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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

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.’

read more...
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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SHORTLIST FOR THE 2021 BLUE PETER BOOK AWARDS REVEALED

The six books shortlisted for the 2021 Blue Peter Book Awards have been announced.

Blue Peter Book Award logo

read more...
Happy National Non-Fiction November 2020

It’s National Non-Fiction November! Organised by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, National Non-Fiction November is an annual celebration of the power of non-fiction to inspire children and celebrate readers who have a passion for information and facts. 2020 is the 10th anniversary of National Non-Fiction November.

read more...
JANE PORTER AND MAISIE PARADISE SHEARRING 2020 LITTLE REBELS AWARD WINNERS

Jane Porter and Maisie Paradise Shearring have won the 2020 Little Rebels Award for their picture book The Boy who Loved Everyone. They will share the £2000 prize.

Little Rebels logo 2020

read more...
OU AND MACMILLAN CHILDREN’S BOOKS LAUNCH BOOK CHAT SCHEME

The Open University (OU) is launching Book Chat: Reading with your Child, a resource which comprises three short films and support materials to help parents, families and carers read books conversationally and creatively to children. Working with Macmillan Children’s Books, the films use a selection of their picture books and a poetry collection to support families with reading to different ages of children.

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