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Books for Keeps 239 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 239 - November 2019
BfK 239 November 2019

This issue’s cover illustration is from Bad Nana: That’s Snow Business written and illustrated by Sophy Henn. Thanks to HarperCollins Children’s Books for their help with this November cover.
Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 239 November 2019.

BfK No. 239 Articles

Guest editorial: publishing with Unbound

Loosing The Arrow of Apollo with Unbound
Being Human

Kevin Crossley-Holland explains how folk-tales make us human
Books of the Year 2019

BfK contributors choose
Ten of the Best: books for beginner readers

Ten of the Best Books for Beginner Readers chosen by Tony West and Margaret Wallace Jones of The Alligator’s Mouth Bookshop
Authorgraph 239: Rob Biddulph

Rob Biddulph interviewed by Louise Johns-Shepherd
Windows into Illustration: Jon Agee

Jon Agee describes putting a wall in the middle of a book
Books for Giving 2020

Your indispensable gift guide. Part one.
Beyond the Secret Garden: Books for Everyone

How to make sure there’s something for everyone on your holiday gift list

Fill your stockings!

Find room for these last-minute recommendations
It’s Wicked!

Celebrating a brilliant creative writing competition
Good Reads 239

Good Reads chosen by students at Herne Bay High School, Kent
Review feature: The Book of Dust

Nicholas Tucker enters The Secret Commonwealth, the second volume in The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman.
Liz Flanagan Imagining Dragons

Author Liz Flanagan ponders our love of dragons
Classics in Short No 138: Tales of Uncle Remus

Tales of Uncle Remus
FURIOUS THING: JENNY DOWNHAM

Jenny Downham introduces her powerful new novel, which is shortlisted for the 2019 Costa Children's Book Award.
AN INTERVIEW WITH COSTA SHORTLISTED AUTHOR JASBINDER BILAN

Jasbinder Bilan's talks about her debut novel Asha and the Spirit Bird, which is shortlisted for the 2019 Costa Children's Book Award.
AN INTERVIEW WITH COSTA SHORTLISTED AUTHOR NICHOLAS BOWLING

Philip Womack talks classical myths and heroes with Costa shortlisted author Nicholas Bowling
JUDGING THE COSTA: BALI RAI ON CROSSFIRE BY MALORIE BLACKMAN

Bali Rai discusses Crossfire by Malorie Blackman and explains why it’s the perfect book for our times.

Editor's Choice

Kites Simon Mole
Simon Mole
(Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
5

David has just moved house; new surroundings without the support of familiar people. Perhaps if he can make a kite and join the children on the hill he will find friends. But does he have the right materials? Well, as his grandfather has always...

read more

New Talent

Pet
Akwaeke Emezi
(Faber & Faber)
5

There are no monsters in Lucille; at least not any more after the revolution. Now the angels keep order – angels drawn from the community. But what does a monster look like? And why do the angels found on the pages of old books look so monstrous...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 239

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

Under 5s

  • The Mist Monster
    Kirsti Beautyman
    5

  • It’s a No-Money Day
    Kate Milner
    5

  • Taxi Ride with Victor
    Sara Trofa
    4

  • Lulu’s First Day
    Anna McQuinn
    4

  • Oscar Seeks a Friend
    Pawel Pawlak
    4

  • Somewhere out There, Right Now
    Gemma Wells
    4

  • The Girl and the Dinosaur
    Hollie Hughes
    4

  • Polly and the New Baby
    Rachel Quarry
    4

  • Nuts!
    Lou Peacock
    4

  • Merrylegs
    Pam Smy
    4

  • Moon and Me The Little Seed
    Andrew Davenport
    4

  • Oh Christmas Tree!
    Sue Hendra
    Paul Linnet
    4

Ages 5-8

  • Kites Simon Mole
    Simon Mole
    5

  • Tibble and Grandpa
    Wendy Meddour
    5

  • Beast Feast
    Emma Yarlett
    5

  • Molly and the Whale
    Malachy Doyle
    Andrew Whitson
    5

  • Let's All Creep Through Crocodile Creek!
    Jonny Lambert
    5

  • It’s a No-Money Day
    Kate Milner
    5

  • Taxi Ride with Victor
    Sara Trofa
    4

  • Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention
    Pip Jones
    4

  • Oscar Seeks a Friend
    Pawel Pawlak
    4

  • Moon and Me The Little Seed
    Andrew Davenport
    4

  • Angel on the Roof
    Shirley Hughes
    4

  • Jazz Dog
    Marie Voigt
    4

  • Step Inside Homes through History
    Goldie Hawk
    4

  • The Fate of Fausto
    Oliver Jeffers
    4

  • The Little Island
    Smriti Prasadam-Halls
    4

  • Once Upon a Rhythm
    James Carter
    4

  • Under the Great Plum Tree
    Sufiya Ahmed
    Reza Dalvand
    4

  • Dracula Spectacular
    Lucy Rowland
    Ben Mantle
    4

  • In Every House on Every Street
    Jess Hitchman
    Lili La Bateine
    4

  • The Inner Child
    Henry Blackshaw
    3

  • Cornelia and the Jungle Machine
    Nora Brech
    3

  • Castle of Books
    Alessandro Sanna
    3

  • Gaspard Best in Show
    Zeb Soanes
    James Mayhew
    3

  • The Giggle Pigs
    Leonie Lord
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Lily at Lissadell
    Judi Curtin
    5

