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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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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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