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Books for Keeps 206 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 206 - May 2014
BfK 206 May 2014

This issue’s cover illustration is from Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan. Thanks to Piccadilly Press for their help with this May cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 206 May 2014 .

BfK No. 206 Articles

Editorial 206

Ferelith Hordon

Stories of WW1 – an introduction

Tony Bradman on a new collection by top authors

Brave Boys and Girls in Wartime

Geoff Fox on texts for children published during the Great War

Tove Jansson: an appreciation by Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman on the creator of the Moomins

The Art of Adaptation

Laura Fraine visits Seven Stories’ new exhibition

Holly Goldberg Sloan interviewed

Andrea Reece talks to the author of Counting by 7s.

Lydia Monks: Windows into Illustration

Lydia Monks on painting the dark

Books for Keeps Brilliant Bookshops: Chorleywood Bookshop

A tour of the Chorleywood Bookshop

Ten of the Best Books for Young Feminists

Geraldine Brennan chooses

Damian Dibben interview

Nick Tucker interviews the author of the History Keepers books

I wish I’d written: Kathy Henderson chooses

Kathy Henderson on the book that made her a reader

Good Reads chosen by Bolingbroke Academy

Readers at Bolingbroke Academy choose their Good Reads

Two children tell: James James Morrison Morrison and Nicholas

Virginia Lowe observes her young son's response to books

John Rowe Townsend May 1922 - March 2014

An appreciation by Clive Barnes

Classics in Short Number 105

A rags to riches story: Little Goody-Two Shoes

ALYSSA BRUGMAN INTERVIEWED ABOUT ALEX AS WELL

Interview with the author of the new YA novel with an intersex central character

Margaret Bateson-Hill’s Top Ten Tips for Helping Children Write

Story-teller and author Margaret Bateson-Hill with advice on how to encourage children's creative writing.

Gillian Cross: Rebel

Gillian Cross, winner of the 2014 Little Rebels Award, talks about After Tomorrow.

Editor's Choice

The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig Lobster Race

James Thorp
Angus Mackinnon
(Digital Leaf)
5

There is going to be a race. The animals - weasel, puffin, unicorn, baboon, pig and lobster. Off they go. But who will be crowned champion? In their eagerness to be the winner the animals resort to cheating - all except the unicorn who...

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New Talent

Bone Jack

Sara Crowe
(Andersen)
4

Sara Crowe’s excellent debut novel, while firmly set in the here and now, feels somehow timeless, a characteristic it shares with the very best fantasy writing for children, from Alan Garner to Susan Cooper.

Fifteen year old Ash is taking...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 206

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

Under 5s

  • Elmer and the Monster

    David McKee
    4
  • Nightbear

    Rebecca Patterson
    4
  • When Angus Met Alvin

    Sue Pickford
    4
  • The Big Splash

    A H Benjamin
    4
  • Pig and Small

    Alex Latimer
    4
  • Boom, Baby, Boom Boom!

    Margaret Mahy
    4
  • Stanley’s Garage

    William Bee
    4
  • Little Answer

    Tim Hopgood
    4
  • Little Frog's Tadpole Trouble

    Tatyana Feeney
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Zeraffa Giraffa

    Dianne Hofmeyr
    5
  • The Weasel Puffin Unicorn Baboon Pig Lobster Race

    James Thorp
    Angus Mackinnon
    5
  • The Yes

    Sarah Bee
    5
  • Those Magnificent Sheep and their Flying Machine

    Peter Bently
    5
  • Hooray for Bread

    Allan Ahlberg
    4
  • Flowerpot Farm

    Lorraine Harrison
    4
  • April the Red Goldfish

    Marjolaine Leray
    4
  • The Queen's Hat

    Steve Antony
    4
  • Oi Frog!

    Kes Gray
    4
  • Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey

    Alex Milway
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Ghastly McNastys: Raiders of the Lost Shark

    Lyn Gardner
    Ros Asquith
    5
  • The Tiffin by Mahtab Narsimhan

    Mahtab Narsimhan
    5
  • Angels Next Door

    Karen McCombie
    5
  • Macavity, the Mystery Cat

    T S Eliot
    5
  • Cowgirl

    G R Gemin
    5
  • Stars in Jars

    Chrissie Gittins
    5
  • The Glass Bird Girl

    Esme Kerr
    4
  • Aliens Stink!

    Steve Cole
    4
  • Charlie Merrick’s Misfits:Fouls, Friends, & Football

    Dave Cousins
    3
  • Maya’s Secret

    Holly Webb
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Temple Boys

    Jamie Buxton
    5
  • Cuckoo Song

    Frances Hardinge
    5
  • Scarlet Ibis

    Gill Lewis
    5
  • Stars in Jars

    Chrissie Gittins
    5
  • The Blood List

    Sarah Naughton
    4
  • Bone Jack

    Sara Crowe
    4
  • The Glass Bird Girl

    Esme Kerr
    4
  • Love, Lies and Lemon Pies

    Katy Cannon
    4
  • Daughters of Time

    4
  • Mutant City

    Steve Feasey
    4
  • Red Shadow

    Paul Dowswell
    4
  • The Tin Snail

    Cameron McAllister
    4
  • Smart

    Kim Slater
    4
  • Brilliant

    Roddy Doyle
    3
  • Girl With a White Dog

    Anne Booth
    3
  • Arrowhead

    Ruth Eastham
    3

Ages 14+

  • Echo Boy

    Matt Haig
    5
  • Buffalo Soldier

    Tanya Landman
    5
  • Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek

    Maya van Wagenen
    4
  • Run by Gregg Olsen

    Gregg Olsen
    4
  • The Eye of Zoltar

    Jasper Fforde
    4
  • Trouble

    Non Pratt
    4
  • Silent Saturday

    Helen Grant
    4
  • Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

    April G Tucholke
    4
  • Poppy

    Mary Hooper
    4
  • Hate

    Alan Gibbons
    2

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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