Home
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

Books for Keeps 109 - the children's book magazine online

  • View
  • Rearrange

Digital version – browse, print or download

Can't see the preview?
Click here!

How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 109 - March 1998

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from David McKee’s new picture book, Elmer Plays Hide-and-Seek. David McKee is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Andersen Press and Random Century for help in producing this March cover.

BfK No. 109 Articles

Editorial - March 1998

News and comment from the Editor.
Elmer at Thirty

David McKee interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
Volunteer Reading Help

Judy Taylor Hough on how Volunteer Reading Help can support young readers.
The History of Children’s Books, No.6: The Years of Challenge

John Rowe Townsend brings the story up to the present day.
Authorgraph No.109: Jill Paton Walsh

Jill Paton Walsh interviewed by Stephanie Nettell.
BfK Briefing - March 1998

News * Events * Best Seller Charts * Publications * Awards * Obituary
I Wish I’d Written... A Swarm in May

Jan Mark chooses William Mayne's A Swarm in May.
From the Beginning: How to Enjoy Books with Your Child

Myra Barrs and Sue Ellis suggest lots of practical ways for parents and carers to enjoy sharing books with young children.
Classics in Short No.8: Charlotte’s Web

Helen Levene on E B White's Charlotte's Web.

Editor's Choice

The Wise Doll
Hiawyn Oram
(Andersen Press Ltd)
5

A version of a traditional Russian tale, this powerful picture book tells how Too-Nice is sent by her sisters, Horrid and Very-Horrid, to fetch them a toad from the house of the witch, Baba Yaga. Fortunately for Too-Nice she has a wise doll,...

read more

New Talent

Come On, Daisy!
Jane Simmons
(Orchard Books)
4

What could be more dramatic and yet satisfying for a small child than a story about losing your mother only to find her again. Intensely curious, Daisy Duckling explores the world of water and reeds around her, only to lose sight of Mamma Duck....

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 109

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

Under 5s

  • Travelling in Grandma's Day; School Life in Grandma's Day; Houses and Homes; School
    Faye Gardner
    Anne Callender
    5

  • Rub-a-Dub-Dub
    Ernest Henry
    5

  • This Little Pig; Incy Wincy Spider; The Elephant
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    4

  • Fowl Play: the case of the vanishing chickens
    Jonathan Allen
    3

  • Spider School
    Francesca Simon
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Tales of Wonder and Magic
    5

  • The Wise Doll
    Hiawyn Oram
    5

  • Balloon Lagoon and the Magic Islands of Poetry
    Adrian Mitchell
    5

  • Why do Stars Twinkle? and other nighttime questions
    Catherine Ripley
    4

  • Do the Doors Open by Magic? and other supermarket questions; Why is Soap So Slippery? and other bathtime questions; Why is the Sky Blue? and other outdoor questions
    Catherine Ripley
    4

  • When People Die; Our New Baby
    Sarah Levete
    4

  • Little Swan; Louisa's Secret; Louisa in the Wings; Louisa and Phoebe
    Adèle Geras
    4

  • The Emperor's New Clothes
    Hans Christian Andersen
    4

  • Tea in the Sugar Bowl, Potato in My Shoe
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • Tidy Titch; Tiny Ted; Alfie's Alphabet; The Snow Angel; Two Monsters; Oscar got the blame
    Pat Hutchins
    4

  • The Red Fox Monster; Red Fox and the Baby Bunnies
    Alan Baron
    4

  • Come On, Daisy!
    Jane Simmons
    4

  • Yum-Yum!
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    3

  • Aesop's Funky Fables
    Vivian French
    3

  • What's Up?
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Farm Boy
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • Lassie, Come-Home
    5

  • The Even More Amazing Science Pop-Up Book
    Jay Young
    4

  • How are Babies Made?; What Happens to your Food?; The Amazing Pull-Out Pop-Up Body in a Book
    Alastair Smith
    4

  • Aunty Dot's Incredible Adventure Atlas
    Eljay Yildirim
    4

  • The Orchard Book of Opera Stories
    4

  • Lord Fox and other spine chilling tales
    Robert Nye
    4

  • Dear Daniel: Letters from Antarctica; Amazon Diary: The Jungle Adventures of Alex Winters
    Sara Wheeler
    3

  • The Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories
    Barbara Newman
    3

