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BfK No. 235 - March 2019
BfK 235 March 2019

This issue’s cover illustration features The Curious Science Quest series by Julia Golding with Andrew Briggs and Roger Wagner, illustrated by Brett Hudson. Thanks to Lion Children’s Books for their help with this March cover.
Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 235 March 2019.

BfK No. 235 Articles

Editorial 235

Guest Editorial by former Waterstones Children’s Laureate Anne Fine
EmpathyLab 2019

An update from EmpathyLab founder Miranda McKearney
The LGBTQI+ Novel Comes Of Age

Michael Lee Richardson celebrates the best new writing for young LGBTQI+ readers.
Authorgraph 235: Julia Golding

Julia Golding interviewed by Imogen Russell Williams
Twenty-Seven of the Best: A Personal Reading Journey

Daniel Hahn takes a personal reading journey round Europe

Windows into Illustration: Laura Hughes

Laura Hughes

Beyond the Secret Garden Protest and the British Children’s Book

Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor find rebellion and riot in children’s literature.
I Wish I’d Written: Matt Brown

Matt Brown chooses
Good Reads 235

Chosen by Cannon Park Primary School, Coventry
Two Children Tell: Rebecca and Nicholas recognise an illustrator’s style

Rebecca and Nicholas and Lucy and Tom
Happy Anniversary to The Blue Balloon

Mick Inpen is celebrating!
Classics in Short No. 134 The strange fate of Rip Van Winkle

Brian Alderson contemplates Rip Van Winkle’s unlucky encounter with the fairies.
AN INTERVIEW WITH DANNY WALLACE

Comedian Danny Wallace explains why Brexit helped inspire the ultimate threat in his brand new book.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH NADINE WILD-PALMER

The author Nadine Wild-Palmer answers our questions on her debut children's novel, The Tunnels Below.

Editor's Choice

Wisp: A Story of Hope
Zana Fraillon
(Orchard Books)
5

Idris’s home is surrounded by barbed wire, a place where people have retreated into themselves. When the Wisp arrives, blown in on the wind, it is only Idris who sees it and feels its need - a need to unlock the memories of the people who have...

read more

New Talent

Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties
Humza Arshad
Henry White
(Puffin)
5

Humza Khan is a 12-year-old ninja-rapper-gangster with huge plans for his future. Unfortunately, he also suffers from debilitating stage fright and has the ‘greatest cricket coach Pakistan has ever known’ for a father, which means that his...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 235

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

Under 5s

  • The Truth About Old People
    Elina Ellis
    4
  • Aalfred and Aalbert

    Aalfred and Aalbert
    Morag Hood
    4
  • The Green Giant

    The Green Giant
    Katie Cottle
    4
  • All the Ways to Be Smart

    All the Ways to be Smart
    Davina Bell
    4
  • Bear Moves

    Bear Moves
    Ben Bailey Smith
    4
  • Rosie is my Best Friend

    Rosie is my Best Friend
    Ali Pye
    4

  • Me and My Sister
    Rose Robbins
    4

  • Maisie’s Scrapbook
    Samuel Narh
    4

Ages 5-8

  • Wisp: A Story of Hope
    Zana Fraillon
    5

  • Two Sides
    Polly Ho-Yen
    5

  • Goldilocks (A Hashtag Cautionary Tale)
    Jeanne Willis
    5

  • Harold Snipperpot’s Best Disaster Ever
    Beatrice Alemagna
    4

  • Mummy’s Suitcase
    Pip Jones
    4

  • Me and My Sister
    Rose Robbins
    4

  • Maisie’s Scrapbook
    Samuel Narh
    4

  • Wishing for a Dragon
    Becky Cameron
    4
  • The Dinosaur Department Store

    The Dinosaur Department Store
    Lily Murray
    Richard Merrit
    3

  • Little Rabbit’s Big Surprise
    Swapna Haddow
    3

Ages 8-10

  • The Midnight Hour
    Benjamin Read
    Laura Trinder
    5

  • The Steam Whistle Theatre Company
    Vivian French
    5

  • Little Badman and the Invasion of the Killer Aunties
    Humza Arshad
    Henry White
    5

  • The Day I Was Erased
    Lisa Thompson
    4

  • When We Were Warriors
    Emma Carroll
    4

  • The Boy Who Flew
    Fleur Hitchcock
    4

Ages 10-14

  • The Midnight Hour
    Benjamin Read
    Laura Trinder
    5

  • Now or Never-a Dunkirk Story
    Bali Rai
    5

  • Ghost
    Jason Reynolds
    4

  • Girl 38 Finding a Friend
    Ewa Jozefkowicz
    4

  • She Wolf
    Dan Smith
    3

  • Halo Moon
    Sharon Cohen
    3

Ages 14+

  • Shadowscent: The Darkest Bloom
    P.M. Freestone
    5

  • Proud
    Various Authors
    5

  • Joe Quinn’s Poltergeist
    David Almond
    5
  • Tales from the Inner City

    Tales from the Inner City
    Shaun Tan
    5

  • Outside
    Sarah Ann Juckes
    4

  • All the Invisible Things
    Orlagh Collins
    4

BfK News

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

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CRESSIDA COWELL ANNOUNCED AS NEW WATERSTONES CHILDREN’S LAUREATE

‘Books are transformative because of their unique ability to develop three key magical powers: intelligence, creativity and, most important of all, empathy. Words are power; let’s take magic seriously.’ Cressida Cowell, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

read more...
STEVEN CAMDEN WINS CLiPPA 2019

Steven Camden photo by Ellie Kurttz

read more...
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