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Books for Keeps 186 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 186 - January 2011
BfK 186 January 2011

Cover Story
This issue’s cover features Ally Kennen and her latest book, Quarry. Ally Kennen is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Marion Lloyd Books for their help with this January cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 186 January 2011

BfK No. 186 Articles

Editorial – January 2011

News and comment from the Editor.
Panic about the teaching of reading

Henrietta Dombey takes issue with the promotion of systematic synthetic phonics.
Appy Days

Kate Wilson explains the potential of apps.
Playing with Words: Two Children’s Encounters with Poetry from Birth

Playing with Words: Two Children’s Encounters with Poetry from Birth
Ten of the Best Books on Green Issues

Ten of the Best Books on Green Issues
Windows into Illustration: Ella Burfoot

Ella Burfoot on the illustrations for Betty and the Yeti
Conflicts and Controversies: Running into Flak

Novelist Elizabeth Laird discusses ‘running into flak’.
Authorgraph No.186: Ally Kennen

Ally Kennen is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
OBITUARY: Adrian Jackson

Adrian Jackson (1951-2010)
BfK Briefing – January 2011

Awards
I Wish I’d Written… Mortal Engines

Ali Sparkes chooses Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines.
Hal’s Reading Diary – January 2011

Roger Mills on Hal’s attitude to reading.
Good Reads: Booktrust Teenage Prize reviewed by the four teenage judges.

Reviews from the teen judges of Booktrust Teenage Prize.
Classics in Short No.85: HEIDI

Brian Alderson on Johanna Spyri’s Heidi.
Jason Wallace,winner of the Costa Chiidren’s Book Award, talks to Books for keeps

First time author wins the Costa Children’s Book  Award.
First time author wins the Costa Children’s Book Award

Jason Wallace wins the Costa Children’s Book Award.
Obituary: Dick King-Smith

Laura Fraine on Dick King-Smith 1922-2011
Obituary: Kate Jones

Anne Marley remembers Kate Jones.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader has just been released. Will children enjoy it? Laura Fraine reports.
Extract: If I Could Fly

Extract from If I Could Fly by Jill Hucklesby
Chris Wormell talks about Scruffy Bear and the Six White Mice

Chris Wormell answers questions from BfK.
Writing Grace – Morris Gleitzman

Morris Gleitzman talks to Books for Keeps
Obituary: Brian Jacques

Jake Hope remembers Brian Jacques.
Rebecca Stead interviewed by BfK

Graham Marks talks to Rebecca Stead about her latest book.
The Frances Hardinge interview

Caroline Sanderson talks to Frances Hardinge.

Editor's Choice

Up and Down
Oliver Jeffers
(HarperCollinsChildren'sBooks)
5

The boy and his friend the penguin (who first appeared in Jeffers’ extraordinary debut picture book, Lost and Found) ‘always did everything together’. We see them involved in a pretend game, making music and playing backgammon....

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New Talent

Artichoke Hearts
Sita Brahmachari
(Macmillan Children's Books)
4

This unusual novel is about the process of dying. 12 year-old Mira’s Grandmother, Nana Josie, has a terminal illness and her family experience with her each stage of the trajectory to death. As a counterpoint to this intense and unflinching...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 186

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

Under 5s

  • Maisy’s Show
    Lucy Cousins
    5

  • Jeremiah Jellyfish Flies High!
    John Fardell
    5

  • Up and Down
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • Immi
    Karin Littlewood
    5

  • I See the Moon
    Jacqueline Mitton
    5

  • The Three Billy Goats Fluff
    Rachael Mortimer
    4

  • A Splendid Friend, Indeed
    Suzanne Bloom
    4

  • The Bear with Sticky Paws and the New Baby
    Clara Vulliamy
    4

  • George and Ghost
    Catriona Hoy
    4

  • Egg
    Alex T Smith
    4

  • Fatou, fetch the water
    Neil Griffiths
    4

  • The Beasties
    Jenny Nimmo
    3

  • Our Animals ¦ At School
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Olivia Goes to Venice
    Ian Falconer
    5

