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Books for Keeps 194 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 194 - May 2012
BfK 194 May 2012

This issue’s cover illustration by Catherine Rayner is from Solomon Crocodile. Catherine Rayner is interviewed on p.14 of this issue. Thanks to Macmillan Children's Books for their help with this May cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 194 May 2012 .

BfK No. 194 Articles

Q&A with Burn Mark author Laura Powell

Laura Powell answers questions on her novel Burn Mark
194 Editorial

Editorial
Being at Bologna

Clive Barnes visits the international rights fair for Books for Keeps
Creating Picture Books: Alison Green

Alison Green explains her approach to picture book making.
Process, Creation and Audience: the 32 page picture book

Sue Buswell explains why most picture books have 32 pages
Windows into Illustration: Jan Fearnley

Jan Fearnley on how she went about illustrating Harry and the Jaggedy Daggers.
Anthea Bell, Literary Translator Par Excellence

Gillian Lathey interviews the translator of Asterix
Ten of the Best: Kate Greenaway Medal Winners

Joanna Carey chooses her top ten Kate Greenaway Medal winners.
Authorgraph 194: Catherine Rayner

Catherine Rayner interviewed by George Hunt
The Children's Bookshop Muswell Hill

BfK’s Brilliant Children’s BookshopsThe Children’s Bookshop, Muswell Hill, London.
194 Briefing

Obituaries, awards
Frances Hardinge I Wish

Frances Hardinge chooses her favourite epic saga…
194 Hal's Reading Diary

Roger Mills on 11-year-old Hal’s engagement with reading.
Corpus Christi Primary School Good Reads

Reviews from Corpus Christi Primary School, Gateshead.
Classics in Short No 93

Brian Alderson on Joan Aiken's The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.
Next – a new collection of short stories about life after death

Keith Gray talks to Books for Keeps about the thinking behind the new anthology Next and his approach as editor.
An interview with Catherynne M. Valente

Catherynne M. Valente talks about her award winning fantasy adventure.
Q&A with Elen Caldecott on The Mystery of Wickworth Manor

Elen Caldecott talks about her latest book The Mystery of Wickworth Manor.
The Henry Finkler interview

Tell anyone you are interviewing Henry Winkler and the response is universally positive and envious. Everyone knows The Fonz and just thinking about him seems to bring on a happy state of nostalgia. Julia Eccleshare talked to Henry Finkler for Books for Keeps
Kevin Crossley-Holland - School Library Association President for 2012

The distinguished author Kevin Crossley-Holland is the new President of the SLA. He took up on the role on the 10th June when he gave the final key-note speech at the joint SLG, SLA and YLG Conference Lighting the Future.

Here are elements of that speech. An edited and printed version of the speech will appear in the School Librarian in September.

Editor's Choice

Rubbish Town Hero
Nicola Davies
(Corgi Childrens)
4

Orphaned in a civil war, Chipo and his sister Gentle survive by sorting through rubbish looking for metal, plastic, wood and electrical wire. Gentle has a cleft palate and lip and is thus vulnerable to bullying and harassment so she hides her...

read more

New Talent

Hamda and Fisaikra
Kaltham Al-Ghanim
(Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing)
4

A variant of the Cinderella story, Hamda and Fisaikra is the version known in the Arabian Gulf. Hamda’s father, a fisherman, sets out in his boat each day to cast his net. At the end of the day Hamda waits for him on the shore...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 194

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

Under 5s

  • Selkie
    Gillian McClure
    4

  • Wanda Wallaby Finds Her Bounce
    Jonathan Emmett
    4

  • Nora: The Girl Who Ate and Ate and Ate
    Andrew Weale
    4

  • Belle and Boo and the Birthday Surprise
    Mandy Sutcliffe
    4

  • Six Little Chicks
    Jez Alborough
    4

  • Collywobble
    Malachy Doyle
    4

  • The Snorgh and the Sailor
    Will Buckingham
    4

  • Cats and Kittens
    Anita Ganeri
    3

  • Cub’s First Summer
    Rebecca Elliott
    3

  • The Fearsome Beastie
    Giles Paley-Phillips
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Zoe's Boat
    Gillian McClure
    5

  • My Own Special Way
    Mithaa Alkhayyat
    4

  • Eric!
    Chris Wormell
    4

  • Penguin’s Hidden Talent
    Alex Latimer
    4

  • The Goblin and the Girl
    Neil Irani
    4

  • Hamda and Fisaikra
    Kaltham Al-Ghanim
    4

  • The Yoga Ogre
    Peter Bently
    4

  • I Love You, Little Monster
    Giles Andreae
    3

  • Sparkle's Song
    Samantha Hale
    3

  • Burping Bertha
    Michael Rosen
    3

  • Sophia the Flame Sister
    Amber Castle
    3

  • Pixie at the Palace
    Julie Sykes
    3

  • Medal Mayhem
    Tamsyn Murray
    3

  • Three Ladies Beside the Sea
    Rhoda Levine
    2

  • The Great Sheep Shenanigans
    Peter Bently
    0

Ages 8-10

  • Goblins
    Philip Reeve
    5

  • Tales for great grand children
    John Jackson
    5

  • The Secret Hen House Theatre

    Helen Peters
    4

  • Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder: The End of the World Maybe

