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Books for Keeps 181 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 181 - March 2010
BfK 181 March 2010

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Brian Wildsmith’s The Hare and the Tortoise (© Brian Wildsmith 1966) published by Oxford University Press and re-issued in 2007 (978 0 19 272708 4, £5.99 pbk). Brian Wildsmith’s work is discussed by Joanna Carey in this issue. Thanks to Oxford University Press for their help with this March cover.

BfK No. 181 Articles

Editorial – March 2010

News and comment from the Editor.

The Children’s Books of the Decade

Rosemary Stones reflects on the first ten years of the new millennium.

Brian Wildsmith: A retrospective

Joanna Carey assesses his unique contribution.

Ten of the Best: Books that Introduce Children to Art

Martin Salisbury chooses his top ten.

Authorgraph No.181: Elizabeth Laird

Elizabeth Laird interviewed by Nicholas Tucker

A Time Like No Other

Peter Hollindale discusses A S Byatt's The Children's Book

BfK Briefing – March 2010

Event * Award

Useful Organisations No.52: Perform-a-Poem

A unique poetry performance website for primary school children.

Hal’s Reading Diary – March 2010

Roger Mills on the appeal of violence to children in their books.

I Wish I’d Written… Red Shift

Anthony McGowan chooses Alan Garner's Red Shift

Good Reads: Bishop Rawstorne C of E Language College, Lancashire

Reviews from pupils of Bishop Rawstorne C of E Language College.

Classics in Short No.80: The Eagle of the Ninth

Brian Alderson on Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Eagle of the Ninth.

Editor's Choice

The General

Janet Charters
(Templar Books)
5

Not many generals can be seen wearing a CND badge but General Jodhpur, illustrated by Michael Foreman in 1961 when he was still an art student, is a general who disbands his army so that the soldiers can return home and make their country ‘the...

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New Talent

Quicksilver

Sam Osman
(Marion Lloyd Books)
3

Ever since Alfred Watkins coined the term ‘ley lines’ in the 1920s and proposed that the lines connecting ancient sites are in fact old routes followed in prehistoric times for religious or trade reasons, there have been those who have attributed...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 181

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

Under 5s

  • This is my Book

    Mick Inkpen
    5
  • Yummy

    Lucy Cousins
    5
  • One Smart Fish

    Chris Wormell
    4
  • Little Miss Muffet and other rhymes

    PatrickGeorge
    4
  • The Wide-Mouthed Frog

    Iain Smyth
    3
  • The Terrible Plop

    Ursula Dubosarsky
    3
  • Dennis Duckling ¦ Where is Poppy’s Panda?

    Paul Sambrooks
    3
  • Grandma Comes to Stay ¦ Deron Goes to Nursery School

    Ifeoma Onyefulu
    3
  • What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? ¦ Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

    Mandy Ross
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Yucky Worms

    Vivian French
    5
  • The General

    Janet Charters
    5
  • Miko’s Magic Number

    Ruth Brown
    4
  • The King and the Seed

    Kes Gray
    4
  • Pea Boy and other stories from Iran

    4
  • Insect Detective

    Steve Voake
    4
  • Mum and Dad Glue

    Kes Gray
    3
  • Azad's Camel

    Erika Pál
    3
  • My First Book of Garden Bugs

    Mike Unwin
    3
  • Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

    David Benedictus
    2

Ages 8-10

  • The Man Who Lost His Head

    Claire Huchet Bishop
    5
  • The Wainscott Weasel

    Tor Seidler
    5
  • Umpteen Pockets: New and Collected Poems for Children

    Adrian Mitchell
    5
  • Cars: A pop-up book of automobiles

    Robert Crowther
    5
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula

    4
  • Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland ¦ Alice in Wonderland

    4
  • The Kites Are Flying!

    Michael Morpurgo
    4
  • Day by Day by Me

    Various Illustrators
    4
  • Remembering Green

    Lesley Beake
    3
  • The Great Hamster Massacre

    Katie Davies
    3
  • The Wickedest Witch

    Martin Howard
    3
  • Don Quixote

    Miguel De Cervantes
    3
  • Out of the Woods

    Lyn Gardner
    3
  • The Lightning Key

    Jon Berkeley
    3
  • Hamzat’s Journey: A Refugee Diary

    Anthony Robinson
    3
  • The Raven Mysteries, Book 2: Ghosts and Gadgets

    Marcus Sedgwick
    2
  • I Spy: The Constantinople Caper

    Graham Marks
    2
  • Lydia’s Tin Lid Drum

    Neale Osborne
    2
  • The Wild Things

    Dave Eggers
    1

Ages 10-14

  • The Battle of the Sun

    Jeanette Winterson
    5
  • Fortune Cookie

    Jean Ure
    4
  • Thief!

    John Pilkington
    4
  • Halo

    Zizou Corder
    4
  • Time Quake

    Linda Buckley-Archer
    4
  • The Lark and the Laurel

    Barbara Willard
    3
  • Salem Brownstone – All Along the Watchtowers

    John Harris Dunning
    3
  • Witch & Wizard

    James Patterson
    3
  • Hell’s Heroes

    Darren Shan
    3
  • Crocodile Tears

    Anthony Horowitz
    3
  • Quicksilver

    Sam Osman
    3
  • Leviathan

    Scott Westerfeld
    3
  • Energy Revolution: Climate change and our post-carbon future

    Joseph Lacey
    3
  • Esty’s Gold

    Mary Arrigan
    2

Ages 14+

  • Rich and Mad

    William Nicholson
    4
  • Sacred Scars

    Kathleen Duey
    4
  • Hunger

    Michael Grant
    4
  • Inside

    Julia Jarman
    3
  • Paradise Red

    K M Grant
    3
  • Daughter of Fire and Ice

    Marie-Louise Jensen
    3
  • We Were Young and at War

    Sarah Wallis
    Svetlana Palmer
    3
  • Evermore

    Alyson Noël
    1

Books About Children's Books

  • The Private Diaries of Alison Uttley

    1
  • Illustrated Children’s Books

    0

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

read more...
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.

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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

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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

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LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

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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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