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Books for Keeps 179 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 179 - November 2009

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland illustrated by Robert Ingpen. Robert Ingpen is interviewed by Elizabeth Hammill. Thanks to Templar Publishing for their help with this November cover.

BfK No. 179 Articles

Editorial – November 2009

News and comment from the Editor.
Christmas Books

Rosemary Stones chooses books with a Christmas theme.
Ten of the Best Audio Books on CD for Children

Julia Eccleshare chooses ten outstanding titles.
Developing Teachers’ Knowledge of Children’s Literature: Teachers as Readers, Phase II

Fiona M Collins, Teresa
Cremin, Marilyn Mottram, Sacha Powell and Kimberly Safford report on the second part of the UKRA project.
A Conversation about Poetry: Twenty-two Signal Years

Brian Alderson on the Signal Poetry Award.
Authorgraph No.179: Robert Ingpen

Robert Ingpen interviewed by Elizabeth Hammill
BfK Briefing - November 2009

Letter to the Editor * News * Obituaries* Awards * Event
Hal’s Reading Diary – November 2009

Roger Mills reflects on the importance of punctuation.
I Wish I’d Written… ‘Overheard on a Saltmarsh’

Hilary McKay chooses Harold Monro’s ‘Overheard on a Saltmarsh’.
Good Reads: St Martin’s Garden Primary School, Bath

Reviews from pupils of St Martin’s Garden Primary School, Bath.
Classics in Short No.78: Nonsense Songs and Stories and Nonsense Botany and Nonsense Alphabets

Brian Alderson on Edward Lear’s Nonsense Songs and Stories and Nonsense Botany and Nonsense Alphabets.

Editor's Choice

Who Wants to be a Poodle? I Don’t!
Lauren Child
(Puffin)
5

The importance of communication and being understood could not be better expressed than in this cautionary tale of pampered poodle, Trixie Twinkle Toes Trot-a-lot Delight and her fashion plate owner, Verity Brulée. Mademoiselle Brulée, who lives...

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New Talent

Call Me Gorgeous!
Giles Milton
(Boxer Books)
4

Each double page spread in this handsomely produced landscape picture book depicts part of a mysterious animal. What could it be? The bold, expressive artwork in collage and coloured pencil conveys texture and a sense that beneath each element –...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 179

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

Under 5s

  • Don’t lose Pigley, Wibbly Pig!
    Mick Inkpen
    5

  • Olly and Me 123
    Shirley Hughes
    5

  • Not Last Night but the Night Before
    Colin McNaughton
    5

  • Yummy: My Favourite Nursery Stories
    Lucy Cousins
    5

  • Oliver Who Travelled Far and Wide
    Mara Bergman
    4

  • Little Miss Muffet Counts to Ten
    Emma Chichester Clark
    4

  • Finn Throws a Fit!
    David Elliott
    4

  • Call Me Gorgeous!
    Giles Milton
    4

  • Peas!
    Andy Cullen
    4

  • Hurry Up and Slow Down
    Layn Marlow
    3

  • When Dragons are Dreaming
    James Mayhew
    3

Ages 5-8

  • The Troll
    Julia Donaldson
    5

  • Oddly
    Joyce Dunbar
    5

  • Crazy Hair
    Neil Gaiman
    5

  • Woolly Mammoth
    Mick Manning
    5

  • Who Wants to be a Poodle? I Don’t!
    Lauren Child
    5

  • The Penguin who Wanted to Find Out
    Jill Tomlinson
    5

  • Princess Smartypants Breaks the Rules!
    Babette Cole
    4

  • My Friend Amy
    Anna McQuinn
    4

  • Remembering…
    Dianne Leutner
    4

  • Ramadan Moon
    Na'ima B Robert
    4

  • Daddy Lost His Head
    3

  • Two-Minute Animal Stories
    3

  • The Knight of Silk and Steel : The Knight of Spurs and Spirits
    Terry Deary
    3

  • The David Beckham Academy - Twin Trouble : The David Beckham Academy - Le Football
    Barry Hutchison
    3

  • The Eight-Year Old Legend Book
    Isabel Wyatt
    3

  • The Storyteller's Secrets
    Tony Mitton
    3

  • Alphab'art: Find the letters hidden in the paintings
    Anne Guéry
    3

  • Would You Want to Live Here? : A Roman Soldier's Handbook
    Alison Hawes
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Roman Diary
    Richard Platt
    5

  • The Ancient Romans: Their Lives and Their World
    Paul Roberts
    5

  • Bird
    Zetta Elliott
    4

  • Off By Heart: Poems to learn and love
    4

  • Quentin Blake's The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor ; One Thousand and One Nights
    4

  • Michael Rosen's A to Z: The Best Children's Poetry from Agard to Zephaniah
    4

  • The Thornthwaite Inheritance
    Gareth P Jones
    4

  • Hetty Feather
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • A Child's Garden
    Michael Foreman
    3

  • Planetwatch
    Martyn Bramwell
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Wheels of War
    Sally Prue
    5

  • No Way to Go
    Bernard Ashley
    5

  • Al Capone Shines My Shoes
    Gennifer Choldenko
    5

  • The Rabbit Problem
    Emily Gravett
    4

  • The Great Death
    John Smelcer
    4

  • Grass
    Catherine MacPhail
    4

  • Renegade
    Alan Gibbons
    4

  • The Midnight Charter
    David Whitley
    4

  • The Spook's Sacrifice
    Joseph Delaney
    4

  • Toby and the Secrets of the Tree
    Timothée De Fombelle
    4

  • The Keepers' Daughter
    Gill Arbuthnott
    4

  • No Added Sugar: growing up with type 1 diabetes
    Fibi Ward
    4

  • Faerie Heart
    Livi Michael
    3

  • Boom!
    Mark Haddon
    3

  • Jupiter Amidships
    S I Martin
    3

  • Angel Cake
    Cathy Cassidy
    3

  • The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43
    Harriet Goodwin
    3

  • Devil's Rock
    Chris Speyer
    3

  • The Undrowned Child
    Michelle Lovric
    3

  • Dark Fire
    Chris D'Lacey
    3

  • Brilliant Bugs
    Sally Tagholm
    3

  • The Lion Encyclopedia of the Bible
    Peter Atkinson
    3

  • Oxford School Dictionary of Word Origins
    John Ayto
    3

  • Prophecy of the Sisters
    Michelle Zink
    2

  • Pimpernelles, Book 1: The Pale Assassin
    Patricia Elliott
    2

  • Destroying the Oceans
    Sarah Levete
    2

  • The Plague
    Joanne Dahme
    1

Ages 14+

  • The Dead House
    Anne Cassidy
    5

  • A Trick of the Dark
    B R Collins
    4

  • Ganglands: Brazil
    Ross Kemp
    3

  • Bad Company
    Mike Walker
    2

BfK News

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

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LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

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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...
LONGLIST FOR THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The longlist for the 2021 Branford Boase Award has been announced. Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children.

read more...
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.’

read more...
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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