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Books for Keeps 240 - the children's book magazine online

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BfK No. 240 - January 2020
BfK 240 January 2020

This issue’s cover illustration is from Evernight written by Ross MacKenzie, cover illustration by Amy Grimes. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help with this January cover.
Digital Edition
By clicking here you can view, print or download the fully artworked Digital Edition of BfK 240 January 2020.

BfK No. 240 Articles

Editorial 240

2020: a big year for BfK
2020: New Year Predictions

What will be the big issues for children’s books in the year ahead?
2020: a look ahead Part One

Books of the Year as chosen by their editors
2020: a look ahead Part Two

More picks for 2020 from children's editors
2020: A Look Ahead Part Three

More children’s editors share their picks
Ten Essential Children’s Books chosen by Philip Reeve

Philip Reeve selects a top ten
Authorgraph 240: Ross MacKenzie

Ross MacKenzie interviewed by Jane Sandell
Windows into Illustration: Ken Wilson-Max

Illustrator Ken Wilson-Max describes his technique and approach.
Picturebooks: the best art form for something you to have to say

An extract from the new edition of Children's Picturebooks: The Art of Visual Storytelling
Knights of

Meet the publisher doing things differently
A House Without Walls: an interview with Elizabeth Laird

An interview with Elizabeth Laird
Beyond the Secret Garden: A Sporting Chance

Sports and children's books.
I Wish I’d Written Roopa Farooki

Roopa Farooki chooses
Good Reads 240

Good Reads chosen by pupils at Kingston Grammar School
Jan Mark Is Here!

A new website for the acclaimed author and new story collection

Classics in Short No.139 What Katy Did

What on earth did Katy do to become a classic?
THE MISSING. AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL ROSEN

Michael Rosen interviewed about the family stories that inspired his new book.
AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE HARRISON

Michelle Harrison talks sisters, sorcery and sequels
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH CERRIE BURNELL

The stories behind The Ice Bear Miracle.
HARRY POTTER AND ME: AN INTERVIEW WITH LEVI PINFOLD

Carey Fluker Hunt interviews Levi Pinfold about his illustrations for the House Editions of the Harry Potter books.
CRACKING CODES AND CRACKING JOKES: AN INTERVIEW WITH ANNE MILLER

Louise Lamont interviews Anne Miller about her debut novel, Mickey and the Animal Spies
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH TAYLOR DOLAN

Meet the creator of the Ghoul Scouts

Editor's Choice

Look Both Ways
Jason Reynolds
(Knights Of)
5

‘A tale told in ten blocks’ – in ten short stories we meet the pupils of the local High School who all live in these blocks down the road. Boys, girls, friends or not, as they walk they talk, dream, worry – or even imagine a school bus falling...

read more

New Talent

Where the World Turns Wild
Nicola Penfold
(Stripes Publishing)
5

Where the World Turns Wild was selected for the 2018 Undiscovered Voices anthology and shortlisted for the Joan Aiken Future Classics prize in 2017. It is a prescient and convincing story of a...

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All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 240

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

Under 5s

  • Goodbye House, Hello House
    Margaret Wild
    5

  • The Boy Who Loved Everyone
    Jane Porter
    4

  • Be More Bernard
    Simon Philip
    4

  • What I Like Most
    Mary Murphy
    4

Ages 5-8

  • The House of Madame M
    Clotilde Perrin
    5

  • Hansel & Gretel
    Bethan Woollvin
    5

  • The Princess Rules
    Philippa Gregory
    5

  • Greta and the Giants
    Zoe Tucker
    5

  • Snow Leopard, Grey Ghost of the Mountain
    Justin Anderson
    5

  • The Big Book of Birds
    Yuval Zommer
    5

  • Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls
    Various Authors
    4

  • How Many Points for a Panda?
    Hilda Offen
    4

  • Winter Sleep A Hibernation Story
    Sean Taylor
    Alex Morss
    4

  • How the Stars Came to Be
    Poonam Mistry
    4

  • The Red Suitcase
    Gilles Baum
    4

  • Mustafa’s Jumper
    Coral Rumble
    4

Ages 8-10

  • The Big Book of Birds
    Yuval Zommer
    5

  • The Highland Falcon Thief (Adventures on Trains)
    M.G. Leonard
    Sam Sedgman
    5

  • Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls
    Various Authors
    4

  • The Cure for a Crime
    Roopa Farooki
    4

  • The House in Hawthorn Road
    Megan Wynne
    4

  • Trailblazers – Harriet Tubman - A Journey to Freedom
    Sandra A. Agard
    4

  • Rebel Girls Ada Lovelace Cracks the Code
    Corinne Purtill
    4

  • The Ice Bear Miracle
    Cerrie Burnell
    4

  • Ghoul Scouts Welcome to Camp Croak!
    Taylor Dolan
    4

  • Mickey and the Animal Spies
    Anne Miller
    3

  • Son of the Circus: A Victorian Story
    E.L. Norry
    3

  • The Undefeated
    Kwame Alexander
    0

Ages 10-14

  • Look Both Ways
    Jason Reynolds
    5

  • Where the World Turns Wild
    Nicola Penfold
    5

  • Tiger Heart
    Penny Chrimes
    5

  • Prisoners of Geography Our World in 12 Simple Maps
    Tim Marshall
    5

  • A House without Walls
    Elizabeth Laird
    5

  • The Missing
    Michael Rosen
    5

  • Evernight
    Ross MacKenzie
    4

  • Orion Lost
    Alastair Chisholm
    4

  • Sofa Surfer
    Malcolm Duffy
    3

Ages 14+

  • Paper Avalanche paperback
    Lisa Williamson
    5

  • Yes No Maybe So
    Becky Albertalli
    Aisha Saeed
    5

  • Slay
    Brittney Morris
    5

  • Jackpot
    Nic Stone
    4

  • A Throne of Swans
    Katharine Corr
    Elizabeth Corr
    4

  • The Good Hawk
    Joseph Elliott
    4

BfK News

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.

read more...
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

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

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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

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