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Books for Keeps 174 - the children's book magazine online

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Books for Keeps is packed with articles, interviews comment and, of course, reviews.

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BfK No. 174 - January 2009

Cover Story

This issue’s cover illustration by Helen Oxenbury is from Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox (Walker, 978 1 4063 1592 9, £10.99 hbk). Helen Oxenbury writes about her illustration here. Thanks to Walker Books for their help with this January cover.

BfK No. 174 Articles

Editorial - January 2009

News and comment from the Editor.
Print on Demand

Brian Alderson on new technology and children's books.
Laureate Log - January 2009

Michael Rosen reports on his Laureate projects.
Windows into Illustration: Helen Oxenbury

Helen Oxenbury explains her approach to illustration.
Picture Books for Everyone

Janice Morris discusses picture books for older readers.
Authorgraph No.174: Mal Peet

Mal Peet interviewed by Geoff Fox.
Hal’s Reading Diary - January 2009

Roger Mills enjoys stories full of suspense with Hal.
Letter to the Editor - January 2009

Yukino Semizu writes about Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior.
Forum: helping the teachers of reading

Mary Sutcliffe shares good practice with trainee teachers.
I Wish I’d Written… Treasure Island

Tim Bowler chooses Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.
Good Reads: Hull Collegiate Prep School

Reviews from pupils of Hull Collegiate Prep School.
Classics in Short No.73: The Little White Horse

Brian Alderson on Elizabeth Goudge's The Little White Horse.

Editor's Choice

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A Pop-Up Book
(Sterling)
5

Marine biologist Professor Pierre Aronnax of France is invited by the US navy to investigate some ‘unexplained incidents’ in their waters. This leads to his capture by the crew of the Nautilus, an undersea ship, and a meeting with the...

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New Talent

The Haunted House
Kazuno Kohara
(Two Hoots)
5

A little girl and her cat are about to move into a ‘splendid’ old house but when the little girl opens the front door she is confronted by an enormous ghost trying to prevent her from entering. Fortunately, the little girl is a witch so ghosts...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 174

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

Under 5s

  • The Aliens are Coming
    Colin McNaughton
    5

  • The Haunted House
    Kazuno Kohara
    5

  • The Baby in the Hat: an early romance
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Melrose and Croc: A Hero's Birthday
    Emma Chichester Clark
    5

  • I Really Want to Eat a Child
    Sylviane Donnio
    4

  • If I Were You
    Richard Hamilton
    4

  • Pirate Gran
    Geraldine Durrant
    4

  • I Want Two Birthdays!
    Tony Ross
    4

  • Mine's Bigger than Yours!
    Jeanne Willis
    3

  • Big Brave Brian
    M P Robertson
    3

  • Baby Blue Egg
    Mij Kelly
    3

  • Miffy Goes to the Zoo
    Dick Bruna
    3

Ages 5-8

  • The Great Paper Caper
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • Zoo-ology
    Joëlle Jolivet
    5

  • Manfred the Baddie
    John Fardell
    5

  • Kaspar, Prince of Cats
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • Stories from the Billabong
    4

  • Molly and her Dad
    Jan Ormerod
    4

  • Pugwash in the Pacific; Pugwash and the Buried Treasure
    John Ryan
    4

  • Johnny's Bad Day
    Edward Ardizzone
    4

  • Oscar and the Bird: A Book about Electricity; Oscar and the Snail: A Book about Things We Use
    Geoff Waring
    3

  • Kenny & the Dragon
    Tony DiTerlizzi
    3

  • Peter the Penguin Pioneer
    Daren King
    3

  • Tim and Tig
    Victor Kelleher
    3

  • Understanding Sam and Asperger Syndrome
    Clarabelle Von Niekerk
    Liezl Venter
    3

  • Little Blue
    Gaye Chapman
    3

  • Comings and Goings at Parrot Park
    Mary Murphy
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Teach Your Granny to Text - and Other Ways to Change the World
    Tanis Taylor
    5

  • Charles Darwin
    Alan Gibbons
    5

  • Tail-End Charlie
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    5

  • The Wind in the Willows
    Kenneth Grahame
    5

  • 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: A Pop-Up Book
    5

  • Our Living Earth
    Yann Arthus-Bertrand
    4

  • Using Energy; Why Should I Switch Off the Light?
    Sally Hewitt
    4

  • Cookie
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • How to Ride a Dragon's Storm
    Cressida Cowell
    4

