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Books for Keeps 125 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 125 - November 2000

Cover Story
The anarchic hero of many daring adventures, William, as depicted on our cover by Thomas Henry in one of his effective, humorous pen and ink illustrations, is now a period piece. A William de nos jours illustrated by Tony Ross and aimed at a younger audience stands alongside him. This new William will be featured in adaptations of the stories by Martin Jarvis. Richmal Crompton, author of the William books, is the subject of this issue's Authorgraph. Thanks to Macmillan Children’s Books for their help with this November cover.

BfK No. 125 Articles

Editorial - November 2000

News and comment from the Editor.
Books for Giving

Joanna Carey on beautiful gifts for Christmas.
Authorgraph No.125: Richmal Crompton

Richmal Crompton assessed by Mary Cadogan.
Adults Reading Children’s Books

Margaret Meek on reader responses, adult and child.
BfK Briefing - November 2000

News * Publication * Letter to the Editor * Awards
Useful Organisations No.12: The Historical Association

Offers journals, e-mail newsletter, lectures, events and discounts on books and visits.

I Wish I’d Written… The Emperor’s Egg

Richard Platt chooses Martin Jenkins and Jane Chapman's The Emperor's Egg.
Good Reads: Orchard County Junior School

Reviews from pupils of Orchard County Junior School, Dibden Purlieu, Southampton.
Classics in Short No.24: The Wizard of Oz

Brian Alderson on L Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz.

Editor's Choice

Sea-Cat and Dragon King
Angela Carter
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
4

'It is a little known fact that cats live at the bottom of the sea,' Carter tells us in this agreeable little book that must surely have started life as a bedtime story with its slightly disjointed quality to the telling. Sea-Cat knows he is...

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New Talent

Rain
Manya Stojic
(Chrysalis Children's Books)
5

'It was hot. Everything was hot and dry' begins this exciting, heat filled picture book which has the animals of the savanna excitedly passing on the news to each other that the rain is coming. Porcupine can smell it, the zebras can see it, the...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 125

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

Under 5s

  • Cat in the Dark
    5

  • Rain
    Manya Stojic
    5

  • Are You a Ladybird?
    Judy Allen
    Tudor Humphries
    4

  • I'm Sorry
    Sam McBratney
    4

  • The Scarecrow's Hat
    Ken Brown
    4

  • Nothing Scares Us
    Frieda Wishinsky
    4

  • A Coat of Cats
    Jeri Kroll
    4

  • Clever Tortoise
    Francesca Martin
    4

  • Rosie's Room - A first flap book about sight; Hattie's House - A first flap book about sound; George's Garden - A first flap book about touch; Peter's Party - A first flap book about taste
    Mandy
    Ness
    4

  • The Bear Went Over the Mountain; Number One, Tickle Your Tum
    John Prater
    4

  • Hey Diddle Diddle
    Ailie Busby
    4

  • My Stepfamily; Rosie's First Day at School
    Rosemary Stones
    3

  • Spirit of Hope
    Bob Graham
    3

  • A New Room for William
    Sally Grindley
    3

  • Where Are You, Blue Kangaroo?
    Emma Chichester Clark
    3

  • Clown, Bear and Rabbit
    Tony Maddox
    3

  • 1,2,3; abc; Things that go; Animals
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Swallow Journey
    Vivian French
    5

  • What Did I Look Like When I Was a Baby?
    Jeanne Willis
    5

  • The Boy Who Became an Eagle
    Kathryn Cave
    5

  • Rude Rabbit ¦ Crazy Cow
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    5

  • Aldo
    John Burningham
    5

  • Stone Age Bone Age!
    Mick Manning
    4

  • Sea-Cat and Dragon King
    Angela Carter
    4

  • Pa's Poopy Chair
    Niki Daly
    4

  • Wow! It's great being a duck
    Joan Rankin
    4

  • Living with Epilepsy; Living with Down's Syndrome
    Patsy Westcott
    3

  • Robert Crowther's Amazing Pop-Up House of Inventions
    Robert Crowther
    3

  • Rita in Rocky Park; The Monster Muggs
    Hilda Offen
    3

  • Here Come the Heebie Jeebies and other Scary Poems
    3

  • Princess Elizabeth, Are You a Traitor?; God Bless Queen Victoria!
    Stewart Ross
    2

