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Books for Keeps 146 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 146 - May 2004

Cover Story
This issue's cover illustration is from Jenny Nimmo's The Blue Boa. Jenny Nimmo is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Egmont Books for their help with this May cover.

BfK No. 146 Articles

Editorial - May 2004

News and comment from the Editor.
Words About Pictures: Beginning the Conversation

Ghislaine Kenyon on the Words About Pictures seminar.
Words About Pictures: The Primacy of Text

Brian Alderson on the principles of critical assessment.
Words About Pictures: Judging Illustration

Joanna Carey on what a reviewer needs to know.
Words About Pictures: Continuing the Conversation

Martin Salisbury on challenging illustration.
Novels in Verse, for Better or Worse

Peter Hollindale on the verse novel.
Authorgraph No.146: Jenny Nimmo

Jenny Nimmo interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
BfK Profile: Gene Kemp

Philippa Milnes-Smith talks to Gene Kemp
BfK Briefing - May 2004

News * Awards * Letter to the Editor * Events
I Wish I'd Written... Thursday’s Child

Theresa Breslin chooses Sonya Hartnett's Thursday's Child.
Good Reads: The William Allitt School, Swadlincote, Derbyshire

Reviews from pupils of The William Allitt School, Swadlincote, Derbyshire.
Useful Organisations No.33: Children's Literature in Education

International journal about children's books.
Hal's Reading Diary - May 2004

Roger Mills on telling stories to Hal.
Classics in Short No.45: The Winter Sleepwalker

Brian Alderson on Joan Aiken's The Winter Sleepwalker.

Editor's Choice

Girl, 15 Charming but Insane
Sue Limb
(Bloomsbury Publishing PLC)
5

Readers of The Guardian will remember how her hilarious column starring Dulcie Domum, wife, mother and romantic novelist, led to Sue Limb's career as the chronicler, in a number of tongue in cheek novels, of the contemporary female...

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New Talent

Once Upon a Time, Upon a Nest
Jonathan Emmett
(Macmillan Children's Books)
4

Painterly texture expressively applied ensures that every spread in this engaging picture book is full of movement and life and every slight curve of a beak or inclination of a neck convey the emotions of Father and Mother Duck as they worry...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 146

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

Under 5s

  • Misery Moo
    Jeanne Willis
    5

  • Caribbean Animals
    Dawne Allette
    4

  • Have You Fed the Cat?
    Michèle Coxon
    4

  • Once Upon a Time, Upon a Nest
    Jonathan Emmett
    4

  • Oww!
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
    Bill Martin Jr
    3

  • SCOOP the Digger!
    David Wojtowycz
    3

  • Traffic Jamboree
    Sue Nicholson
    3

  • Can You Cuddle Like a Koala?
    John Butler
    2

  • Bunny and Bee's Playful Day
    Sam Williams
    2

  • Shape Up Goz
    Steve Weatherill
    1

Ages 5-8

  • Where Willy Went...
    Nicholas Allan
    5

  • The Conquerors
    David McKee
    5

  • Angus Rides the Goods Train
    Alan Durant
    5

  • Looking After Louis
    Lesley Ely
    5

  • Rocks and Minerals
    Caroline Bingham
    4

  • Now We Have a Baby; When Goodbye is For Ever
    Lois Rock
    4

  • The Most Magnificent Mosque
    Ann Jungman
    4

  • Strike!
    Rob Childs
    3

  • The Generous Rabbit and other animal stories; Why Dogs Chase Cats... and other animal stories
    Bob Hartman
    3

  • The Princess Knight
    Cornelia Funke
    3

  • And The Good Brown Earth
    Kathy Henderson
    2

  • The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit
    Chris Wormell
    2

Ages 8-10

  • Mysteries & Marvels of Nature
    Elizabeth Dalby
    4

  • The Head in the Sand: A Roman play; Bombs and Blackberries: A World War Two play
    Julia Donaldson
    4

  • Humble Tom's Big Trip: A Tudor play; Cruel Times: A Victorian play
    Kaye Umansky
    4

