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Books for Keeps 244 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 244 - September 2020
BfK 244 September 2020

This issue’s cover illustration is from Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!: An Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year edited by Fiona Waters and illustrated by Britta Teckentrup. Thanks to Nosy Crow for their help with this September cover.
Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 244 September 2020.

BfK No. 244 Articles

Editorial 244

Editorial 244
Would there by a poem about a pangolin?

Editor Fiona Waters describes the joys and challenges of choosing an animal poem for every day of the year.
Ten Essential Children's Books

Ten essential books for young readers chosen by Geraldine McCaughrean
Windows into Illustration: Britta Teckentrup

Britta Teckentrup explains why she was so excited to be asked to illustration The House by the Lake
Authorgraph: Kevin Crossley-Holland

Kevin Crossley-Holland interviewed by Imogen Russell-Williams
Windows into Worlds

Jake Hope on the importance of visual representation and inclusion

Changing the world with books: an interview with Patrice Lawrence

Fen Coles interviews Patrice Lawrence about her new book Eight Pieces of Silva.
The Red Thread of Reading for Pleasure: Looking Back to Learn

Teresa Cremin looks back to her early reading
Beyond the Secret Garden: The Other Side of the Story

Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor delve into historical fiction
After the War: A Story that Needed Telling

A Story that Needed Telling: Tom Palmer talks to Clare Zinkin about his new book After the War
I Wish I'd Written: Julia Green

I Wish: Julia Green chooses a book she's loved since childhood
Good Reads 244

Good Reads at home with the Biddles
Obituary: Wendy Cooling

Wendy Cooling remembered by Anne Sarrag and friends
Classic in Short: To the Wild Sky

Go To the Wild Sky for drama and puzzlement
MAN OF ACTION: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS RYAN

Damian Kelleher interviews Chris Ryan about the latest in his Special Forces Cadets series.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH PÁDRAIG KENNY

The author of The Monsters of Rookhaven answers our questions on his book.
Obituary: Emma Langley 1983 - 2020

Ground-breaking young publisher Emma Langley remembered
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH CATHERINE O’FLYNN

Catherine O'Flynn answers our questions about her Lori and Max series of children's books.
Christmas recommendations 2020

Biblio details on all the books recommended for giving this Christmas.

Editor's Choice

Luna Loves Art
Joseph Coelho
5

Luna greets us with her irrepressible smile and equally irrepressible hair. Excitement radiates from her – she is going with her class on a school trip. In fact everyone is looking forward to it – except Finn. The art gallery is impressive – and...

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New Talent

The Wild Way Home
Sophie Kirtley
4

Fans of Stig of the Dump or Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 244

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

Under 5s

  • Just One of Those Days
    Jill Murphy
    5

  • We Planted a Pumpkin
    Rob Ramsden
    5

  • The Smile Shop
    Satoshi Kitamura
    4

  • Found You
    Devon Holzwarth
    4

  • Shy Ones
    Simona Ciraolo
    4

  • My Friends and Me
    Stephanie Stansbie
    4

  • The Diddle that Dummed
    Kes Gray
    4

  • Stay, Little Seed
    Cristiana Valentini
    3

  • Duck and Penguin Do NOT Like Sleepovers
    Julia Woolf
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Luna Loves Art
    Joseph Coelho
    5

  • Clean Up!
    Nathan Bryon
    5

  • The Teeny Weeny Genie
    Julia Donaldson
    5

  • Mouse in the House
    Russell Ayto
    5

  • A Bear Named Bjorn
    Delphine Perret
    5

  • Never Show a T-Rex a Book
    Rashmi Sirdeshpande
    5

  • The Runaway Pea Washed Away
    Kjartan Poskitt
    5

  • Leap, Hare, Leap
    Dom Conlon
    4

  • The Littlest Yak
    Lu Fraser
    4

  • Teatime Around the World
    Denyse Waissbluth
    4

  • To The Island
    Patricia Forde
    4

  • King of the Swamp
    Catherine Emmett
    3

  • Paris Cat
    Dianne Hofmeyr
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Butterfly Brain
    Laura Dockrill
    5

  • The Midnight Swan

    Catherine Fisher
    5

  • Sofia the Dreamer and her Magical Afro
    Jessica Wilson
    5

  • The Wizards of Once: Never and Forever
    Cressida Cowell
    5

  • The Virus
    Ben Martynoga
    5

  • Question Everything! An Investigator's Toolkit
    Susan Martineau
    Vicky Barker
    5

