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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

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.

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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.

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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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