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Books for Keeps 199 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 199 - March 2013
BfK 199 March 2013

This issue’s cover illustration is from Lunchtime by Rebecca Cobb. Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their help with this March cover and to Little Tiger Press for their support of the Authorgraph interview with David Roberts.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 199 March 2013 .

BfK No. 199 Articles

And the winner is …

And the winner is …
The 2013 Cilip Kate Greenaway Medal: the shortlist

The 2013 CILIP Kate Greenaway shortlist assessed by Martin Salisbury
Ten of the Best: books that should have won prizes, but didn’t

Ten of the Best books that should have won prizes, but didn’t. Chosen by Geraldine Brennan.
Windows into Illustration: Carol Thompson

Carol Thompson on how she created the illustrations for Looking for Rex by Jan Ormerod
Beyond World Book Day

Laura Fraine suggests ways to keep pupils reading for pleasure
Suspended between worlds: bringing The Arrival to the stage

Sita Brahmachari discusses adapting Shaun Tan’s classic graphic novel for
Books for Keeps Brilliant Bookshops: The Barefoot Books Studio, Oxford

A tour round the Barefoot Books Studio in Oxford
Authorgraph interview 199: David Roberts

Dirty Bertie creator David Roberts interviewed by Damian Kelleher.
FULL STEAM AHEAD

Caroline Sanderson grapples with New Adult fiction
Gun Control

Alan Gibbons on writing about street violence for teens
BfK Briefing 199

Obituaries and news
Lucy Coats I Wish I'd Written

Lucy Coats choses the perfect reimagined fairytale
Barrington Stoke at Fifteen

Review feature: Barrington Stoke
Classics in Short No. 98 Robinson Crusoe

Brian Alderson on Robinson Crusoe.
MELVIN BURGESS INTERVIEW: THE HIT

Take it. Live it. Do it. Die. Melvin Burgess talks about his new novel The Hit, a book that goes all out to deal with sex, drugs and death.
INVITATION: STORY QUEENS EVENT

Special invitation to a Books for Keeps event
FLYING EYE: LOOKING AHEAD

Flying Eye is a new imprint dedicated to publishing exciting and original picture books. Ferelith Hordon reports
A MEMORY OF ELEPHANTS: INTERVIEW WITH RACHEL CAMPBELL-JOHNSTON

Rachel Campbell-Johnston talks about the effect she hopes her debut children’s novel, The Child’s Elephant, will have on young readers.

Editor's Choice

In the Land of the Giants
George Szirtes
(Salt Publishing)
5

This is only the second of George Szirtes’ books of poetry for children, and represents a selection from 25 years work. His first, The Red All Over Riddle Book , published as long ago as 1997, was a book I always took with me...

read more

New Talent

Infinite Sky
C J Flood
(Simon & Schuster Childrens Books)
4

Infinite Sky is C J Flood’s debut novel, and she has chosen to write about heavy-weight themes: first love, family breakdown, the sudden violent death of a young person.

The story is set in the recent past (the seventies...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 199

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

Under 5s

  • Lunchtime
    Rebecca Cobb
    4

  • Prince Charmless
    Jeanne Willis
    4

  • Bear’s Best Friend
    Lucy Coats
    4

  • Oh Dear, Geoffrey!
    Gemma O’Neill
    4

  • Naked Trevor
    Rebecca Elliott
    4

  • Lion vs Rabbit
    Alex Latimer
    4

  • I Got a Crocodile
    Nicola Killen
    4

  • Let’s Find Mimi! In the City
    Katherine Lodge
    3

  • Superfrog and the Big Stink
    Michael Foreman
    3

  • Scruffy Bear and the Lost Ball
    Chris Wormell
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Dog Loves Counting
    Louise Yates
    5

  • The Enduring Ark
    Gita Wolf
    5

  • Puss Jekyll Cat Hyde
    Joyce Dunbar
    5

  • The Girl with a Brave Heart
    Rita Jahanforuz
    4

  • Tiger Tells All
    Ann Cameron
    4

  • My Brother's Book
    Maurice Sendak
    3

  • Anton and the Battle
    Ole Konnecke
    3

  • Make Friends, Break Friends
    Julia Jarman
    3

  • Koala Calamity
    Jonathan Meres
    3

  • My Funny Family on Holiday
    Chris Higgins
    3

  • Magic Toyshop: The Naughty Croc
    Jessie Little
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Naming of Tishkin Silk
    Glenda Millard
    5

  • The Great Galloon
    Tom Banks
    4

  • Show Me a Story: 40 Craft Projects and Activities to Spark Children’s Storytelling
    Emily Neuburger
    4

  • Beatrice’s Dream: Life in an African Slum
    Karen Lynn Williams
    4

  • Look! Really Smart Art
    Gillian Wolfe
    4

  • The Smug Pug
    Anna Wilson
    4

  • …and the Blood Flowed Green
    Alan Nolan
    4

  • Made on Earth
    Wolfgang Korn
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Binny for Short
    Hilary McKay
    5

  • In the Land of the Giants
    George Szirtes
    5

  • Explore! The Most Dangerous Journeys of All Time
    Deborah Kespert
    5

  • The Diamond Thief
    Sharon Gosling
    4

  • The Hidden Gift
    Ian Somers
    4

  • The Murder Notebooks: Killing Rachel

    Anne Cassidy
    4

  • The Claws of Evil
    Andrew Beasley
    4

  • Back to Blackbrick
    Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
    4

  • The Horse Road
    Troon Harrison
    4

  • Skylark
    Meagan Spooner
    4

  • Upside Down in the Jungle
    Helen Phillips
    4

  • Me, Myself, Milly
    Penelope Bush
    4

  • Dodger
    Terry Pratchett
    3

  • Shadows of the Silver Screen
    Christopher Edge
    3

  • Bartolomé, the Infanta’s Pet
    Rachel van Kooij
    3

  • The Kill Order
    James Dashner
    3

  • Sorrowline
    Niel Bushnell
    3

  • Rat Runners
    Oisín McGann
    2

  • The Victory Dogs
    Megan Rix
    2

Ages 14+

  • By Any Other Name
    Laura Jarratt
    5

  • Siege
    Sarah Mussi
    5

  • Infinite Sky
    C J Flood
    4

  • Butter
    Erin Lange
    4

  • Just One Day
    Gayle Forman
    4

  • The Bunker Diary
    Kevin Brooks
    4

  • The Lost Girl
    Sangu Mandanna
    4

  • The day I met Suzie
    Chris Higgins
    3

  • Escape Theory
    Margaux Froley
    3

  • The Tragedy Paper
    Elizabeth Laban
    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

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.

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.

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

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