  • Lily Quench and the Dragon of Ashby
    Natalie Jane Prior
    3

  • The Legend of Spud Murphy
    Eoin Colfer
    3

  • Errand Lass
    Theresa Tomlinson
    3

  • Greece; Egypt
    Shahrukh Husain
    2

Ages 10-14

  • If the World Were a Village
    David J Smith
    5

  • Lirael; Abhorsen
    Garth Nix
    5

  • No Shame, No Fear
    Ann Turnbull
    5

  • The Tale of Despereaux
    Kate DiCamillo
    5

  • Girl, 15 Charming but Insane
    Sue Limb
    5

  • Pocket Guide to Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs
    Richard Parkinson
    4

  • The British Museum Ancient Egypt Pop-up Book
    James Putnam
    4

  • Last Train from Kummersdorf
    Leslie Wilson
    4

  • Al Capone Does My Shirts
    Gennifer Choldenko
    4

  • As Good as Dead in Downtown
    Neil Arksey
    4

  • The White Rider
    Chris Priestley
    4

  • Dusk
    Susan Gates
    4

  • Trash! On Ragpicker Children and Recycling
    Gita Wolf
    Anushka Ravishankar
    3

  • Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt; Everyday Life in Ancient Rome
    Neil Morris
    3

  • Piratica
    Tanith Lee
    3

  • The Stowaway
    Karen Hesse
    3

  • The City of Ember
    Jeanne DuPrau
    3

  • Ruby Tanya
    Robert Swindells
    3

  • Freedom Flight
    Bernard Ashley
    3

  • Secret City
    Jan-Andrew Henderson
    3

  • Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader; Agent Z Goes Wild
    Mark Haddon
    3

  • Other Echoes
    Adèle Geras
    3

  • Kamo's Escape
    Daniel Pennac
    3

  • My Mum's from Planet Pluto
    Gwyneth Rees
    2

  • Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet
    Michael Rosen
    2

  • The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
    Mary Gribbin
    John Gribbin
    1

Ages 14+

  • Unique
    Alison Allen-Gray
    5

  • Walking Naked
    Alyssa Brugman
    5

  • Black Mirror
    Nancy Werlin
    4

  • How It Works
    Graham Marks
    4

  • The Lost Boys' Appreciation Society; The Defender
    Alan Gibbons
    4

  • Now That I've Found You
    Rex Harley
    3

  • Dating Hamlet
    Lisa Fiedler
    3

  • Love, Hate and My Best Mate: poems about relationships
    2

Books About Children's Books

  • Where Next, Peter Rabbit? Beatrix Potter Studies X
    3

BfK News

SHORTLISTS FOR THE 2020 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS ANNOUNCED

CILIP CKG logo

The shortlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest book awards for children and young people, have been announced. Selected by Youth Librarians from the 20 strong longlists there are eight books on each of the two lists.

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Children's Book Award

The shortlist for the Children’s Book Award 2020 has been announced. This is the award’s 40th Anniversary year and it remains the only national award for children’s books that is voted for entirely by children. To mark the award’s 40th Anniversary, a new category on the shortlist celebrates the most popular books for teens.

read more...
NEW FUNDING FOR THE LITTLE REBELS AWARD

The Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction has been boosted thanks to £3,500 in new funding from the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust, bringing the award’s prize money up to £2,000.

Little Rebels logo

read more...
LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2020 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

CKG logo

The longlists for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest book awards for children and young people, have been announced.

read more...
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2020 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

The longlist for the 2020 Klaus Flugge Prize has been announced. Now in its fifth year, the Klaus Flugge Prize is awarded to the most promising and exciting newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. It honours Klaus Flugge, founder of publisher Andersen Press and a supremely influential figure in picture books.

Look Up!

read more...
WHO WON THE LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK AWARDS?

The winners of the Laugh Out Loud Book Awards 2020 have just been announced.

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BRANFORD BOASE AWARD 2020: LONGLIST ANNOUNCED

Branford Boase Award logo

read more...
EMPATHYLAB ANNOUNCES 2020 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK COLLECTION

Raising A Generation of Empathic Citizens

Empathy Day logo

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JASBINDER BILAN WINS COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD WITH HER DEBUT NOVEL

Jasbinder Bilan

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COSTA CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2019: SHORTLIST FEATURES

Former Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman and acclaimed author Jenny Downham are on the shortlist for the 2019 Costa Children’s Book Award alongside newcomers Jasbinder Bilan and Nicholas Downing.

Costa Book Awards logo

Click the links below to read new Books for Keeps feature articles on each of the shortlisted authors.

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