  • Jefferson
    Jean-Claude Mourlevat
    5

  • The Wild Way Home
    Sophie Kirtley
    4

  • Sky Pirates Echo Quickthorn and the Great Beyond
    Alex English
    4

  • Season of the Witch
    Matt Ralphs
    4

  • Invisible Nature: A Secret World Beyond Our Senses

    Catherine Barr
    4

  • Zombierella Fairy Tales Gone Bad
    Joseph Coelho
    4

  • The Beast and the Bethany
    Jack Meggitt-Phillips
    4

  • A Mummy Ate My Homework
    Thiago de Moraes
    4

  • Shoe Wars
    Liz Pichon
    4

  • Pizazz

    Sophy Henn
    4

  • Children of the Benin Kingdom
    Dinah Orji
    4

  • Moon Dog
    Jane Elson
    4

  • Life of Riley: Beginner's Luck
    Simon James Green
    4

  • InvestiGators
    John Patrick Green
    3

Ages 10-14

  • The Children of Swallow Fell
    Julia Green
    5

  • The Invisible Boy

    Alyssa Hollingsworth
    5

  • The Key to Finding Jack
    Ewa Jozefkowicz
    5

  • Small Town Hero
    Patrick Neate
    5

  • The Ten Riddles of Eartha Quicksmith
    Loris Owen
    5

  • Dark Blue Rising
    Teri Terry
    5

  • The Wizard in My Shed

    Simon Farnaby
    5

  • The Monsters of Rookhaven
    Pádraig Kenny
    5

  • The Unadoptables
    Hana Tooke
    4

  • Moonchild Voyage of the Lost and Found
    Aisha Bushby
    4

  • How Jack Lost Time
    Stéphanie Lapointe
    4

  • When Life Gives You Mangoes
    Kereen Getten
    4

  • My Story: Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan
    Sufiya Ahmed
    4

  • I Am Not A Label
    Cerrie Burnell
    4

  • Happy, Healthy Minds
    The School of Life
    4

  • Macbeth United

    Michael Rosen
    3

  • Tamarind & the Star of Ishta
    Jasbinder Bilan
    2

Ages 14+

  • Punching the Air
    Ibi Zoboi
    Yusuf Salaam
    5

  • I, Ada: Ada Lovelace
    Julia Gray
    5

  • The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea

    Maggie Tokuda-Hall
    5

  • The Girl Who Became a Tree: A Story Told in Poems
    Joseph Coelho
    4

  • Again, Again
    e. lockhart
    4

  • Clementine and Rudy

    Siobhan Curham
    4

  • The Rules
    Tracy Darnton
    4

  • Loveless
    Alice Oseman
    4

  • Wrecked

    Louisa Reid
    3

  • Heartbreak Boys
    Simon James Green
    3

  • How It All Blew Up
    Arvin Ahmadi
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Seeing Sense: visual literacy as a tool for libraries, learning and reader development
    Jake Hope
    3

BfK News

CRESSIDA COWELL LAUNCHES NEW LAUREATE INITIATIVE IN SUPPORT OF SCHOOL LIBRARIES AND CALLS ON PM TO ACT

‘How can a child become a reader for pleasure if their parents or carers cannot afford books, and their primary school has no library, or that library is woefully insufficient?’

Life-changing Libraries logo

read more...
SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 UKLA BOOK AWARDS

UKLA Book Awards logo

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ALL STORIES, A NEW MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME FOR UNDERREPRESENTED CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITERS

A new mentorship scheme for underrepresented authors launches today, 30 March. All Stories offers fourteen mentorships delivered by expert children’s book editors.

All Stories logo

read more...
2021 SHORTLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

CKG Logo

The shortlists for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, 18 March. The awards are the UK’s oldest for children and young people.

This year’s judges praised their shortlists for ‘offering hope and escapism during lockdown’ through explorations of freedom, the great outdoors and journeys through the natural world.

read more...
INAUGURAL LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE JHALAK CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG ADULT PRIZE

The Jhalak Prize has announced the longlist for the inaugural Jhalak Children’s & Young Adult Prize.

Jhalak Prize logo

read more...
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

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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.

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