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Books for Keeps 209 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 209 - November 2014
BfK 209 November 2014

COVER STORY
This issue’s cover illustration is from Animalium (Welcome to the Museum) by Jenny Broom with illustrations by Katie Scott. Thanks to Big Picture Press for their help with this Christmas cover.

Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 209 November 2014 .

BfK No. 209 Articles

Editorial 209

Comment from the editor
Books of the Year 2014

Chosen by leading children’s booksellers.
Books for Giving Christmas 2014

Our selection of the best Christmas gift books.
Books for Giving 2014: Book List

Bibliographic details for our best books for giving Christmas 2014
Windows into Illustration: Chris Riddel

Chris Riddell on The Sleeper and the Spindle
Ten of the Best: Traditional Tales retold

chosen by Pam Dix.
Authorgraph 209: Marcus Sedgwick

The author of The Ghosts of Heaven interviewed by Nicholas Tucker
Jacqueline Wilson: happy 100th book

Julia Eccleshare appraises Jacqueline Wilson
Nina Macdonald’s War-Time Nursery Rhymes

WW1 literature for children put into context by Geoff Fox.
Two Children Tell: The Author and Nicholas

Virginia Lowe's observations on children's realy response to stories.
Mutiny and murder for Christmas

Treasure Island at the National Theatre
I Wish I'd Written: Kate Saunders

Kate Saunders on a deliciously creepy book.
Good Reads 209

Chosen by pupils at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.
That’s Edutainment

An introduction to the QED list
Robert Louis Stevenson: The Shadow of Long John Silver

Angeline B. Adams and Remco van Straten discover Treasure Island in Edinburgh's Old Town.
Classics in Short Number 108

Where's Spot? asks Brian Alderson
KATE SAUNDERS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WINNER

Costa Children's Book Award winner Kate Saunders interviewed by Imogen Russell Williams.
Q&A interview with Garth Jennings, author of The Deadly 7

Editor's Choice

The Grimm Conclusion
Adam Gidwitz
(Andersen)
5

Those who have been following Adam Gidwitz's take on the Grimms' tales will know what to expect – mayhem, madness and a great deal of blood. Nor will they be disappointed by the conclusion to the trilogy. New readers may want to start at the...

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New Talent

Snow de la Mare and Rabei
Walter de la Mare
(Faber & Faber)
5

Taking de la Mare's poem Snow, Carolina Rabei has imagined a white Christmas setting, in which the snow falls and the world becomes a glittering wonderland where children can build snowmen and sledge. Stockings are hung in front...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 209

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

Under 5s

  • Snow de la Mare and Rabei
    Walter de la Mare
    5

  • Alfie in the Garden
    Debi Gliori
    5

  • This Book Just Ate my Dog!
    Richard Byrne
    5

  • Jampires
    Sarah McIntyre
    David O’Connell
    4

  • Rita’s Rhino
    Tony Ross
    4

  • Bella’s Bad Hair Day
    Stephen Michael King
    4

  • My Big Barefoot Book of Wonderful Words
    Sophie Fatus
    4

  • Worst in Show
    William Bee
    4

  • Melissa’s Octopus and Other Unsuitable Pets
    Charlotte Voake
    4

Ages 5-8

  • Something about a Bear
    Jackie Morris
    5

  • Gravity
    Jason Chin
    5

  • Timmy Failure: We Meet Again
    Stephan Pastis
    4

  • The New Small Person
    Lauren Child
    4

  • The Moon Dragons
    Dyan Sheldon
    4

  • Big Bad Bubble
    Adam Rubin
    4

  • Woozy the Wizard: A Spell to Get Well
    Elli Woollard
    3

  • Horace the Haggis and the Christmas Mystery
    Sally Magnusson
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor
    Jon Scieszka
    5

  • My Life As a Goldfish
    Rachel Rooney
    5

  • Half a Man
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • Atlas of Adventures
    Lucy Letherland
    4

  • Dead or Alive?
    Clive Gifford
    4

  • Witchworld
    Emma Fischel
    4

  • Pathfinder
    Angie Sage
    4

  • Lucy’s Secret Reindeer
    Anne Booth
    4

  • Moone Boy: The Blunder Years
    Chris O’Dowd
    Nick V Murphy
    3

  • Pete and the Five-a-side Vampires
    Malachy Doyle
    3

  • The Day No One Was Angry
    Toon Tellegen
    3

  • Plum Puddings and Paper Moons
    Glenda Millard
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Give the Ball to the Poet – A New Anthology of Caribbean Poetry
    5

  • Malala The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World
    Malala Yousafzai
    5

  • Blue Moon Day
    Anne Fine
    5

  • Loyal Creatures
    Morris Gleitzman
    5

  • Trouble on Cable Street
    Joan Lingard
    5

  • Young Sherlock: Stone Cold
    Andrew Lane
    5

  • Dragon Racer: First Flight
    Margaret Bateson-Hill
    5

  • Only Remembered
    4

  • The Sign of the Black Dagger
    Joan Lingard
    4

  • How to be a Girl
    Anita Naik
    4

  • First Light
    Rebecca Stead
    4

  • Girl Online
    4

  • Uprooted: A Canadian War Story
    Lynne Reid Banks
    3

  • The Last of the Spirits
    Chris Priestley
    3

Ages 14+

  • Half a Creature from the Sea
    David Almond
    5

  • Lies We Tell Ourselves
    Robin Talley
    5

  • A Song for Ella Grey
    David Almond
    5

  • Stories Inspired by Objects from The Great War
    Various Authors
    4

  • Terror Kid
    Benjamin Zephaniah
    4

  • Thirteen Chairs
    Dave Shelton
    4

  • Messenger of Fear
    Michael Grant
    4

  • Winter's Bullet
    William Osborne
    4

  • Girl Online
    4

  • The Walled City
    Ryan Graudin
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Help Your Child Love Reading
    Alison David
    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.’

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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.

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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