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Books for Keeps 123 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 123 - July 2000

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Monkey Puzzle. Written in rhyme, this agreeable story has butterfly helping little monkey to find his mum. Scheffler’s distinctive, entertaining and strongly characterised illustrations make good use of the page as little monkey meets lots of jungle inhabitants before being reunited with his mum. Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their help in producing this July cover.

BfK No. 123 Articles

Editorial - July 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Young and Pregnant

Lesley de Meza on sex education and children's books.
Authorgraph No.123: Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
Beyond Our Shores

Michael Morpurgo on the need for books in translation.
Assessing the Carnegie and Greenaway Shortlists

Rosemary Stones discusses the chosen books.
Knowing About Children’s Literature

Prue Goodwin explains the role of teacher training.
BfK Briefing - July 2000

News * Letters to the Editor * Obituary * Awards * Events

Good Reads: The King’s School, Worcester

Reviews from pupils of The King’s School, Worcester.
Classics in Short No.22: The Story of the Little Red Engine

Brian Alderson on Diana Ross's The Story of the Little Red Engine.

Editor's Choice

The Other Side of Truth
Beverley Naidoo
(Puffin)
5

When their mother is assassinated, Sade and Femi's father, an outspoken journalist highly critical of the government, decides that the children must be smuggled out of Nigeria to safety in England. That same evening they board a plane under...

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New Talent

Floodland
Marcus Sedgwick
(Orion Children's Books)
3

A new addition to the recent spate of children's novels set in dystopian future worlds, Floodland is located in a Norwich which is now cut off from the mainland, surrounded by the sea which has flooded and reclaimed the land after global warming...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 123

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

Under 5s

  • Billy Bean's Dream
    Simone Lia
    5

  • A Pig is Moving In!
    Claudia Fries
    5

  • The Orchard Nursery Story Book
    Helen Craig
    4

  • Choosy Charlie: A book for children with clever fingers; The Giant's Boot: A book for children with clever fingers
    Marion Ripley
    4

  • Frog and a Very Special Day
    Max Velthuijs
    4

  • I Want My Potty
    Tony Ross
    4

  • A Special Something
    Jan Fearnley
    3

  • Dog Days
    Dawn Bentley
    3

  • Poems about Festivals; Poems about Seasons
    3

  • Need a Trim, Jim
    Kaye Umansky
    3

  • The Katie Morag Stories
    Mairi Hedderwick
    2

  • The Elephants' Ears
    Catherine Chambers
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Dog's Night
    Meredith Hooper
    5

  • My Dad
    Anthony Browne
    5

  • Grandma Chickenlegs
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    4

  • Furaha Means Happy! A Book of Swahili Words
    Ken Wilson-Max
    4

  • Mozart: Scenes from the Childhood of the Great Composer
    Catherine Brighton
    4

  • My Cat Charlie
    Becky Edwards
    4

  • Beowulf and the Monster; The Simple Giant
    Brian Patten
    4

  • The Big Orchard Book of Funny Poems
    4

  • The Grandad Tree
    Trish Cooke
    4

  • Ghostly Goulash; Serpent Soup; Goblin Stew; Fairy Cake
    Jonathan Emmett
    3

  • The Great Divide
    Dayle Ann Dodds
    3

  • Pumpkin's Downfall
    Leon Rosselson
    3

  • Little Brother and the Cough
    Hiawyn Oram
    3

  • First Encyclopedia of Our World
    Felicity Brooks
    3

  • My Brother, My Sister and Me - a first look at sibling rivalry; Stop Picking on Me - a first look at bullying
    Pat Thomas
    3

  • Who Loves You, Billy?
    Bernard Ashley
    3

  • The Man
    Raymond Briggs
    3

  • Stories from India
    Vayu Naidu
    3

  • Two of Everything
    Babette Cole
    3

  • The Sun is Laughing
    3

  • The Living Earth
    Eleonore Schmid
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Collected Poems for Children
    Charles Causley
    5