  • Goldilocks and the Three Bears; The Three Billy-Goats Gruff; Jack and the Beanstalk; The Donkey that Sneezed; The Magic Doctor; The Pied Piper of Hamelin
    Val Biro
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Leonardo and the Flying Boy: A Story about Leonardo da Vinci
    Laurence Anholt
    5

  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
    J K Rowling
    5

  • The Seeing Stone
    Kevin Crossley-Holland
    5

  • Art Fraud Detective
    Anna Nilsen
    4

  • Alexander Graham Bell; Marie Curie; Thomas Edison; Michael Faraday
    Anita Ganeri
    3

  • Wilma's Wicked Revenge
    Kaye Umansky
    3

  • Pictures in my mind; Walking on Air
    Joan Poulson
    3

  • The Mum Trap; Your Dad, My Mum
    Ruth Symes
    3

  • The Dummy's Dilemma and Other Poems
    John Mole
    3

  • Crab-boy Cranc; The Dragon Ring
    Julie Rainsbury
    3

  • A Pond in a Meadow; A Clearing in a Forest
    Sally Morgan
    2

  • Playing on the Edge
    Neil Arksey
    2

  • Pompom; Juggler
    Michaela Morgan
    2

  • The House With No Name
    Pippa Goodhart
    2

  • The Hat Trick
    Terry Deary
    2

  • A Witch in the Classroom!
    Ghillian Potts
    2

  • The Worst Class in the School
    Colin Fletcher
    1

Ages 10-14

  • Warlands
    Rachel Anderson
    5

  • Who's Who in Science and Technology
    Bob Fowke
    5

  • Chambers School Dictionary; Chambers School Thesaurus
    5

  • Heaven Eyes
    David Almond
    5

  • Pow
    Martin Booth
    5

  • Finding Joe
    Anthony Masters
    5

  • Never Again
    Martin Gilbert
    4

  • Balloon House
    Brian Keaney
    4

  • Undercover Angel
    Dyan Sheldon
    4

  • A Far Away Place
    Harriet Graham
    4

  • Warriors of Alavna
    N M Browne
    3

  • Shylock's Daughter
    Mirjam Pressler
    3

  • Sea Hawk, Sea Moon
    Beverley Birch
    3

  • Terminal Chic
    Chloë Rayban
    3

  • Tell me I'm Ok, really
    Rosie Rushton
    3

  • Septimus Similon, Practising Wizard
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • Bound for America
    Elizabeth Lutzeier
    3

  • A Look at Life in the Sixties; A Look at Life in the Seventies
    R G Grant
    2

  • Burger Wuss
    Matthew T Anderson
    2

  • Trip of a Lifetime
    Eric Johns
    2

BfK News

‘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.

read more...
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.

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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.

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

Jessica Love

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LOLLIES 2020 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), the awards that celebrate the funniest children’s books.

Lollies logo

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HOOD, RUNDELL AND REYNOLDS UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

Morag Hood, Katherine Rundell and Jason Reynolds have been announced as the winners of the UKLA Book Awards 2019 for I Am Bat, The Explorer and Long Way Down respectively.

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CATHERINE JOHNSON WINS LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Catherine Johnson for her book, Freedom (Scholastic 2018).

Catherine Johnsonn photo Andy Donohoe

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CRESSIDA COWELL ANNOUNCED AS NEW WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S LAUREATE

‘Books are transformative because of their unique ability to develop three key magical powers: intelligence, creativity and, most important of all, empathy. Words are power; let’s take magic seriously.’ Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

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STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

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SLA School Librarian of the Year 2019 Announced

Ros Harding School Librarian of the Year

Ros Harding of The King’s School Chester has been awarded the honour of the School Librarian of the Year 2019. 2019 YA Book Prize winner Sara Barnard presented Ros Harding with her award at a special ceremony at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel, Kensington, London Kensington on 27 June.

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