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BfK No. 246 - January 2021
BfK 246 January 2021

This issue’s cover illustration is from A Shelter for Sadness by Anne Booth, illustrated by David Litchfield. Thanks to Templar Publishing for their help with this January cover.

BfK No. 246 Articles

Editorial 246

Welcome to 2021
Jump into Super-Readable Rollercoaster

Jump into Super-Readable Rollercoasters: new accessible reads from OUP and Barrington Stoke
Books of the Year 2021 Abrams - Faber

The best books of the year ahead, selected and described by their editors (Abrams - Faber)
Books of the Year 2021 Guppy - Nosy Crow

The best books of the year ahead, selected and described by their editors (Guppy Books - Nosy Crow)
Books of the Year 2021 Old Barn Books - Zuntold

Books of the Year 2021 (Old Barn Books - Zuntold)
Authorgraph: Lisa Williamson

Lisa Williamson interviewed by Joanne Owen
Ten of the Best Picture Books to Reassure and Boost Young Children at the Beginning of the Year

Ten of the Best: picture books to reassure, selected by Carey Fluker Hunt
Windows into Illustration: Harriet Muncaster

Windows into Illustration: Victoria Stitch creator Harriet Muncaster
The Red Thread of Reading for Pleasure: Reading Teachers

The Red Thread of Reading for Pleasure untangled by Teresa Cremin
Beyond the Secret Garden: Drawing Conclusions

Beyond the Secret Garden Drawing Conclusions: the Kate Greenaway Medal by Darren Chetty and Karen Sands-O’Connor
Roopa Farooki: The NHS Junior Doctor Topping the Bestseller Lists

Roopa Farooki interviewed by Michelle Pauli
I Wish I'd Written: Alex Wheatle

I Wish: Alex Wheatle chooses
Writing Funny An Interview with Sam Copeland

Sam Copeland talks about his new book
Get App-y in 2021

Life-long bibliophile Clare Zinkin takes a deep breath and tries out a reading app.
Classics in Short: Some Old Men and Others

Classics in Short No. 145 Some Old Men and Others
AN INTERVIEW WITH 'THE EMPATHY KING' STEWART FOSTER

Joy Court interviews author Stewart Foster about his new book, The Perfect Parent Project.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH RACHEL BRIGHT AND NADIA SHIREEN

Picture book superstars Rachel Bright and Nadia Shireen answer our questions on their first collaboration, Slug in Love.
LIVING THE DREAM: AN INTERVIEW WITH ROSS WELFORD

Author Ross Welford interviewed about his new book When We Got Lost in Dreamland.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH SHERYL WEBSTER, AUTHOR OF ONE LITTLE BIRD

The author answers our questions about One Little Bird.
Troublemaker, Agitator: the work of Catherine Barter

Fen Coles interviews Catherine Barter about her new book, When We Played with Fire.
A Q&A INTERVIEW WITH MARJOKE HENRICHS

Marjoke Henrichs answers our questions on her debut picture book, No! Said Rabbit
INSPIRING YOUNG READERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH KATE PANKHURST

Elaine Chant talks to Kate Pankhurst about her Fantastically Great Women series.

 

Editor's Choice

What We'll Build
Oliver Jeffers
5

In a series of dreamscapes of possibility and ambition, a father and daughter set out to create the world in which they wish to live. Each brings something special to the task: what can be constructed is almost limitless, from cherished memories...

read more

New Talent

The Valley of Lost Secrets
Lesley Parr
4

When Jimmy and his little brother Ronnie are evacuated from London to a small Welsh mining village during WW2 they do not find the countryside quite as they expected and are surprised by both the mountains and the slag heaps. The brothers are...

