coats
    4

  • The Strongest Boy in the World
    Jessica Souhami
    4

  • Watch Out for the Crocodile
    Lisa Moroni
    4

Ages 8-10

  • Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom
    William Sutcliffe
    5

  • Where the Poppies Now Grow
    Hilary Robinson
    5

  • Dear Jelly Family letters from the First World War
    Sarah Ridley
    5

  • Dream On, Amber
    Emma Shevah
    4

  • The Hen who Dreamed She Could Fly
    Sun-Mi Hwang
    4

  • Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy
    Karen Foxlee
    4

  • Dappled Annie and the Tigrish
    Mary McCallum
    4

  • Magic marks the Spot
    Caroline Carlson
    4

  • The Diary of Dennis the Menace
    Steven Butler
    3

  • Eliza Boom: My Explosive Adventure
    Emily Gale
    3

  • The 13th Fairy
    Kaye Umansky
    3

  • The Haunting of Uncle Ron
    Anne Fine
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Circus of Thieves and the Raffle of Doom
    William Sutcliffe
    5

  • The Colour Book
    Sophie Benini Pietromarchi
    5

  • Monkey and Me
    David Gilman
    5

  • Heart Shaped
    Siobhan Parkinson
    5

  • Dream On, Amber
    Emma Shevah
    4

  • Evie Brooks is Marooned in Manhattan
    Sheila Agnew
    4

  • Rock Wars
    Robert Muchamore
    4

  • Looking at the Stars
    Jo Cotterill
    4

  • Over the Line
    Tom Palmer
    4

  • Tilly’s Promise
    Linda Newbery
    4

  • Curses and smoke: a novel of Pompeii
    Vicky Alvear Shecter
    4

  • The Children of the King
    Sonya Hartnett
    4

  • The Sword of Kuromori
    Jason Rohan
    4

  • The Forbidden Library
    Django Wexler
    4

  • Storm and Stone
    Joss Stirling
    3

  • Little Celeste
    Dawn McNiff
    3

  • What Are We Fighting For?
    Brian Moses
    Roger Stevens
    3

  • The Islands of Chaldea
    Diana Wynne Jones
    Ursula Jones
    3

  • Urban Outlaws
    Peter Jay Black
    3

  • The Copernicus Legacy: The Forbidden Stone
    Tony Abbott
    3

  • Where The Rock Splits The Sky
    Philip Webb
    3

Ages 14+

  • Grasshopper Jungle
    Andrew Smith
    5

  • Amy and Matthew
    Cammie McGovern
    5

  • Far from You
    Tess Sharpe
    5

  • Never Ending
    Martyn Bedford
    5

  • Blood Family
    Anne Fine
    5

  • The Dark Inside
    Rupert Wallis
    4

  • City of Fate
    Nicola Pierce
    4

  • Rock Wars
    Robert Muchamore
    4

  • Fire and Flood
    Victoria Scott
    4

  • Stella
    Helen Eve
    3

  • Soul Mates
    L A Weatherly
    3

  • Old Dog New Tricks
    Bali Rai
    3

  • Half Bad
    Sally Green
    2

  • Thirteen
    Tom Hoyle
    1

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

read more...
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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