  • Christmas with the Savages
    Mary Clive
    4

  • The Birthday Book: An Illustrated Treasury of Stories and Poems
    3

  • The Baker Street Mysteries: The Dragon Tattoo
    Tim Piggott-Smith
    3

  • Leaving Home
    Jan Michael
    3

  • Night Flight
    Michaela Morgan
    3

  • The Goose Guards
    Terry Deary
    2

  • Moi and Marie Antoinette
    Lynn Cullen
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Runemarks
    Joanne Harris
    5

  • Mothstorm
    Philip Reeve
    5

  • Heroes of the Valley
    Jonathan Stroud
    5

  • Sylvie and the Songman
    Tim Binding
    5

  • Waterslain Angels
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    5

  • Great Explorers
    Jim Pipe
    4

  • Inkdeath
    Cornelia Funke
    4

  • Necropolis
    Anthony Horowitz
    4

  • Running on the Cracks
    Julia Donaldson
    4

  • Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phyllis Wheatley
    Ann Rinaldi
    4

  • The Graveyard Book
    Neil Gaiman
    4

  • Inchworm
    Ann Kelley
    4

  • Then
    Morris Gleitzman
    4

  • Super Structures: Inside the World's Most Spectacular Buildings
    Samone Bos
    3

  • The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn: The Museum's Secret
    Henry Chancellor
    3

  • Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London
    Keith Mansfield
    3

  • Voyage across the Cosmos; Cosmic!
    Giles Sparrow
    2

Ages 14+

  • What On Earth Happened?
    Christopher Lloyd
    5

  • Double Cross
    Malorie Blackman
    4

  • Fish in the Sky
    Fridrik Erlings
    3

  • Fair Game: the Steps of Odessa
    James Watson
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Kiss Chase and Conkers: The Games We Played
    Caroline Sanderson
    5

  • Mary Carries On: Reflections on Some Favourite Girls' Stories
    Mary Cadogan
    3

BfK News

STRUAN MURRAY AND HIS EDITOR BEN HORSLEN WIN THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logo

Struan Murray and his editor Ben Horslen have been named winners of the 2021 Branford Boase Award for the year’s outstanding debut novel for children for Orphans of the Tide.

read more...
2021 WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE WINNER

Elle McNicoll has been named Overall Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2021 for her debut novel A Kind Of Spark. Now in its seventeenth year, the Prize consists of £5,000 and the promise of ongoing commitment to the winners’ writing and illustrating careers, making it one of the most valuable and prestigious children’s book awards in the UK.

read more...
SCHOLASTIC UK ANNOUNCE LOLLIES 2022 SHORTLIST OF FUNNIEST BOOKS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, today announced the shortlist for the 2022 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies). The Lollies, created by Scholastic UK, celebrate the funniest children’s books and this will be the fifth year of the awards after a hiatus in 2021.

read more...
THE 2021 UKLA WINNERS

The 2021 UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by class teachers, will always be remembered as the year when the entire judging process had to be conducted online, with the judging panel only meeting and discussing the titles virtually. Yet despite this the impassioned discussions demonstrated yet again the impact that quality texts can have upon the teacher judges and the students in their classes.

read more...
CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY AWARD WINNERS 2021

The winners of this year’s CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest book awards for children and young people, were revealed today. Both winning books were announced at a virtual, daytime event, hosted by University Challenge Star and author Bobby Seagull and livestreamed from The British Library.

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SCHOOL LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR 2020/21 ANNOUNCED

SLA logo

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PATRICE LAWRENCE NAMED WINNER OF 2021 JHALAK PRIZE AWARD

Patrice Lawrence is the winner of the inaugural Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize for her YA novel, Eight Pieces of Silva.

Jhalak Prize logo

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THE 2021 LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST

The shortlist for the 2021 Little Rebels Award has been revealed and it is the longest in the award’s history.

Now in its 9th year, the Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s fiction which challenges stereotypes, promotes social justice and advocates for a more peaceful and fairer world.

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logo

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