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Books for Keeps 216 - the children's book magazine online

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Books for Keeps is packed with articles, interviews comment and, of course, reviews.

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BfK No. 216 - January 2016
BfK 216 January 2016

This issue’s cover illustration is from Elmer’s Little Library by David McKee. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help with this cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 216 January 2016.

BfK No. 216 Articles

Editorial 216

by Ferelith Hordon
Reading the Way: Inclusive Books from Around the World

Dr. Rebecca Butler reports
2016: the books to watch! (publishers A - M)

Leading children's publishers look ahead.
2016: the books to watch! (publishers O - Z)

Leading children's editors look ahead
Windows into illustration: Michael Foreman

A life in pictures
Authorgraph 216 Caroline Binch

Caroline Binch interviewed by Tricia Kings
Ten of the Best Books to boost empathy

Sarah Mears of EmpathyLab chooses
Visual Literacy: flying to another place

by Piet Grobler
Andersen Press - Forty Years Young

Venerable publisher Klaus Flugge interviewed by Joy Court
Peter Dickinson Obituary

Peter Dickinson remembered by Ferelith Hordon
I Wish I’d Written: Jonathan Stroud

Jonathan Stroud chooses one of the finest post-war British fantasies.
Good Reads 216

Chosen by pupils at Aith Junior School, Shetland
The Art of Writing a Novel

by Lisa Williamson
Two Children Tell: Nick And Humour ‘That’s a funny one’

Nick and humour
An introduction to Tiny Owl

Jill Bennett on new publisher Tiny Owl
Classics in Short No 115: Poor Cecco

The cleverest of all the toys
Wild Lily Chapter One

Chapter One from Wild Lily by K M Peyton.
PERDITA AND HONOR CARGILL: AUTHORS OF WAITING FOR CALLBACK

An interview with the mother and daughter writing team.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH KNIGHTLEY AND SON AUTHOR ROHAN GAVIN

The author answers our questions
AN INTERVIEW WITH PHILIP WOMACK

The author of The Double Axe on reinventing Greek myth
AN INTERVIEW WITH ROSS MONTGOMERY

Imogen Russell Williams asks the questions.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH GWENDA BOND

The author of Lois Lane Fallout answers our questions.

Editor's Choice

The Pushcart War
Jean Merrill
(New York Review Books/Children's Collection)
4

The streets of New York are crowded - pedestrians, cars and the pushcarts - the mobile stalls selling anything from doorknobs to pretzels - and trucks. That’s the problem. There are too many trucks (lorries) that are getting bigger and bigger....

read more

New Talent

Beautiful Broken Things
Sara Barnard
(Macmillan Children's Books)
5

Caddie (short for Cadnam; don't ask!) and Rosie are best friends. Truly best friends though they now go to different schools. Then Suzanne arrives in Rosie's class - beautiful, dazzling, outrageous and troubled Suzanne. Can three girls be best...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 216

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

Under 5s

  • Walter’s Wonderful Web
    Tim Hopgood
    5

  • Say It!
    Charlotte Zolotow
    5

  • The Red Prince
    Charlie Roscoe
    5

  • The Queen’s Handbag
    Steve Antony
    5

  • Have you seen Elephant?
    David Barrow
    4

  • My Hand
    Satoshi Kitamura
    4

  • Stanley the Amazing Knitting Cat
    Emily Mackenzie
    4

  • Go Home, Little One
    Cate James
    3

  • Fairy Tales for Mr Barker
    Jessica Ahlberg
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Deep in the Woods
    Christopher Corr
    5

  • Animal Camouflage: Search and Find
    Sam Hutchinson
    5

  • Blue Penguin
    Petr Horácek
    5

  • Den Building: Creating Imaginative Spaces Using Almost Anything
    Jane Hewitt
    Cathy Cross
    5

  • Lafcadio, The Lion Who Shot Back
    Shel Silverstein
    4

  • Pablo & Jane and the Hot Air Contraption
    Jose Domingo
    4

  • Stanley the Amazing Knitting Cat
    Emily Mackenzie
    4

  • Dragon White
    Shoo Rayner
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Clare and her Captain
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • The Seal’s Fate
    Eoin Colfer
    5

