Home
  • Home
  • Latest Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Authors & Artists
  • Articles
  • Reviews
  • News
  • Forums
  • Search

Books for Keeps 109 - the children's book magazine online

  • View
  • Rearrange

Digital version – browse, print or download

Can't see the preview?
Click here!

How to print the digital edition of Books for Keeps: click on this PDF file link - click on the printer icon in the top right of the screen to print.

BfK Newsletter

Receive the latest news & reviews direct to your inbox!

BfK No. 109 - March 1998

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from David McKee’s new picture book, Elmer Plays Hide-and-Seek. David McKee is interviewed by Julia Eccleshare. Thanks to Andersen Press and Random Century for help in producing this March cover.

BfK No. 109 Articles

Editorial - March 1998

News and comment from the Editor.
Elmer at Thirty

David McKee interviewed by Julia Eccleshare.
Volunteer Reading Help

Judy Taylor Hough on how Volunteer Reading Help can support young readers.
The History of Children’s Books, No.6: The Years of Challenge

John Rowe Townsend brings the story up to the present day.
Authorgraph No.109: Jill Paton Walsh

Jill Paton Walsh interviewed by Stephanie Nettell.
BfK Briefing - March 1998

News * Events * Best Seller Charts * Publications * Awards * Obituary
I Wish I’d Written... A Swarm in May

Jan Mark chooses William Mayne's A Swarm in May.
From the Beginning: How to Enjoy Books with Your Child

Myra Barrs and Sue Ellis suggest lots of practical ways for parents and carers to enjoy sharing books with young children.
Classics in Short No.8: Charlotte’s Web

Helen Levene on E B White's Charlotte's Web.

Editor's Choice

The Wise Doll
Hiawyn Oram
(Andersen Press Ltd)
5

A version of a traditional Russian tale, this powerful picture book tells how Too-Nice is sent by her sisters, Horrid and Very-Horrid, to fetch them a toad from the house of the witch, Baba Yaga. Fortunately for Too-Nice she has a wise doll,...

read more

New Talent

Come On, Daisy!
Jane Simmons
(Orchard Books)
4

What could be more dramatic and yet satisfying for a small child than a story about losing your mother only to find her again. Intensely curious, Daisy Duckling explores the world of water and reeds around her, only to lose sight of Mamma Duck....

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 109

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

Under 5s

  • Travelling in Grandma's Day; School Life in Grandma's Day; Houses and Homes; School
    Faye Gardner
    Anne Callender
    5

  • Rub-a-Dub-Dub
    Ernest Henry
    5

  • This Little Pig; Incy Wincy Spider; The Elephant
    Colin Hawkins
    Jacqui Hawkins
    4

  • Fowl Play: the case of the vanishing chickens
    Jonathan Allen
    3

  • Spider School
    Francesca Simon
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Tales of Wonder and Magic
    5

  • The Wise Doll
    Hiawyn Oram
    5

  • Balloon Lagoon and the Magic Islands of Poetry
    Adrian Mitchell
    5

  • Why do Stars Twinkle? and other nighttime questions
    Catherine Ripley
    4

  • Do the Doors Open by Magic? and other supermarket questions; Why is Soap So Slippery? and other bathtime questions; Why is the Sky Blue? and other outdoor questions
    Catherine Ripley
    4

  • When People Die; Our New Baby
    Sarah Levete
    4

  • Little Swan; Louisa's Secret; Louisa in the Wings; Louisa and Phoebe
    Adèle Geras
    4

  • The Emperor's New Clothes
    Hans Christian Andersen
    4

  • Tea in the Sugar Bowl, Potato in My Shoe
    Michael Rosen
    4

  • Tidy Titch; Tiny Ted; Alfie's Alphabet; The Snow Angel; Two Monsters; Oscar got the blame
    Pat Hutchins
    4

  • The Red Fox Monster; Red Fox and the Baby Bunnies
    Alan Baron
    4

  • Come On, Daisy!
    Jane Simmons
    4

  • Yum-Yum!
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    3

  • Aesop's Funky Fables
    Vivian French
    3

  • What's Up?
    Mick Manning
    Brita Granström
    1

Ages 8-10

  • Farm Boy
    Michael Morpurgo
    5

  • Lassie, Come-Home
    5

  • The Even More Amazing Science Pop-Up Book
    Jay Young
    4

  • How are Babies Made?; What Happens to your Food?; The Amazing Pull-Out Pop-Up Body in a Book
    Alastair Smith
    4

  • Aunty Dot's Incredible Adventure Atlas
    Eljay Yildirim
    4

  • The Orchard Book of Opera Stories
    4

  • Lord Fox and other spine chilling tales
    Robert Nye
    4

  • Dear Daniel: Letters from Antarctica; Amazon Diary: The Jungle Adventures of Alex Winters
    Sara Wheeler
    3

  • The Illustrated Book of Ballet Stories
    Barbara Newman
    3

  • Aquila
    Andrew Norriss
    3

  • The Horribly Haunted School
    Margaret Mahy
    3

  • My Granny's Great Escape
    Jeremy Strong
    3

  • Nutcracker
    E T A Hoffmann
    2

Ages 10-14

  • The Rise of the Nazis; The Holocaust
    Charles Freeman
    5

  • The voices of Danger
    Alick Rowe
    5

  • Chasing Redbird
    Sharon Creech
    5

  • In the Deep End
    Kate Cann
    5

  • The Other Side of Silence
    Margaret Mahy
    5

  • Selected Poems for Children
    Charles Causley
    5

  • The Beast of Whixall Moss
    Pauline Fisk
    5

  • Feminism for Teenagers
    Sophie Grillet
    4

  • The World in the Time of Leonardo da Vinci; The World in the Time of Marie Antoinette
    Fiona Macdonald
    4

  • Mixed Feelings
    4

  • Get Back, Pimple!
    John Agard
    4

  • No Roof in Bosnia
    Els De Groen
    4

  • Other Colours
    Catherine Johnson
    4

  • Poo You and The Potoroo's Loo; Brainbox
    David Bellamy
    4

  • The Concise Oxford School Dictionary; The Concise Oxford School Thesaurus
    4

  • The Knight and the Squire
    Terry Jones
    4

  • Smash!
    Robert Swindells
    4

  • Iron Heads
    Susan Gates
    4

  • Drugs; Drugs
    Anita Naik
    4

  • Don't Mess With Angels
    Susan Gates
    3

  • Mine
    Caroline Pitcher
    3

  • Roman Town; Egyptian Town
    Hazel Mary Martell
    3

  • In the Next Three Seconds; The World in One Day
    Rowland Morgan
    3

  • The Ashton Affair
    Ann Thwaite
    3

  • Roverandom
    J R R Tolkien
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • Signs of Childness in Children's Books
    Peter Hollindale
    4

  • Where was Wonderland? - A traveller's guide to the settings of classic children's books
    Frank Barrett
    2

BfK News

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)

read more...
BOOKTRUST’S REPRESENTS INTERIM RESEARCH & CLPE REFLECTING REALITIES SURVEY 2020

CLPE Reflecting Realities Report 2020

read more...
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.

read more...
TOM PALMER WINS THE CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD 2020

Tom Palmer

read more...
more
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Help/FAQ
  • My Account