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Books for Keeps 161 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 161 - November 2006

Cover Story
This issue’s cover shows Neil Gaiman (photo © Kelli Bickman) with his book The Comical Tragedy or Tragical Comedy of Mr Punch illustrated by Dave McKean. Neil Gaiman is interviewed by Nicholas Tucker. Thanks to Bloomsbury for their help with this November cover.

BfK No. 161 Articles

Editorial - November 2006

News and comment from the Editor.
BfK Profile: Kevin Crossley-Holland

Colin Mills discusses Kevin Crossley-Holland’s sequel to his ‘Arthur’ trilogy, Gatty’s Tale.
Can children learn to love punctuation?

Lynne Truss on her junior version of Eats, Shoots & Leaves.
Windows into Illustration: Chris Riddell

Chris Riddell explains his approach to The Emperor of Absurdia.
Hal’s Reading Diary - November 2006

Roger Mills on how Hal finds list of words boring.
Diversity matters - Multi-cultural Publishing: What it took to get to where we are

Rosemary Stones on the history of multi-cultural publishing.
Take 3: Father Christmases

The Santas of Clement C Moore, J R R Tolkien and Raymond Briggs.
Authorgraph No.161: Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman interviewed by Nicholas Tucker.
BfK Briefing – November 2006

Letters to the Editor * Publications * Obituary
Useful Organisations No.47: Just One More Book!

A thrice-weekly audio on demand broadcast discussing children’s books.
I Wish I’d Written… The Homeward Bounders

Margaret Mahy chooses Diana Wynne Jones' The Homeward Bounders.
Good Reads: The King’s School, Worcester

Reviews from
The King’s School, Worcester.
Classics in Short No.60: The Stone Book Quartet

Brian Alderson on Alan Garner's The Stone Book Quartet.

Editor's Choice

Just in Case
Meg Rosoff
(Puffin)
5

The precariousness of existence is driven home to the reader from the opening pages of Rosoff’s stonking new novel when 15-year-old David only just catches hold of his baby brother in time as Charlie launches himself out of an upstairs window in...

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New Talent

Breathe
Anne-Sophie Brasme
(W&N)
4

Told in a lucidly reflective style, this first person narrative is recounted by a 19-year-old Parisian, Charlene, who murdered her best friend when she was 16. Brasme takes us back to the time when the lonely, suicidal 13-year-old Charlene first...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 161

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

Under 5s

  • Uan the Little Lamb
    Sandra Klaassen
    5

  • Melrose and Croc: Friends for Life
    Emma Chichester Clark
    5

  • Lettice: The Birthday Party
    Mandy Stanley
    4

  • The Lamb Who Came for Dinner
    Steve Smallman
    4

  • Hello Twins
    Charlotte Voake
    4

  • Harry and the Dinosaurs Go To School
    Ian Whybrow
    4

  • Happy Birthday to You, Blue Kangaroo!
    Emma Chichester Clark
    4

  • Alphabet Ice Cream
    Sue Heap
    Nick Sharratt
    4

  • Very Interesting!
    Yokococo
    3

  • Together
    Jane Simmons
    3

  • There once was a boy called Tashi
    Anna Fienberg
    Barbara Fienberg
    3

  • A Tale of Two Kitties
    Liz Pichon
    3

  • Chunky, bumpy, dumpy Trucks
    Dawn Sirett
    3

  • Mama's Going to Heaven Soon
    Kathe Martin Copeland
    2

Ages 5-8

  • My Body Book
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    4

  • Minnie Piper: Undercover Puzzler
    Caroline Juskus
    4

  • Mia's Story: A Sketchbook of Hopes and Dreams
    Michael Foreman
    4

  • Mario's Angels
    Mary Arrigan
    4

  • J is for Jamaica
    Benjamin Zephaniah
    4

  • The Cowgirl Aunt of Harriet Bean; The Five Lost Aunts of Harriet Bean; Harriet Bean and the League of Cheats
    Alexander McCall Smith
    4

  • The Hair Scare
    Jeffrey Fisher
    4

  • Dirty Bertie: Worms!
    Alan MacDonald
    4

  • Dino-Dinners
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    4

  • Wizzbang Wizard: Super Splosh
    Scoular Anderson
    3

  • Witch-in-Training: The Last Task
    Maeve Friel
    3

  • The Magic Wand; When Anna Slept Over
    Ursula Dubosarsky
    3

  • The Deep Blue Sea
    Jakki Wood
    3

Ages 8-10

  • You're a Bad Man, Mr Gum!
    Andy Stanton
    4

  • The Tail of The Trinosaur
    Charles Causley
    4

  • The Picture History of Great Explorers
    Gillian Clements
    4

  • Breathe: A Ghost Story
    Cliff McNish
    4

  • Tiger
    Joanna Skipwith
    3

  • Sam stars at Shakespeare's Globe
    Pauline Francis
    3

  • Id-ul-Fitr
    Saviour Pirotta
    3

  • Hurricane Wills
    Sally Grindley
    3

  • Emily Windsnap and the Castle in the Mist
    Liz Kessler
    3

  • The Dog in the Diamond Collar
    Rebecca Lisle
    3

  • Blart - The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World
    Dominic Barker
    3

  • Araminta Spook Book 1: My Haunted House; Araminta Spook Book 2: The Sword in the Grotto
    Angie Sage
    3

  • Purple Class and the Skelington
    Sean Taylor
    2

  • The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless
    Ahmet Zappa
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Wintersmith: A Story of Discworld
    Terry Pratchett
    5

  • Soul Eater
    Michelle Paver
    5

  • The Dragon's Eye
    Durgald Steer
    5

  • The Duke of Wellington: The Gentleman Soldier; William the Conqueror: The Norman King
    Joshua Doder
    4

  • Vampirates: Tide of Terror
    Justin Somper
    4

  • The Story of Costume
    John Peacock
    4

  • The Penalty
    Mal Peet
    4

  • Martin Luther King: Father of the Civil Rights Movement
    Liz Gogerly
    4

  • Iraq
    Simon Ponsford
    4

  • H.I.V.E.
    Mark Walden
    4

  • The Curse of the Toads
    Rebecca Lisle
    4

  • Attica
    Garry Kilworth
    4

  • Stormbreaker - the graphic novel
    Anthony Horowitz
    3

  • The Princess and the Captain
    Anne-Laure Bondoux
    3

  • The Pig Who Saved the World by Gryllus the Pig
    Paul Shipton
    3

  • The Moneylender's Daughter
    V A Richardson
    3

  • Kat Got Your Tongue
    Lee Weatherly
    3

  • How nearly everthing was invented by the Brainwaves
    Jilly MacLeod
    3

  • Fur
    Meg Harper
    3

  • Dream Chaser
    Joan O'Neill
    3

  • Do the Creepy Thing
    Graham Joyce
    3

  • The Coming of Dragons
    A J Lake
    3

  • Will Shakespeare and the Pirate's Fire
    Robert J Harris
    2

Ages 14+

  • Just in Case
    Meg Rosoff
    5

  • Innocent
    Anne Cassidy
    5

  • The Hollow People
    Brian Keaney
    5

  • Song for Eloise
    Leigh Sauerwein
    4

  • Inexcusable
    Chris Lynch
    4

  • The Earth, My Butt and Other BIG Round Things
    Carolyn Mackler
    4

  • Breathe
    Anne-Sophie Brasme
    4

  • The Story of my Life
    Anne Cassidy
    3

  • 32C, That's Me
    Chris Higgins
    3

  • A Nicer Way to Die
    Sam Mills
    2

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

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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.

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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

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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