  • The Pushcart War
    Jean Merrill
    4

  • The Storm Leopards
    Holly Webb
    4

  • The Dog Ray
    Linda Coggin
    4

  • Confessions of an Imaginary Friend: A Memoir by Jacques Papier
    Michelle Cuevas
    4

  • Lift-the-Flap Computers and Coding
    Rosie Dickins
    4

  • Jack Dash and the Magic Feather
    Sophie Plowden
    4

  • Dragon White
    Shoo Rayner
    3

  • Gulliver
    Mary Webb
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Anyone But Ivy Pocket
    Caleb Krisp
    5

  • Twenty Questions for Gloria
    Martyn Bedford
    5

  • How to Look For a Lost Dog
    Ann M Martin
    5

  • The ACB with Honora Lee
    Kate De Goldi
    5

  • Baker’s Magic
    Diane Zahler
    5

  • The Story of Antigone
    Ali Smith
    5

  • The Monkey’s Secret
    Gennifer Choldenko
    5

  • Never Evers
    Tom Ellen
    Lucy Ivison
    4

  • The Icarus Show
    Sally Christie
    4

  • Waiting for Callback
    Perdita Cargill
    Honor Cargill
    4

  • 3 of a Kind
    Rohan Gavin
    4

  • Hell and High Water
    Tanya Landman
    3

Ages 14+

  • Beautiful Broken Things
    Sara Barnard
    5

  • Anything That Isn’t This
    Chris Priestley
    5

  • Illuminae
    Jay Kristoff
    Amie Kaufman
    5

  • Silence is Goldfish
    Annabel Pitcher
    4

  • Wild Lily
    K M Peyton
    4

  • Zeroes
    Scott Westerfeld
    Margo Lanagan
    Deborah Biancotti
    4

  • What We Left Behind
    Robin Talley
    4

  • Faceless
    Alyssa Sheinmel
    4

  • Waiting for Callback
    Perdita Cargill
    Honor Cargill
    4

  • Anna and the Swallow Man
    Gavriel Savit
    4

  • Boy23
    Jim Carrington
    3

  • Captive
    A.J.Grainger
    3

BfK News

CRESSIDA COWELL LAUNCHES NEW LAUREATE INITIATIVE IN SUPPORT OF SCHOOL LIBRARIES AND CALLS ON PM TO ACT

‘How can a child become a reader for pleasure if their parents or carers cannot afford books, and their primary school has no library, or that library is woefully insufficient?’

Life-changing Libraries logo

read more...
SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 UKLA BOOK AWARDS

UKLA Book Awards logo

read more...
ALL STORIES, A NEW MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME FOR UNDERREPRESENTED CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITERS

A new mentorship scheme for underrepresented authors launches today, 30 March. All Stories offers fourteen mentorships delivered by expert children’s book editors.

All Stories logo

read more...
2021 SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

CKG Logo

The shortlists for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, 18 March. The awards are the UK’s oldest for children and young people.

This year’s judges praised their shortlists for ‘offering hope and escapism during lockdown’ through explorations of freedom, the great outdoors and journeys through the natural world.

read more...
INAUGURAL LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE JHALAK CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT PRIZE

The Jhalak Prize has announced the longlist for the inaugural Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize.

Jhalak Prize logo

read more...
ONJALI RAÚF BECOMES WRITER IN RESIDENCE FOR BOOKTRUST

Award-winning author and activist, Onjali Raúf takes up the post as the new Writer in Residence for BookTrust, today, International Women’s Day. She takes over from Smriti Halls.

Onjali Q Raúf

read more...
LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The longlist for the 2021 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced.

CKG Logo

read more...
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

read more...
NOW OPEN: 2021 HENRIETTA BRANFORD WRITING COMPETITION

Finish a story started by Branford Boase Award winner Liz Hyder

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, is now open.

read more...
TWO UK ENTRIES ON IBBY LIST OF OUTSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Every two years, IBBY invites nominations for its international List of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. Nominations are made by IBBY national sections and the final list is selected from these by the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Young People with Disabilities, based in Toronto. Because of its international content, the list is unique in the children’s book world. It is a huge voluntary undertaking as every country is encouraged to submit up to twelve titles across the three categories.

read more...
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