  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    J K Rowling
    5

  • Buried Alive!
    Jacqueline Wilson
    5

  • Juggling with Gerbils
    Brian Patten
    5

  • Pop-Up Olympics
    Robert Crowther
    4

  • My Brother's Ghost
    Allan Ahlberg
    4

  • Prehistoric World
    Fiona Chandler
    Sam Taplin
    Jane Bingham
    4

  • Robin of Sherwood
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • Good Sports!
    4

  • How the Whale Became and Other Stories
    Ted Hughes
    4

  • Sojourner Truth; Mary Seacole
    John Malam
    3

  • Redwall
    Brian Jacques
    3

  • Dear Diary
    Sara Fanelli
    3

  • Space Race
    Sylvia Waugh
    3

  • Killer Mushrooms Ate My Gran
    Susan Gates
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Candlefasts
    William Mayne
    5

  • The Other Side of Truth
    Beverley Naidoo
    5

  • Five Finger-Piglets
    5

  • Crossing the Line: Young Women and the Law
    4

  • The Burning
    Judy Allen
    4

  • The War in Kosovo
    Stewart Ross
    4

  • My Secret Camera
    4

  • Faraway Home
    Marilyn Taylor
    4

  • The Lammas Field
    Catherine Fisher
    4

  • The King Who Was and Will Be: The World of King Arthur and His Knights
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    4

  • Vision of Beauty
    Kathryn Lasky
    3

  • P.S. He's Mine! (a novel in e-mail)
    Rosie Rushton
    Nina Schindler
    3

  • Flame Angels: An Anthology of Irish Writing
    3

  • The Philosophy Files
    Stephen Law
    3

  • Winge?d Chariot
    Ben Jeapes
    3

  • Law of the Wolf Tower
    Tanith Lee
    3

  • Seven Little Australians
    Ethel Turner
    3

  • Floodland
    Marcus Sedgwick
    3

  • Rhino Boy
    John Brindley
    3

  • The White Horse
    Cynthia D Grant
    1

Books About Children's Books

  • Tales, Tellers and Texts
    Gabrielle Cliff Hodges
    Mary Jane Drummond
    Morag Styles
    3

  • Hand in Hand - emotional development through literature
    3

BfK News

JASBINDER BILAN WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH HER DEBUT NOVEL

Jasbinder Bilan

read more...
COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2019: SHORTLIST FEATURES

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award alongside newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing.

Costa Book Awards logo

Click the links below to read new Books for Keeps feature articles on each of the shortlisted authors.

read more...
THE IBBY LIST OF OUSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Dr Rebecca Butler writes.

Readers of Books for Keeps will remember that IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young People) arranges every two years a competition to identify the very best books for young readers featuring disability or designed to be read by young people with disabilities. Last time this list was compiled in 2017/18 I was the coordinator for the UK section.

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ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS’ GREAT ADVENTURERS WINS THE 2019 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Educational Writers’ Award is Alastair Humphreys’ Great Adventurers: The Incredible Expeditions of 20 Explorers (Big Picture Press).

Alastair Humphreys Great Adventures

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BLACKMAN AND DOWNHAM ON SHORTLIST FOR 2019 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award, which was announced today, 26th November 2020. Alongside them on the list are newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing, both of whom are published by Chicken House.

The 2019 Costa Children’s Award shortlist

read more...
2019 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD SHORTLIST

Shortlist announced for the UK’s only award for creative educational writing

The Society of Authors and the Authors’ Licensing& Collecting Society have announced the shortlist for the 2019 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing which stimulates and enhances the learning experience.

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‘INSPIRING’: CONTENDERS FOR THE 2020 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

Blue Peter Book Award logo

Six books have made it onto the shortlists for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. There are two categories: Best Story, and – in non-fiction November – Best Book with Facts.

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NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

And we’re off… the nominations for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, Monday 4th November.

read more...
2020 UKLA BOOK AWARDS THE LONGLISTS

UKLA Awards

A record number of submissions and a new category to highlight information books marks the 12th longlists for the UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.

read more...
JESSICA LOVE NAMED WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 FOR JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Jessica Love

read more...
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