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Books for Keeps 112 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 112 - September 1998

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Nicola Bayley’s latest title, The Necessary Cat (© Nicola Bayley 1998). Nicola Bayley is interviewed by Joanna Carey. Thanks to Walker Books for their help in producing this September cover.

BfK No. 112 Articles

Editorial - September 1998

News and comment from the Editor.
Non-Fiction in the Literacy Hour

Margaret Mallett on using the best non-fiction enjoyably.

Entente Cordiale

Ted Wragg on first books to learn French.
Shadowing the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals

Clive Barnes looks at the impact of funding on shadowing.
Authorgraph No.112: Nicola Bayley

Nicola Bayley interviewed by Joanna Carey.
BfK Briefing – September 1998

News * Best Seller Chart * Letter to the Editor * Awards * Publications
Useful Organisations No.2: Reading is Fundamental UK

Organisation aiming to help families with a pattern of underachievement in literacy.
I Wish I’d Written… Ted Hughes’ Creation Tales

Geraldine McCaughrean chooses Ted Hughes' Creation Tales.
Good Reads: Ysgol Dinas Bran

Reviews from pupils of Ysgol Dinas Bran, Llangollen, Denbighshire.
Classics in Short No.11: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Helen Levene on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Editor's Choice

Same Difference
(Mammoth)
4

This issue's Editor's Choice is a collection of eight newly commissioned short stories, some from well know names. All of the stories have either gay or lesbian characters or characters who think they may be gay. Thus Gregory, in an entertaining...

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New Talent

Hex
Rhiannon Lassiter
(Macmillan Children's Books)
4

A first novel written when the author was 17. Hex is a pacey, sci-fi adventure thriller, both engrossingly written and confidently plotted. It is at the same time a metaphor for the was societies so often deal with those who are different...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 112

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

Under 5s

  • A Summery Saturday Morning
    Margaret Mahy
    4

  • Oliver's Fruit Salad
    Vivian French
    4

  • Granny and Me
    Penelope Farmer
    3

  • Harriet
    Deborah Inkpen
    3

  • Barty's Scarf
    Sally Chambers
    3

  • Fiddle-i-fee
    Jakki Wood
    3

  • Big Book of Families
    Catherine Anholt
    Laurence Anholt
    2

  • See the Rabbit; Doll and Teddy; Baby Sleeps; Blue Pram
    Janet Ahlberg
    Allan Ahlberg
    2

Ages 5-8

  • We Can Do It!
    Laura Dwight
    5

  • Top Secret
    Ted Dewan
    5

  • The Second Katie Morag Storybook
    Mairi Hedderwick
    5

  • Noah and the Space Ark
    Laura Cecil
    5

  • All Join In
    Quentin Blake
    5

  • Let the Sun Shine
    4

  • Beware of the Bears!
    Alan MacDonald
    4

  • Moo Baa Baa Quack
    Francesca Simon
    4

  • Strawberry Drums
    Adrian Mitchell
    4

  • Four Stories About Our House
    Emma Rogers
    Paul Rogers
    4

  • Pawprints in Time
    Philippa Butler
    4

  • Elmer
    David McKee
    4

  • The Best Thing about a Puppy
    Judy Hindley
    4

  • How Do Your Senses Work?
    Judy Tatchell
    3

  • Rumpelstiltskin
    3

  • How Do You Feel?
    Gillian Liu
    3

  • Turnover Tuesday
    Phyllis Root
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Young Astronomer
    Harry Ford
    5

  • Me and My Electric
    5

  • King Arthur ¦ King Arthur
    James Riordan
    5

  • Sarah, Plain and Tall
    Patricia MacLachlan
    5

  • Hex
    Rhiannon Lassiter
    4

  • Midnight's Choice
    Kate Thompson
    4

  • Tiger, Tiger
    Melvin Burgess
    4

  • Harvey Angell and the Ghost Child
    Diana Hendry
    4

  • Flying Upside Down
    Malcolm Rose
    4

  • The Headless Ghost; Laser Quest; Bodyparts; Moving the Goalposts
    Pete Johnson
    4

  • The Caribbean; The Landscape of St Lucia; The People of St Lucia
    Alison Hodge
    4

  • The Drop in my Drink: The Story of Water on our Planet
    Meredith Hooper
    4

  • How Green Are You?
    David Bellamy
    4

  • The Boggart and the Monster
    Susan Cooper
    4

  • The Last of the Wallendas
    Russell Hoban
    4

  • Trickster Tales
    4

  • Special Effects in Film and Television
    Jake Hamilton
    3

  • Nathan's Switch
    Pat Moon
    3

  • Starlight City
    Sue Welford
    3

  • The War Years: The Home Front
    Brian Moses
    3

  • The Forsaken Merman and Other Story Poems
    Berlie Doherty
    3

  • Nightmare Stairs
    Robert Swindells
    2

  • Fire Raiser!; Ghost Riders
    Philip Wooderson
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome
    Peter Connolly
    Hazel Dodge
    5

  • Genetics; Designer Genes
    Martin Brookes
    5

  • Justice of the Dagger
    James Watson
    5

  • Is Anybody Out There?
    Heather Couper
    Nigel Henbest
    4

  • A Different Life
    Lois Keith
    4

  • Storm
    Suzanne Fisher Staples
    4

  • Tag
    Michael Coleman
    4

  • Second Star to the Right
    Deborah Hautzig
    4

  • The Internet
    Herbie Brennan
    3

  • Tenderness
    Robert Cormier
    3

  • Cheap Street
    Sandra Chick
    3

  • Virtual Reality
    Chris Oxlade
    2

Ages 14+

  • Same Difference
    4

Books About Children's Books

  • Living with Eagles. Priest to Publisher: The Life and Times of Marcus Morris
    Sally Morris
    Jan Hallwood
    4

  • The Children's Book of Books
    3

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

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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.

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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.’

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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