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Books for Keeps 118 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 118 - September 1999

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from a stunning new picture book, Mary’s Secret by David McKee (Andersen Press, 0 86264 909 9, £9.99). An ecological fable about doing without cars, McKee’s story with its bright pictures full of well observed detail is set within Mary’s cheerful family and at her school. His bold, painterly illustrations use the page so confidently and dextrously that their quirky, decorative perspectives seem entirely natural. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help in producing this September cover.

BfK No. 118 Articles

Editorial - September 1999

News and comment from the Editor.
Drugs and Teen Publishing

Colin Chapman assesses books with drugs as a theme.
Windows into Illustration: Anthony Browne

Anthony Browne explains the techniques and thinking behind his recent picture book,Voices in the Park.
From Read Me to Read On

Liz Attenborough reflects on the National Year of Reading.
Authorgraph No.118: Melvin Burgess

Melvin Burgess interviewed by George Hunt.
BfK Briefing – September 1999

News * Events * Obituary * Awards * Best Seller Chart * Publications * Letters to the Editor
Useful Organisations No.8: Readathon

National sponsored read raising money for very ill children.
I Wish I'd Written... The Sterkarm Handshake

Gillian Cross chooses Susan Price's The Sterkarm Handshake.
Good Reads: Wells Cathedral School

Reviews from pupils of Wells Cathedral School, Somerset.
Classics in Short No.17: Just So Stories

Brian Alderson on Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.

Editor's Choice

Rover
Michael Rosen
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

Told in the first person, this witty picture book is a canine account of life with a pet human. ‘Rover’ as her owner calls her ‘has very weak claws. Her coat only covers her head.’ When they go to the park ‘she keeps losing the ball but I always...

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New Talent

Clarice Bean That’s Me
Lauren Child
(Orchard Books)
5

Getting enough attention and at the same time enough space for yourself are common preoccupations for children in big families. The third child out of four, 7-ish Clarice Bean shares a bedroom with her younger brother (‘I have drawn a line down...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 118

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

Under 5s

  • Chicken, Chips and Peas; The Hen House; Slow Dog Falling
    Allan Ahlberg
    5

  • Jungle Kids
    John Wallace
    5

  • Daddy, Will You Miss Me?
    Wendy McCormick
    5

  • Rover
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • The Little Cat and the Greedy Old Woman; You're Somebody Special, Walliwags!
    Joan Rankin
    4

  • The Enormous Turnip; The Elves and the Shoemaker; The Gingerbread Man; The Little Red Hen; The Sly Fox and the Little Red Hen; TheThree Billy Goats Gruff
    4

  • Splash!
    Flora McDonnell
    4

  • Jody's Beans
    Malachy Doyle
    4

  • Zelda and Ivy and the Boy Next Door
    Laura McGee Kvanosky
    3

  • Very Hungry Caterpillar , The
    3

  • Please, Princess Primrose!
    Vivien French
    3

  • Perfect Pet, The
    Peta Coplans
    3

  • Maisy's Mix-and Match Mousewear
    Lucy Cousins
    3

  • Frankie and Albertine
    Christine Davenier
    3

  • Cinderella
    Charles Perrault
    3

  • Elmer’s Day; Elmer’s Friends; Elmer’s Weather; Elmer’s Colours
    David McKee
    3

  • Daisy Says Coo!
    Jane Simmons
    2

  • Where Are You Hiding, Little Lamb?
    Hiawyn Oram
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Jaguar Talk; Tiger Talk; Zebra Talk
    Vanesha Vargo
    5

  • Changeling, The
    Malachy Doyle
    5

  • Clarice Bean That’s Me
    Lauren Child
    5

  • Weslandia
    Paul Fleischman
    4

  • Great Art Attack Stuff
    Neil Buchanan
    4

  • What Do We Think About Adoption?
    Jillian Powell
    3

  • Thief in the Garden, A
    Elizabeth Arnold
    3

  • Out for the Count
    Kathryn Cave
    3

  • Magical Mazes
    Juliet Snape
    Charles Snape
    3

  • I Know How My Cells Make Me Grow; I Know Why I Brush My Teeth
    Kate Rowan
    3

  • Tell Me How Much It Weighs; Tell Me How Far It Is
    Shirley Willis
    3

  • Poems about School; Poems about Space
    2

Ages 8-10

  • I Was a Rat! ... or The Scarlet Slippers
    Philip Pullman
    5

  • The Hairy Hands
    Gene Kemp
    5

  • The Lady of Shalott; Beowulf; The Highwayman
    Alfred Lord Tennyson
    5

  • Tales of the Catwings
    Ursula Le Guin
    5

  • The Crusades; The Industrial Revolution
    Christine Hatt
    4

  • Bartlett and the Ice Voyage
    Odo Hirsch
    4

  • Picture a Poem
    Gina Douthwaite
    4

  • Oliver Twist
    Charles Dickens
    4

  • Excuses, Excuses: Poems about School
    3

  • Sink the Armada!; The Finest Pharaoh of All!
    Stewart Ross
    2

  • The Weatherbirds
    Ted Dewan
    2

Ages 10-14

  • New Astronomer
    Carole Stott
    5

  • Bulging Brains
    Nick Arnold
    5

  • The Illustrated Mum
    Jacqueline Wilson
    5

  • Dancing in the Street: A Poetry Party
    5

  • Always Inventing - a photobiography of Alexander Graham Bell
    Tom L Matthews
    5

  • A Right to Life - and Death?
    Kenneth Boyd
    5

  • I Have Lived a Thousand Years
    Livia Britton-Jackson
    4

  • Bloomability
    Sharon Creech
    4

  • The Crowlings
    Louise Lawrence
    4

  • Ticket to Prague
    James Watson
    4

  • Wild Blood
    Kate Thompson
    4

  • Flightsend
    Linda Newbery
    4

  • Bloom of Youth
    Rachel Anderson
    4

  • Bitter Fruit
    Brian Keaney
    4

  • The Lion Tamer's Daughter
    Peter Dickinson
    4

  • Gangs & Bullies
    Rosemary Stones
    4

  • Stiks & Stoans
    Andrew Matthews
    4

  • The Crow Haunting
    Julia Jarman
    3

  • Smiling for Strangers
    Annie Campling
    3

  • Warpath 1: Tank Attack; Warpath 2: Deadly Skies
    J Eldridge
    3

  • Secret Place
    Joan Lingard
    3

  • Huntress of the Sea
    Alan Temperley
    2

  • Star Quest
    Andy Dixon
    2

  • Kerosene
    Chris Wooding
    2

  • In Space; Moon Landing the race for the Moon
    Michael Johnstone
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Pictus Orbis Sambo, The: A Publishing History, Checklist and Price Guide for the Story of Little Black Sambo
    Phyllis Settecase Barton
    4

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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.

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NOW OPEN: 2021 HENRIETTA BRANFORD WRITING COMPETITION

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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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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.

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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

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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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CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

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