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Books for Keeps 128 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 128 - May 2001

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Lauren Child’s I Am NOT Sleepy and I WILL NOT Go to Bed. Lauren Child is interviewed by Joanna Carey. Thanks to Orchard Books for their help with this May cover.

BfK No. 128 Articles

Editorial - May 2001

News and comment from the Editor.
2001 Picture Books for the Not So Very Young

Elaine Moss on the latest picture books.
Authorgraph No.128: Lauren Child

Lauren Child interviewed by Joanna Carey.
Windows into Illustration: Bob Graham

Bob Graham on his recent picture book, Max.
Inspiring ‘Reluctant’ Readers

Cynthia Dummett and Anne Marley on books that worked.
Short Stories for Young Readers: the Neglected Genre?

Peter Hollindale on the unique qualities of the short story.
BfK Briefing - May 2001

News * Events * Obituary * Awards * Publications * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.15: Action for Children’s Arts

Promotes and develops all the creative and performing arts for and with children.
I Wish I’d Written… Junk

Lesley Howarth chooses Melvin Burgess's Junk.
Good Reads: King Arthur’s Community School

Reviews from pupils of King Arthur's Community School, Wincanton, Somerset.
Classics in Short No.27: Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse

Brian Alderson on Ursula Moray Williams' Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse.

Editor's Choice

Witch Child
Celia Rees
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

Mary is a witch - or, as she says, 'so some would call me'. Her narrative, told in the form of a diary, begins in 1659 with the torture and hanging for witchcraft of the woman she has always thought of as her grandmother. How, then, is Mary to be...

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New Talent

(Un) arranged Marriage
Bali Rai
(Corgi Childrens)
3

This lively first novel spans five years in Manjit's life, from the ages of 13 to 17. His path, predetermined by his traditional Leicester Punjabi family, is that he will be married at 17 to a girl he has never met before, just as his older...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 128

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

Under 5s

  • The Puffin Book of Amazing Animal Poems
    4

  • The Joking Wolf
    Val Biro
    4

  • Don't Step on the Crack!
    Colin McNaughton
    4

  • Sam's First Day
    David Mills
    Sujata Banerjee
    3

  • Tiny Rabbit Goes to the Park
    John Wallace
    3

Ages 5-8

  • My Surprise Book of Seasons; My Surprise Book of Senses; My Surprise Book of Pirates; My Surprise Book of Night and Day
    Valerie Guidoux
    5

  • Rocking Horse Land and Other Classic Tales of Dolls and Toys
    Naomi Lewis
    5

  • Lady Lollipop
    Dick King-Smith
    5

  • Bob and the House Elves
    Emily Rodda
    4

  • Sausage and the Little Visitor; Sausage in Trouble; School for Sausage; Sausage and the Spooks
    Michaela Morgan
    4

  • Tiger and Me
    Kaye Umansky
    4

  • Kiss the Cow!
    Phyllis Root
    4

  • Singing to the Sun
    Vivian French
    3

  • More Jessame Stories
    Julia Jarman
    3

  • Even More Nonsense
    Michael Rosen
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Story of Ireland
    Richard Brassey
    5

  • Grow Organic Eat Organic: A practical activity book for beginners
    Lone Morton
    5

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

  • What Do We Think About Bullying?
    Jillian Powell
    4

  • Bad Dreams
    Anne Fine
    4

  • Never Play Snap with a Shark
    John Foster
    3

  • The Four Children of Night
    Weem Whitaker
    3

  • The Penguin in the Fridge and other Cool Poems; Welcome to the Snake Hotel: Slithering poems
    Peter Dixon
    3

  • Sucked In
    Paul Jennings
    3

  • Climb Aboard the Poetry Plane
    John Foster
    3

  • Joker; Sam's Dream; Arf and the Greedy Grabber; Jack's Tree; The Planet Machine; Mr Potts, the Potty Teacher
    Anthony Masters
    3

  • The Phantom's Fang-tastic Show
    Wes Magee
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Shacked Up
    Kate Cann
    5

  • True Believer
    Virginia Euwer Wolff
    5

  • Breaking Up
    Kate Cann
    5

  • Brothers
    Ted Van Lieshout
    Lance Salway
    5

  • Witch Child
    Celia Rees
    5

  • Fuels for the Future; Waste Recycling and Re-use; Keeping Water Clean; Keeping the Air Clean
    Steve Parker
    5

  • Britannia on Stage: 25 Plays from British History
    Geraldine McCaughrean
    5

  • Secret Heart
    David Almond
    5

  • The Flip Side
    Andrew Matthews
    4

  • Eight Days of Luke; Archer's Goon
    Diana Wynne Jones
    4

  • Mine's a Winner; Cast Away; System Shock; Respect
    Michael Hardcastle
    4

  • (Un) arranged Marriage
    Bali Rai
    3

  • Oliver Cromwell and his Warts
    Alan MacDonald
    3

  • Old Magic
    Marianne Curley
    3

  • Bluebeard's Castle
    Gene Kemp
    3

  • DK Guide to Weather
    Michael Allaby
    3

  • Vampyr Legion
    Alan Gibbons
    3

  • Stuck in Neutral
    Terry Trueman
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Schicklgruber
    Robert Colling-Pyper
    Margaret Stavridi
    5

  • Children's Literature
    Peter Hunt
    4

  • Take Up Thy Bed and Walk: Death, Disability and Cure in Classic Fiction for Girls
    Lois Keith
    4

  • Hans Christian Andersen: the life of a storyteller
    Jackie Wullschlager
    Allen Lane
    4

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.’

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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

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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.

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TOM PALMER WINS THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Tom Palmer

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