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Books for Keeps 102 - the children's book magazine online

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Books for Keeps is packed with articles, interviews comment and, of course, reviews.

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BfK No. 102 - January 1997

Cover Story
This issue's cover artwork for Philip Pullman's Northern Lights is by Stuart Williams. Pullman talks to BfK's interviewer Geoff Fox. Thanks to Scholastic Childen's Books for their help in producing this January cover.

BfK No. 102 Articles

Editorial – January 1997

News and comment from the Editor.
Judging a Book by its Cover

Alec Williams on a new design award.
Mervyn Peake 1911-1968

Diana Wynne Jones on Mervyn Peake's Boy in Darkness and P J Lynch on the challenges of illustrating it.
The Treasury Wars

Brian Alderson looks at the current crop of gift collections.
Publishing Profiles No.1: The Non-Fiction Editor

Liz Attenborough goes behind the scenes in publishing.
Authorgraph No.102: Philip Pullman

Philip Pullman interviewed by Geoff Fox.
BfK Briefing – January 1997

Publishers' Choice * News * Awards * Events * Best Seller Charts * Letters to the Editor
Good Reads: Burscough County Primary, Ormskirk

Reviews from Burscough County Primary School, Ormskirk.
Classics in Short No.1: Treasure Island

Helen Levene on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Editor's Choice

Care of Henry
Anne Fine
(Walker Books Ltd)
5

Just how do children learn to make good choices? Hugo's mum will be away in hospital for three days having a baby and Hugo must choose who to stay with during this time - with Granny, with the next door neighbour or with Uncle Jack? Hugo devises...

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New Talent

Hiding Places
Ruth Dowley
(Orion Publishing Co)
3

'The enemy chiefs were whispering together. Cuthbert saw them from the fortress. Something suspicious was going on. And now Cuthbert had these new people to watch. They might turn out to be the enemies of the Lands as well...' This is how this...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 102

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

Under 5s

  • Adam Pig's Big Book
    Selina Young
    5

  • My Oxford Pop-up Surprise 1 2 3; My Oxford Pop-up Surprise A B C
    Robert Crowther
    4

  • The Nursery Storybook
    Georgie Adams
    4

  • When the Teddy Bears Came
    Martin Waddell
    4

  • There's No Such Thing as a Dragon
    Jack Kent
    3

  • Spot Bakes a Cake
    Eric Hill
    3

  • Rub-a-Dub-Dub
    Val Biro
    3

  • My Busy Day
    Philippe Dupasquier
    3

  • The Very Busy Spider
    Eric Carle
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Care of Henry
    Anne Fine
    5

  • Angus Rides the Goods Train
    Alan Durant
    Chris Riddell
    5

  • The Happy Prince
    Jane Ray
    5

  • The Lollipop Witch
    Elizabeth Hawkins
    4

  • Bumps in the Night
    Frank Rodgers
    4

  • The Bear
    Raymond Briggs
    4

  • Good Zap, Little Grog
    Sarah Wilson
    4

  • Little Green Tow Truck; Big Blue Engine
    Ken Wilson-Max
    4

  • The Orchard Book of Funny Poems
    4

  • When Martha's Away
    Bruce Ingman
    4

  • The Butterfly; The Wolf; Fly Traps!; My Body, Your Body
    Claude Delafosse
    3

  • The Adventures of Robin Hood
    Marcia Williams
    3

  • The Acorn's Story
    Valerie Greeley
    3

  • The Tiger Child
    Joanna Troughton
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Puffin Book of Nonsense Verse
    4

  • The Better Brown Stories
    Allan Ahlberg
    4

  • Watch out for Witches!
    Hilda Offen
    4

  • King Max the Last
    Dick King-Smith
    4

  • Twin Trouble
    Penelope Farmer
    4

  • Alexander Graham Bell; Alfred the Great; Anne Frank; Dick Whittington; Elizabeth I; Louis Braille
    Emma Fischel
    3

  • Home in the Blitz; Tudor Warship; Roman Fort; Victorian Factory
    Marilyn Tolhurst
    3

  • Spring on the Farm; Winter on the Farm
    Jillian Powell
    3

  • Oxford Book of Poetry for Children
    3

  • Arthur - High King of Britain
    Michael Morpurgo
    3

  • Thunderbolt's Waxwork
    Philip Pullman
    3

  • Premlata and the Festival of Lights
    Rumer Godden
    3

  • Theseus Monster Killer; Odysseus Super Hero; Odysseus Goes Through Hell
    Tony Robinson
    Richard Curtis
    3

  • Funky Chickens
    Benjamin Zephaniah
    3

  • Hiding Places
    Ruth Dowley
    3

  • Hide and Shriek!; Madam Sizzers
    Paul Dowling
    3

  • Man Hunt
    Malaika Rose Stanley
    3

  • Wow! I'm a Whale!
    Tony Bradman
    3

  • The Last Polar Bears
    Harry Horse
    3

  • The River Bank and other stories from The Wind in the Willows
    Kenneth Grahame
    3

  • A Year Full of Poems
    3

  • Schools in Victorian Times
    Margaret Stephen
    2

  • The Great Grammar Book
    Jennie Maizels
    Kate Petty
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Many Rivers to Cross
    Errol Lloyd
    5

  • The Firework-Maker's Daughter
    Philip Pullman
    5

  • Speak for Yourself!; You're My Best Friend - I Hate You
    Rosie Rushton
    4

  • On the Rocks
    Sandra Chick
    4

  • Adam and Eve and Pinch-Me
    Julie Johnston
    4

  • Loving April
    Melvin Burgess
    4

  • Diving In
    Kate Cann
    4

  • The Young Oxford History of Britain and Ireland
    Mike Corbishley
    John Gillingham
    Rosemary Kelly
    Ian Dawson
    James Mason
    4

  • From Cubit to Kilogram; From Candle to Quartz Clock
    Anita Ganeri
    4

  • The Orchard Book of Poems
    4

  • The Tulip Touch
    Anne Fine
    4

  • The Wakening
    Paul Stewart
    4

  • The Big Bazoohley
    Peter Carey
    4

  • You Wait Till I'm Older Than You!
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • The Bronze Trumpeter
    Jenny Nimmo
    4

  • The Oxford Treasury of Classic Poems
    4

  • A Caribbean Dozen
    4

  • Deep Water
    Ann Turnbull
    4

  • The Livewire Guide to Going, Being and Staying Veggie!
    Juliet Gellatley
    3

  • What Jamie Saw
    Carolyn Coman
    3

  • In the Middle of the Night
    Robert Cormier
    3

  • Farming
    Katie Roden
    3

  • Tales of Real Heroism
    Paul Dowswell
    3

  • 101 Optical Illusions
    Terry Jennings
    3

  • What They Don't Tell You About Shakespeare
    Anita Ganeri
    3

  • The Demon Headmaster Strikes Again
    Gillian Cross
    3

  • Last Bus
    Robert Swindells
    3

  • Love. In Cyberia
    Chloë Rayban
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • The New Oxford Book of Children's Verse
    3

  • Information and Book Learning
    Margaret Meek
    2

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

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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

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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

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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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