  • Quentin Blake’s Magical Tales
    John Yeoman
    4

  • Ahmed and the Feather Girl
    Jane Ray
    4

  • Even Monsters Need Haircuts
    Matthew McElligott
    4

  • Dragon Feathers
    4

  • Sivu’s Six Wishes
    Jude Daly
    4

  • The Railway Rabbits: Wisher and the Runaway Piglet
    Georgie Adams
    3

  • The No.1 Car Spotter
    Atinuke
    3

  • Cactus Annie
    Melanie Williamson
    3

  • Little Frog
    Jakob Martin Strid
    3

  • The Ice Bear
    Jackie Morris
    3

  • Jumping Mouse
    3

  • You Can't Play Here!
    Angus Corby
    3

  • Spike and Ali Enson
    Malaika Rose Stanley
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Pull Out All the Stops
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    5

  • Noah Barleywater Runs Away
    John Boyne
    5

  • Mr Gum and the Secret Hideout
    Andy Stanton
    5

  • The Iron Man
    Ted Hughes
    5

  • The White Wand
    Martin Howard
    4

  • The Magician’s Elephant
    Kate DiCamillo
    4

  • The Longest Whale Song
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • By Sun and Candlelight
    4

  • A Slip in Time
    Maggie Pearson
    4

  • The Good Green Lunchbox
    Jocelyn Miller
    4

  • I Found a Dead Bird: a guide to the cycle of life and death
    Jan Thornhill
    4

  • Meltem’s Journey
    Anthony Robinson
    3

  • The Search for WondLa
    Tony DiTerlizzi
    3

  • Bella Donna: Coven Road
    Ruth Symes
    3

  • Tumtum & Nutmeg: A Circus Adventure
    Emily Bearn
    3

  • The Big Green Book
    Ian Winton
    Fred Pearce
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon
    Jonathan Stroud
    5

  • The Midnight Zoo
    Sonya Hartnett
    5

  • Zelah Green ¦ Zelah Green: One More Little Problem
    Vanessa Curtis
    5

  • What goes on in my Head?
    Robert Winston
    5

  • Blood Crime
    John Brindley
    4

  • Accomplice
    Eireann Corrigan
    4

  • Artichoke Hearts
    Sita Brahmachari
    4

  • The Killer’s Daughter
    Vivian Oldaker
    4

  • Lost Dogs
    Garrett Carr
    4

  • Circle of Fire
    S M Hall
    4

  • The Fallen 1: The Fallen and Leviathan
    Thomas E Sniegoski
    4

  • Blood Ransom
    Sophie McKenzie
    3

  • In Defence of the Realm
    3

  • Double Crossing
    Richard Platt
    3

  • Playing with Phyre
    Graham Marks
    3

  • Birth of a Killer
    Darren Shan
    3

  • Boy vs. Girl
    Na'ima B Robert
    3

  • Shadow
    Michael Morpurgo
    3

  • The Tolpuddle Boy
    Alan James Brown
    3

  • Eating Things on Sticks
    Anne Fine
    2

  • Clockwork Angel
    Cassandra Clare
    2

  • Barack Obama
    Peter Hicks
    2

Ages 14+

  • Lifted
    Hilary Freeman
    5

  • Being Billy
    Phil Earle
    5

  • The Glass Collector
    Anna Perera
    5

  • You Against Me
    Jenny Downham
    5

  • Boys Don't Cry
    Malorie Blackman
    4

  • Finding Sky
    Joss Stirling
    4

  • Revolution
    Jennifer Donnelly
    3

  • Learning to Scream
    Beate Teresa Hanika
    3

  • iBoy
    Kevin Brooks
    3

  • Torment
    Lauren Kate
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • So Much to Tell
    Valerie Grove
    5

  • Poetry and Childhood
    Morag Styles
    5

  • The Lore of the Playground: One Hundred Years of Children's Games, Rhymes and Traditions
    Steve Roud
    4

  • Spoilt Rotten: the Toxic Cult of Sentimentality
    Theodore Dalrymple
    0

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.’

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.

read more...
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.

read more...
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

read more...
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.

read more...
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

read more...
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.

read more...
TOM PALMER WINS THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Tom Palmer

read more...
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