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Books for Keeps 114 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 114 - January 1999

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Michael Foreman and Michael Morpurgo’s Joan of Arc. Thanks to Pavilion for their help in producing this January cover.

BfK No. 114 Articles

Editorial – January 1999

News and comment from the Editor.
A Creative Collaboration

Michael Morpurgo and Michael Foreman on their Joan of Arc.
Trolley Power?

Julia Eccleshare on children's supermarket books.
The Centre for the Children’s Book

Elizabeth Hammill on why we need one.
What is a Literary Agent?

 Liz Attenborough on their role in children's publishing.
Authorgraph No.114: Michael Cadnum

Michael Cadnum interviewed by Val Randall.
Ted Hughes 1930-1998

Morag Styles pays tribute to the Poet Laureate.
BfK Briefing - January 1999

News * Awards * Best Seller Charts * Obituaries * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.4: The Federation of Children's Book Groups

National charity promoting the reading habit among young people.
I Wish I’d Written... Clockwork

Terry Deary chooses Philip Pullman’s Clockwork.
Good Reads: Dover Grammar School for Boys

Reviews from pupils of Dover Grammar School for Boys, Kent.
Classics in Short No.13: The Little Prince

Brian Alderson on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince.

Editor's Choice

The Frog Princess
Laura Cecil
(Red Fox)
5

A delightfully told variant of The Frog Prince, this witty picture book version has three princes (one very plump who likes his food, one very thin who loves fashionable clothes and the youngest who likes to lie in the grass looking at...

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New Talent

Hunting Gumnor
Stephen Potts
(Mammoth)
3

In this adventure story set on the coast, Rarty and her friend Lionel must find Gumnor, the whale-type creature whose cry acts as a warning to ships on foggy nights. She has escaped from her chains and her disappearance threatens the livelihood...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 114

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

Under 5s

  • Pumpkin Soup
    Helen Cooper
    5

  • Hmm... A Preston Pig story
    Colin McNaughton
    5

  • I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!
    Emma Chichester Clark
    5

  • The Selfish Crocodile
    Faustin Charles
    5

  • Daisy Knows Best
    Lisa Kopper
    5

  • Ebb's New Friend
    Jane Simmons
    4

  • The Puffin Book of Five-minute Stories
    4

  • What!
    Kate Lum
    4

  • Ragged Bear
    Brigitte Weninger
    3

  • Scaredy Cat
    Joan Rankin
    3

  • The Great Ball Play
    Joanna Troughton
    3

  • Mockingbird
    Allan Ahlberg
    3

  • Wake Up/Sleep Tight
    Ken Wilson-Max
    3

  • The Gotcha Smile
    Rita Phillips Mitchell
    2

  • My Ladybird Treasury of Stories & Rhymes
    2

Ages 5-8

  • Think of an Eel
    Karen Wallace
    5

  • Big Blue Whale
    Nicola Davies
    5

  • W is for World
    Kathryn Cave
    5

  • Care of Henry ¦ Taking the Cat's Way Home
    Anne Fine
    5

  • Michael Rosen's Book of Nonsense
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • The Frog Princess
    Laura Cecil
    5

  • Tell Me Why Planes Have Wings; Tell Me Why Rain is Wet
    Shirley Willis
    4

  • Zoo in the Sky
    Jacqueline Mitton
    4

  • My Amazing Journey; My Family's Changing
    Pat Thomas
    4

  • Scary Stories for Seven Year Olds; Scary Stories for Eight Year Olds; Funny Stories for Seven Year Olds; Funny Stories for Eight Year Olds; Animal Stories for Seven Year Olds; Animal Stories for Eight Year Olds
    4

  • A Walk with Granny
    Nigel Gray
    4

  • The Busy Body Book
    Anne Civardi
    Ruth Thomson
    4

  • Just Grandpa and Me
    Sally Grindley
    4

  • Katie and the Mona Lisa
    James Mayhew
    4

  • What Do We Think About Death?
    Karen Bryant-Mole
    3

  • A Bed full of Night-time Stories
    3

  • Read Me a Story, Please
    3

  • From a Distance
    Julie Gold
    2

  • Vulca, the Etruscan; Nefertari, Princess of Egypt
    Roberta Angeletti
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Footprints on the Page: Poetry Collection 1; Dark as a Midnight Dream: Poetry Collection 2
    5

  • Famine; War
    Paul Bennett
    5

  • Enchantment in the Garden; The Lion and the Unicorn
    Shirley Hughes
    5

  • Never Let Go
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    5

  • Count Karlstein or The Ride of the Demon Huntsman; Spring-Heeled Jack -- A Story of Bravery and Evil
    Philip Pullman
    4

  • Living with Asthma; Living with Diabetes
    Peta Bee
    4

  • The Adventures of Robin Hood and Marian
    4

  • Growing Up: From Child to Adult; Wedding Days: Celebrations of Marriage; Journey's End: Death and Mourning; New Beginnings: Celebrating Birth
    Anita Ganeri
    3

  • Robot
    Clive Gifford
    3

  • Future
    Michael Tambini
    2

  • Lost Property Box; An Odd Kettle of Fish; Elephant Dreams
    Peter Dixon
    Wes Magee
    Matt Simpson
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Hannah Goslar Remembers: a childhood friend of Anne Frank
    Alison Leslie Gold
    5

  • Dark Shadows
    Joan Lingard
    4

  • The World of Islam: Before 1700; India under the Mughal Empire: 1526-1858
    Hazel Mary Martell
    4

  • A Victorian House; A Shakespearean Theatre
    Richard Wood
    4

  • The Hutchinson Treasury of Children's Poetry; Puffin Book of Utterly Brilliant Poetry; Classic Poetry: An Illustrated Collection
    4

  • The Dream Master
    Theresa Breslin
    4

  • Postcards from No Man's Land
    Aidan Chambers
    4

  • Witchy
    Ann Phillips
    4

  • The Scavenger's Tale
    Rachel Anderson
    4

  • Under the Cat's Eye
    Gillian Rubinstein
    4

  • Sweet Clarinet
    James Riordan
    4

  • White Wolf
    Henrietta Branford
    4

  • My Sister - the Superbitch; I Slept with My Best Friend's Boyfriend; They Think I'm Too Easy; My Boyfriend's Older than My Dad
    Rosie Corrigan
    3

  • Heroes
    Robert Cormier
    3

  • Hello? Is Anybody There?
    Jostein Gaarder
    3

  • Fighting Back
    Catherine MacPhail
    3

  • Shakespeare's Stories
    3

  • The Teenage Worrier's Pocket Guide to: Romance; The Teenage Worrier's Pocket Guide to: Families; The Teenage Worrier's Pocket Guide to: Mind & Body; The Teenage Worrier's Pocket Guide to: Success
    Ros Asquith
    3

  • Hunting Gumnor
    Stephen Potts
    3

  • With a Friend Like You
    Jo Noble
    2

  • Victorians
    Ann Kramer
    2

BfK News

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

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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.

read more...
‘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.

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

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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

read more...
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.

read more...
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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