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Books for Keeps 230 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 230 - May 2018
BfK 230 May 2018

This issue’s cover illustration is from The House with Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli. Thanks to Usborne Publishing for their help with this May cover.
Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 230 May 2018.

BfK No. 230 Articles

Editorial 230

Get ready for Empathy Day: Miranda McKearney looks forward to 12thJune
Rebels with a Cause: Fen Coles on The Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction

Rebels with a Cause: Fen Coles on the Little Rebels Award for Radical Children’s Fiction
How do we measure up?

Children’s books as a mirror to society, how do they measure up? asks Chitra Soundar
Authograph 230 Brian Conaghan

Brian Conaghan interview by Joy Court
Windows into Illustration: Kate Hindley

Windows into Illustration: Kate Hindley
11 of the best football reads for children

Ten of the Best: the best football books chosen by Jim Sells of the National Literacy Trust
Beyond the Secret Garden ‘In Times of Peril’: Britons, Asians, Muslims

Part three in Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor’s series looking at representations of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic voices in children’s books.
The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal Shortlist 2018

The Kate Greenaway Medal 2018 shortlist appraised by Derek Brazell
The CILIP Carnegie Medal shortlist 2018

The Carnegie Medal shortlist appraised by Nicholas Tucker
Hidden: from page to stage

Miriam Halahmy on the new adaptation of her novel Hidden

An interview with Lauren St John

Michelle Pauli interview Lauren St John
Two Children Tell: Filling in the Gaps

Two Children Tell: Filling in the picture book gaps
I Wish I’d Written: Sarah Govett

I Wish I’d Written… Sarah Govett chooses
Good Reads 230

Good Reads for Empathy Day, chosen by primary school pupils

Classics in Short No 129: The Little Grey Men, Last of the Little People

The Little Grey Men, Last of the Little People
The Little Rebels Award in 2018

Judge Darren Chetty reflects on the 2018 Little Rebels Prize.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH JULIA GRAY, AUTHOR OF LITTLE LIAR

The author answers questions on her novel Little Liar
AN INTERVIEW WITH 2018 CARNEGIE MEDAL WINNER GERALDINE McCAUGHREAN

The 2018 Carnegie Medal winner interviewed by Nicholas Tucker

Editor's Choice

The Electrical Venus
Julie Mayhew
(Hot Key Books)
4

Mim’s life is with Grainger’s Side Show along with a “dwaff”, a learned pig and Alex, a boy who has only one arm. Welcome to the world of Georgian entertainment. But this is also the Age of the Enlightenment when scientific discoveries and...

read more

New Talent

The House with Chicken Legs
Sophie Anderson
(Usborne Publishing Ltd)
5

A beautiful and original take on the Tale of Baba Yaga.

Marinka has lived with her grandmother, Baba Yaga all her life, helping her to lead the dead through The Gate to the stars and to enjoy one last wonderful meal together and hear the...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 230

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

Under 5s

  • The Rhythm of the Rain
    Grahame Baker-Smith
    5

  • Sophie Johnson: Unicorn Expert
    Morag Hood
    5

  • The Story of Tantrum O’Furrily
    Cressida Cowell
    5

  • Colour My Days
    Ross Collins
    4

  • Baby Bird
    Andrew Gibbs
    4

  • Is it a Mermaid?
    Candy Gourlay
    3

Ages 5-8

  • The Rhythm of the Rain
    Grahame Baker-Smith
    5

  • After the Fall. How Humpty Dumpty got back up again
    Dan Santat
    5

  • Space Tortoise
    Ross Montgomery
    5

  • Juniper Jupiter
    Lizzy Stewart
    3

  • The Nothing to See Here Hotel
    Steven Butler
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Noah Scape Can’t Stop Repeating Himself
    Guy Bass
    5

  • Charlie and Me: 421 Miles from Home
    Mark Lowery
    5

  • Happyville High: Geek Tragedy
    Tom McLaughlin
    4

  • Kat Wolfe Investigates
    Lauren St John
    4

  • The Secret of the Night Train
    Sylvia Bishop
    4

  • HerStory: 50 women and girls who shook the world
    Katherine Halligan
    4

  • She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History
    Chelsea Clinton
    4

  • Dog Town
    Luize Pastore
    3

  • The Nothing to See Here Hotel
    Steven Butler
    3

Ages 10-14

  • The House with Chicken Legs
    Sophie Anderson
    5

  • Rebound
    Kwame Alexander
    5

  • The Goose Road
    Rowena House
    5

  • Rose Rivers
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day
    Christopher Edge
    4

  • The Wild Folk
    Sylvia Linsteadt
    4

  • A Good Day for Climbing Trees
    Jaco Jacobs
    4

  • Child I
    Steve Tasane
    4

  • Flamingo Boy
    Michael Morpurgo
    3

Ages 14+

  • Stranger
    Keren David
    5

  • Me Mam. Me Dad. Me.
    Malcolm Duffy
    5

  • In Paris With You
    Clementine Beauvais
    5

  • Skylarks
    Karen Gregory
    4

  • The Electrical Venus
    Julie Mayhew
    4

  • The Girl in the Broken Mirror
    Savita Kalhan
    4

  • On a Scale of One to Ten
    Ceylan Scott
    4

  • Ash Princess
    Laura Sebastian
    4

BfK News

STRUAN MURRAY AND HIS EDITOR BEN HORSLEN WIN THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logo

Struan Murray and his editor Ben Horslen have been named winners of the 2021 Branford Boase Award for the year’s outstanding debut novel for children for Orphans of the Tide.

read more...
2021 WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE WINNER

Elle McNicoll has been named Overall Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2021 for her debut novel A Kind Of Spark. Now in its seventeenth year, the Prize consists of £5,000 and the promise of ongoing commitment to the winners’ writing and illustrating careers, making it one of the most valuable and prestigious children’s book awards in the UK.

read more...
SCHOLASTIC UK ANNOUNCE LOLLIES 2022 SHORTLIST OF FUNNIEST BOOKS IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

Michael Rosen, children’s novelist, poet and former Children’s Laureate, today announced the shortlist for the 2022 Laugh Out Loud Awards (The Lollies). The Lollies, created by Scholastic UK, celebrate the funniest children’s books and this will be the fifth year of the awards after a hiatus in 2021.

read more...
THE 2021 UKLA WINNERS

The 2021 UKLA Awards, the only national awards judged by class teachers, will always be remembered as the year when the entire judging process had to be conducted online, with the judging panel only meeting and discussing the titles virtually. Yet despite this the impassioned discussions demonstrated yet again the impact that quality texts can have upon the teacher judges and the students in their classes.

read more...
CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY AWARD WINNERS 2021

The winners of this year’s CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, the UK’s oldest book awards for children and young people, were revealed today. Both winning books were announced at a virtual, daytime event, hosted by University Challenge Star and author Bobby Seagull and livestreamed from The British Library.

read more...
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR 2020/21 ANNOUNCED

SLA logo

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PATRICE LAWRENCE NAMED WINNER OF 2021 JHALAK PRIZE AWARD

Patrice Lawrence is the winner of the inaugural Jhalak Children’s and Young Adult Prize for her YA novel, Eight Pieces of Silva.

Jhalak Prize logo

read more...
THE 2021 LITTLE REBELS AWARD SHORTLIST

The shortlist for the 2021 Little Rebels Award has been revealed and it is the longest in the award’s history.

Now in its 9th year, the Little Rebels Award celebrates children’s fiction which challenges stereotypes, promotes social justice and advocates for a more peaceful and fairer world.

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

read more...
SHORTLIST ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

Branford Boase Award logo

read more...
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