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Books for Keeps 208 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 208 - September 2014
BfK 208 September 2014

This issue’s cover illustration is from A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond. Thanks to Hodder Children's Books for their help with this cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 208 September 2014 .

BfK No. 208 Articles

Editorial 208

Editorial 208
Classical mythology in children’s books

Author Philp Womack looks at how the Ancient Greeks influence today's children's literature.
Lot-o’-Fun: Comics for children published during the Great War

Little known texts published for young readers during the Great War.
Windows into Illustration: Hervé Tullet

Hervé Tullet interviewed by Carey Fluker-Hunt
Ten of the Best: books to read aloud to your school-aged child

Books to read aloud chosen by Ferelith Hordon.
Authorgraph 208:Tony Mitton

Tony Mitton interviewed by Nikki Gamble.
A Mother Goose Odyssey, or a Journey 'Over the Hills...'

Elizabeth Hammill on a remarkable new Nursery Treasury.
Two children tell: The Cow, the Canal and Rebecca

by Virginia Lowe.
I Wish I’d Written: Michelle Paver chooses

Michelle Paver on a book that thrills her
Good Reads Chosen by pupils at Harris City Academy

Reading recommendations from young people at Harris City Academy.
Diversity and Inclusion on the Shelves

The founder of Inclusive Minds on ways to build an inclusive bookshelf.
AN INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT WESTERFELD

The US YA author interviewed by Melissa Hyder.
Classics in Short Number 107: twin tracks for The Little Train

The Little Train by Graham Greene
AN INTERVIEW WITH JON SCIESZKA

The bestselling US author interviewed.
Interview with Rachel Rooney

Nicholas Tucker interviews award winning poet Rachel Rooney on National Poetry Day.
AN INTERVIEW WITH JUDI CURTIN

The bestselling author of the Alice and Megan books talks about books and writing.
The Worst Princess on stage

Playwright Carina Rodney tells Laura Fraine about her latest project, adapting a picture book for the stage.
RED LEAVES, GREEN SHOOTS

Author Sita Brahmachari introduces her new book.

Editor's Choice

Mountwood School for Ghosts
Toby Ibbotson
(Macmillan Children's Books)
5

The Great Hagges are bored - and disturbed. The quality of hauntings has declined, today’s ghosts are letting the side down. Their solution is to set up an exclusive school for ghosts: so Mountwood School is founded and students invited to...

read more

New Talent

The Boy with the Tiger's Heart
Linda Coggin
(Hot Key Books)
5

When the security guards come for Thomas Bailey, to shoot or confiscate the animals he keeps, they find him dead and the wild girl who lived with him gone. Brought up by a pack of dogs she is able to look after herself. But the hunt is on - where...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 208

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

Under 5s

  • Smelly Louie
    Catherine Rayner
    5

  • Harry and the Monster
    Sue Mongredien
    5

  • Over the Hills and Far Away: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes from Around the World
    4

  • Frances Dean who loved to dance and dance
    Birgitta Sif
    4

  • Betty Goes Bananas
    Steve Antony
    4

  • That’s What Makes a Hippopotamus Smile
    Sean Taylor
    4

  • Why?
    Tracey Corderoy
    4

  • On Sudden Hill
    Linda Sarah
    4

  • Train!
    Judi Abbot
    3

  • Ten Terrible Dinosaurs
    Paul Stickland
    3

  • Is there a dog in this book?
    Viviane Schwarz
    0

Ages 5-8

  • Welcome to the Family
    Mary Hoffman
    5

  • The Something
    Rebecca Cobb
    5

  • Lucky David Mackintosh
    David Mackintosh
    5

  • Night Sky Dragons
    Mal Peet
    Elspeth Graham
    5

  • Mr Chicken Lands on London
    Leigh Hobbs
    5

  • The Scarecrows’ Wedding
    Julia Donaldson
    4

  • What’s My Name? (The Not so Little Princess)
    Wendy Finney
    4

  • Flood
    Gillian McClure
    4

  • Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons
    Eric Litwin
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Mountwood School for Ghosts
    Toby Ibbotson
    5

  • The Story of Money: From Bartering to Bail-out
    Martin Jenkins
    5

  • Book by John Agard
    John Agard
    5

  • Quest
    Aaron Becker
    5

  • The Forever Whale
    Sarah Lean
    5

  • Violet and the Pearl of the Orient
    Harriet Whitehorn
    4

  • A Tiger Tale
    Holly Webb
    4

  • Lucky Chris Hill
    Chris Hill
    4

  • Billy's Blitz
    Barbara Mitchelhill
    4

  • Jet the Rescue Dog and other extraordinary stories of animals in wartime
    David Long
    4

  • The Lost King
    Alison Prince
    4

  • The Dangerous Discoveries of Gully Potchard
    Julia Lee
    3

  • Boyface and the Tartan Badger
    James Campbell
    3

  • Leif Frond and the Viking Games
    Joan Lennon
    3

Ages 10-14

  • The Boy with the Tiger's Heart
    Linda Coggin
    5

  • Five Children on the Western Front
    Kate Saunders
    5

  • The Teenage Guide to Stress
    Nicola Morgan
    5

  • The Baking Life of Amelie Day
    Vanessa Curtis
    5

  • Finding a Voice: Friendship is a Two-Way Street
    Kim Hood
    4

  • Evie Brooks in Central Park Showdown
    Sheila Agnew
    4

  • The Watching Wood
    Erika McGann
    4

  • Clariel
    Garth Nix
    4

  • Apple and Rain
    Sarah Crossan
    4

  • The Boundless
    Kenneth Oppel
    3

  • Ghost Soldier
    Theresa Breslin
    3

Ages 14+

  • Trust Games
    Simon Packham
    5

  • Black Ice
    Becca Fitzpatrick
    5

  • Night Runner
    Tim Bowler
    5

  • The Ghosts of Heaven
    Marcus Sedgwick
    4

  • The Impossible Knife of Memory
    Laurie Halse Anderson
    4

  • A Little in Love
    Susan Fletcher
    4

  • The Manifesto on How to be Interesting
    Holly Bourne
    4

  • Afterworlds
    Scott Westerfeld
    4

  • The Jewel
    Amy Ewing
    3

BfK News

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

read more...
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

read more...
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.

read more...
LONGLIST FOR THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The longlist for the 2021 Branford Boase Award has been announced. Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children.

read more...
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)

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

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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