read more

All Children's Book Reviews in BfK No. 246

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

Under 5s

  • What We'll Build
    Oliver Jeffers
    5

  • Cheeky Monkey
    Zehra Hicks
    5

  • Little Bear's Treasures
    Stella Dreis
    5

  • What's In The Truck?
    Philip Ardagh
    5

  • Slug in Love
    Rachel Bright
    5

  • No! Said Rabbit
    Marjoke Henrichs
    5

  • One Little Bird
    Sheryl Webster
    4

  • Marney's Mix Up
    Jane Rushmore
    3

Ages 5-8

  • Robobaby
    David Wiesner
    5

  • Crocodile Tears
    Roger McGough
    5

  • There Are Fish Everywhere
    Katie Haworth
    5

  • The Spots and the Dots
    Helen Baugh
    5

  • I'm NOT a Mouse!
    Evgenia Golubeva
    5

  • Wild is the Wind
    Grahame Baker-Smith
    5

  • Rain Before Rainbows
    Smriti Halls
    5

  • Snow Ghost
    Tony Mitton
    5

  • Together
    Charles Fuge
    5

  • Milo Imagines the World
    Matt de la Pena
    5

  • It Isn't Rude to Be Nude
    Rosie Haine
    4

  • Who Makes a Forest?
    Sally Nicholls
    4

  • Nina's Amazing Gift
    Maja Lunde
    4

  • Peter and the Tree Children
    Peter Wohlleben
    4

  • Girl From the Sea
    Margaret Wild
    4

  • Samira's Wish
    Saviour Pirotta
    3

  • The Kiosk
    Anete Melece
    3

Ages 8-10

  • Space Oddity
    Christopher Edge
    5

  • Saturdays at the Imaginarium
    Shauna Darling Robertson
    5

  • A Remarkable Ear
    Anne Fine
    5

  • Veggie Power
    Annette Roeder
    5

  • Count On Me
    Miguel Tanco
    4

  • The Marvellous Land of Snergs
    Veronica Cossanteli
    4

  • The House at the Edge of Magic
    Amy Sparkes
    4

  • Mason Mooney: Paranormal Investigator
    Seaerra Miller
    4

  • Daisy and the Unknown Warrior
    Tony Bradman
    4

  • The Story of the Windrush
    K.N. Chimbiri
    4
  • How to Be a Hero

    How to Be a Hero
    Cat Weldon
    4

  • The Last Bear
    Hannah Gold
    4

  • Monster Max and the Bobble Hat of Forgetting
    Robin Bennett
    3

  • Brand New Boy
    David Almond
    3

  • The Secret Explorers and the Comet Collusion
    SJ King
    3

  • The Island
    Judith Wisdom
    3

Ages 10-14

  • Windrush Child
    Benjamin Zephaniah
    5

  • Break the Mould
    Sinéad Burke
    5

  • Diamonds
    Armin Greder
    5

  • The Shark Caller
    Zillah Bethell
    5

  • Another Twist in the Tale
    Catherine Bruton
    5

  • The Acrobats of Agra
    Robin Scott-Elliot
    5

  • The Humiliations of Welton Blake
    Alex Wheatle
    5

  • Swan Song
    Gill Lewis
    5

  • This Wonderful Thing
    Adam Baron
    4

  • The Valley of Lost Secrets
    Lesley Parr
    4

  • Reaching for the Moon: the autobiography of NASA Mathematician Katherine Johnson

    Katherine Johnson
    4

  • Burning Sunlight
    Anthea Simmons
    4

  • Glassheart
    Katherine Orton
    4

  • The Witching Stone
    Danny Weston
    4

  • Fighting Fantasy: Crystals of Storms
    Rhianna Pratchett
    3

  • Blended

    Sharon M. Draper
    3

Ages 14+

  • Concrete Rose
    Angie Thomas
    5

  • When the World Was Ours
    Liz Kessler
    5

  • Long Way Down: the Graphic Novel
    Jason Reynolds
    5

  • The Gilded Ones
    Namina Forna
    5

  • We Played With Fire
    Catherine Barter
    5

  • All Our Hidden Gifts
    Caroline ODonoghue
    4

  • India Smythe in Love?
    Sarah Govett
    4

  • The Game Weavers
    Rebecca Zahabi
    4

  • Love is a Revolution
    Renée Watson
    3

Books About Children's Books

  • The Age Between: Personal Reflections on Youth Fiction
    Aiden Chambers
    4

BfK News

ONJALI RAÚF BECOMES WRITER IN RESIDENCE FOR BOOKTRUST

Award-winning author and activist, Onjali Raúf takes up the post as the new Writer in Residence for BookTrust, today, International Women’s Day. She takes over from Smriti Halls.

Onjali Q Raúf

read more...
LONGLISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 CILIP CARNEGIE AND KATE GREENAWAY MEDALS

The longlist for the 2021 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced.

CKG Logo

read more...
LONGLIST ANNOUNCED FOR 2021 KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE

Klaus Flugge Prize logo

read more...
NOW OPEN: 2021 HENRIETTA BRANFORD WRITING COMPETITION

Finish a story started by Branford Boase Award winner Liz Hyder

The Henrietta Branford Writing Competition, the annual competition for young people which runs in conjunction with the Branford Boase Award, is now open.

read more...
TWO UK ENTRIES ON IBBY LIST OF OUTSTANDING BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Every two years, IBBY invites nominations for its international List of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. Nominations are made by IBBY national sections and the final list is selected from these by the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Young People with Disabilities, based in Toronto. Because of its international content, the list is unique in the children’s book world. It is a huge voluntary undertaking as every country is encouraged to submit up to twelve titles across the three categories.

read more...
LONGLIST FOR THE 2021 BRANFORD BOASE AWARD

The longlist for the 2021 Branford Boase Award has been announced. Set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase, one of the founders of Walker Books, the Branford Boase Award is given annually to the author of an outstanding debut novel for children.

read more...
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...
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