    Jo Nesbø
    4

  • The Dragonsitter
    Josh Lacey
    4

  • Digging in the Dark
    Hilda Offen
    4

  • Rubbish Town Hero
    Nicola Davies
    4

  • Excuses, Excuses
    Anushka Ravishankar
    3

  • The Money, Stan, Big Lauren and Me
    Joanna Nadin
    3

  • The Worst Thing About My Sister
    Jacqueline Wilson
    3

  • Dark Lord: A Fiend in Need
    Jamie Thomson
    3

  • Paw Prints in the Snow
    Sally Grindley
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Chronicles of Harris Burdick
    Chris Van Allsburg
    5

  • Drive By
    Jim Carrington
    4

  • Bringing the Summer
    Julia Green
    4

  • Wonder
    R J Palacio
    4

  • Changeling
    Philippa Gregory
    4

  • What rhymes with sneeze?
    Roger Stevens
    4

  • The Prince Who Walked With Lions
    Elizabeth Laird
    4

  • Burn Mark
    Laura Powell
    4

  • Hero on a Bicycle
    Shirley Hughes
    3

  • Brotherband: The Outcasts
    John Flanagan
    3

  • Vixen
    Jillian Larkin
    2

  • The World’s Worst Mothers
    Sabine Ludwig
    2

  • Hitler’s Angel
    William Osborne
    1

Ages 14+

  • I'll Be There
    Holly Goldberg Sloan
    5

  • Slated
    Teri Terry
    4

  • Black Heart Blue
    Louisa Reid
    4

  • The Gathering Dark
    Leigh Bardugo
    4

  • Skin Deep
    Laura Jarratt
    4

  • Unravelling
    Elizabeth Norris
    4

  • Unrest
    Michelle Harrison
    4

  • Valentina
    Kevin McDermott
    4

  • Slide
    Jill Hathaway
    3

  • Witchstruck
    Victoria Lamb
    3

  • The Fury
    Alexander Gordon Smith
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Arthur Rackham’s Book of Pictures
    Arthur Rackham
    2

BfK News

NATASHA FARRANT WINS 2020 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Natasha Farrant

Writer and literary scout Natasha Farrant has won the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award for Voyage of the Sparrowhawk, a book which the judges described as ‘pure heavenly escapism and a purely joyful read.’

read more...
ROBIN WALKER WINS THE 2020 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD FOR BLACK HISTORY MATTERS

The winner of the 2020 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award is Black History Matters: The Story of Black History, From African Kingdoms to Black Lives Matter. Written by acclaimed Black historian, Robin Walker, the 2020 judges praised this accessible, comprehensive and inspiring book which provides a timely introduction both to Black history and the Black Lives Matter movement.

read more...
IBBY UK nominate Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2022

IBBY UK has announced that Marcus Sedgwick and David McKee will be the UK nominations for the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award.

read more...
SHORTLIST FOR THE COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Debut authors Darren Charlton and Jenny Pearson join Natasha Farrant and Meg Rosoff on the shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award.

The shortlist for the 2020 Costa Children’s Book Award has been announced. No less than 146 books were submitted and from those the judges have chosen a shortlist of four. They are:

Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (Little Tiger)

read more...
BOOKTRUST’S REPRESENTS INTERIM RESEARCH & CLPE REFLECTING REALITIES SURVEY 2020

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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SHORTLIST FOR THE 2021 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

The six books shortlisted for the 2021 Blue Peter Book Awards have been announced.

Blue Peter Book Award logo

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Happy National Non-Fiction November 2020

It’s National Non-Fiction November! Organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, National Non-Fiction November is an annual celebration of the power of non-fiction to inspire children and celebrate readers who have a passion for information and facts. 2020 is the 10th anniversary of National Non-Fiction November.

read more...
JANE PORTER AND MAISIE PARADISE SHEARRING 2020 LITTLE REBELS AWARD WINNERS

Jane Porter and Maisie Paradise Shearring have won the 2020 Little Rebels Award for their picture book The Boy who Loved Everyone. They will share the £2000 prize.

Little Rebels logo 2020

read more...
OU AND MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS LAUNCH BOOK CHAT SCHEME

The Open University (OU) is launching Book Chat: Reading with your Child, a resource which comprises three short films and support materials to help parents, families and carers read books conversationally and creatively to children. Working with Macmillan Children’s Books, the films use a selection of their picture books and a poetry collection to support families with reading to different ages of children.

read more...
TOM PALMER WINS THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Tom Palmer

read more...
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