  • The Velvet Fox
    Catherine Fisher
    5

  • Dr Maggie’s Grand Tour of the Solar System
    Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock
    5

  • Eight Princesses and a Magic Mirror
    Natasha Farrant
    5

  • Nevertell
    Katherine Orton
    5

  • Can I Touch Your Hair? A Conversation
    Irene Latham
    Charles Waters
    5

  • HUMANIMAL Incredible Ways Animals Are Just Like Us!
    Christopher Lloyd
    5

  • I Cosmo
    Carlie Sorosiak
    Ben Mantle
    5

  • A Gallery of Cats
    Ruth Brown
    5

  • Oscar Seeks a Friend
    Pawel Pawlak
    4

  • The Fate of Fausto
    Oliver Jeffers
    4

  • The Dead World of Lanthorne Ghules
    Gerald Killingworth
    4

  • Plastic Sucks!
    Dougie Poynter
    4

  • A Postcard to Ollis
    Ingunn Thon
    4

  • The Glassblower's Children
    Maria Gripe
    Harold Gripe
    4

  • The Impossible Boy
    Ben Brooks
    4

  • Through the Eyes Of Us
    Jon Roberts
    Hannah Rounding
    4

  • Jane Goodall: A Life With Chimps
    Anita Ganeri
    4

  • The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch
    Tom Fletcher
    4

  • The House Without Windows
    Barbara Newhall Follett
    3

  • The Night's Realm
    Nick Ward
    3

  • Ant Clancy: Games Detective
    Ruth Morgan
    2

Ages 10-14

  • Lily at Lissadell
    Judi Curtin
    5

  • Pet
    Akwaeke Emezi
    5

  • Some Places More than Others
    Renée Watson
    5

  • Rise Up! The Art of Protest
    Jo Rippon
    5

  • Deeplight
    Frances Hardinge
    5

  • The Pearl in the Ice
    Cathryn Constable
    4

  • The Somerset Tsunami
    Emma Carroll
    4

  • Invisible in a Bright Light
    Sally Gardner
    4

  • Cyborg Cat and the Night Spider
    Ade Adepitan
    4

  • M is for Movement (Aka Humans Can’t Eat Golf balls)
    Innosanto Nagara
    4

  • We Are The Beaker Girls
    Jacqueline Wilson
    4

  • The Boy Giant
    Michael Morpurgo
    4

  • The Fountains of Silence
    Ruta Sepetys
    4

  • The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch
    Tom Fletcher
    4

  • The Fowl Twins
    Eoin Colfer
    3

  • Beyond Platform 13
    Eva Ibbotson
    Sibéal Pounder
    3

  • Resistance
    Brian Gallagher
    3

  • White Eagles
    Elizabeth Wein
    3

Ages 14+

  • Pumpkin Heads
    Rainbow Rowell
    5

  • Scars Like Wings
    Erin Stewart
    5

  • The M Word
    Brian Conaghan
    4

  • Full Disclosure
    Camryn Garrett
    4

  • India Smythe Stands Up
    Sarah Govett
    4

  • The Secret Runners of New York
    Matthew Reilly
    4

  • That Asian Kid
    Savita Kalhan
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children’s Books
    Clare Pollard
    5

  • The 100 Best Children’s Books
    Brian Alderson
    5

  • Why was Billy Bunter Never Really Expelled? And another twenty-five mysteries of children's literature
    Dennis Butts
    Peter Hunt
    3

BfK News

EMPATHYLAB ANNOUNCES 2020 READ FOR EMPATHY BOOK COLLECTION

Raising A Generation of Empathic Citizens

Empathy Day logo

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

Jasbinder Bilan

read more...
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.

read more...
THE IBBY LIST OF OUSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Dr Rebecca Butler writes.

Readers of Books for Keeps will remember that IBBY (the International Board on Books for Young People) arranges every two years a competition to identify the very best books for young readers featuring disability or designed to be read by young people with disabilities. Last time this list was compiled in 2017/18 I was the coordinator for the UK section.

read more...
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...
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