  • Aquila
    Andrew Norriss
    3

  • The Horribly Haunted School
    Margaret Mahy
    3

  • My Granny's Great Escape
    Jeremy Strong
    3

  • Nutcracker
    E T A Hoffmann
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Rise of the Nazis; The Holocaust
    Charles Freeman
    5

  • The voices of Danger
    Alick Rowe
    5

  • Chasing Redbird
    Sharon Creech
    5

  • In the Deep End
    Kate Cann
    5

  • The Other Side of Silence
    Margaret Mahy
    5

  • Selected Poems for Children
    Charles Causley
    5

  • The Beast of Whixall Moss
    Pauline Fisk
    5

  • Feminism for Teenagers
    Sophie Grillet
    4

  • The World in the Time of Leonardo da Vinci; The World in the Time of Marie Antoinette
    Fiona Macdonald
    4

  • Mixed Feelings
    4

  • Get Back, Pimple!
    John Agard
    4

  • No Roof in Bosnia
    Els De Groen
    4

  • Other Colours
    Catherine Johnson
    4

  • Poo You and The Potoroo's Loo; Brainbox
    David Bellamy
    4

  • The Concise Oxford School Dictionary; The Concise Oxford School Thesaurus
    4

  • The Knight and the Squire
    Terry Jones
    4

  • Smash!
    Robert Swindells
    4

  • Iron Heads
    Susan Gates
    4

  • Drugs; Drugs
    Anita Naik
    4

  • Don't Mess With Angels
    Susan Gates
    3

  • Mine
    Caroline Pitcher
    3

  • Roman Town; Egyptian Town
    Hazel Mary Martell
    3

  • In the Next Three Seconds; The World in One Day
    Rowland Morgan
    3

  • The Ashton Affair
    Ann Thwaite
    3

  • Roverandom
    J R R Tolkien
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Signs of Childness in Children's Books
    Peter Hollindale
    4

  • Where was Wonderland? - A traveller's guide to the settings of classic children's books
    Frank Barrett
    2

BfK News

ALASTAIR HUMPHREYS’ GREAT ADVENTURERS WINS THE 2019 EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD

The winner of the 2019 Educational Writers’ Award is Alastair Humphreys’ Great Adventurers: The Incredible Expeditions of 20 Explorers (Big Picture Press).

Alastair Humphreys Great Adventures

read more...
BLACKMAN AND DOWNHAM ON SHORTLIST FOR 2019 COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award, which was announced today, 26th November 2020. Alongside them on the list are newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing, both of whom are published by Chicken House.

The 2019 Costa Children’s Award shortlist

read more...
2019 ALCS EDUCATIONAL WRITERS’ AWARD SHORTLIST

Shortlist announced for the UK’s only award for creative educational writing

The Society of Authors and the Authors’ Licensing& Collecting Society have announced the shortlist for the 2019 ALCS Educational Writers’ Award, the UK’s only award for educational writing which stimulates and enhances the learning experience.

read more...
‘INSPIRING’: CONTENDERS FOR THE 2020 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

Blue Peter Book Award logo

Six books have made it onto the shortlists for the 2020 Blue Peter Book Awards. There are two categories: Best Story, and – in non-fiction November – Best Book with Facts.

read more...
NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

And we’re off… the nominations for the 2020 Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals are announced today, Monday 4th November.

read more...
2020 UKLA BOOK AWARDS THE LONGLISTS

UKLA Awards

A record number of submissions and a new category to highlight information books marks the 12th longlists for the UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by active classroom teachers.

read more...
JESSICA LOVE NAMED WINNER OF THE KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 FOR JULIAN IS A MERMAID

Jessica Love

read more...
LOLLIES 2020 SHORTLIST THE YEAR’S FUNNIEST CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, has announced the shortlist for the 2020 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies), the awards that celebrate the funniest children’s books.

Lollies logo

read more...
HOOD, RUNDELL AND REYNOLDS UKLA BOOK AWARD WINNERS 2019

Morag Hood, Katherine Rundell and Jason Reynolds have been announced as the winners of the UKLA Book Awards 2019 for I Am Bat, The Explorer and Long Way Down respectively.

read more...
CATHERINE JOHNSON WINS LITTLE REBELS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD

The Alliance of Radical Booksellers (ARB) is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Little Rebels Children’s Book Award for Radical Fiction is Catherine Johnson for her book, Freedom (Scholastic 2018).

Catherine Johnsonn photo Andy Donohoe

read more...
more
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account