CONTENTS May 2015
3 Editorial ___________________________________ ___________________________________
3 Books that Go Bump in the Night: Imogen Russell Williams on the new wave of teen horror.
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4 Accelerated Reader: Susan Boylan of East Lothian Libraries explains how the scheme works for them.
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5 Radical and Readers: Kimberley Reynolds on the Little Rebels Children’s Book Award.
6 Windows into Illustration: Mick Manning and Brita Granström on their innovative approach to ___________________________________information books.
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8 Ten of the Best: books to get children thinking about human rights, a Magna Carta inspired list chosen by Margaret Mallett.
10 Authorgraph: Frances Hardinge interviewed by Philip Womack.
14 First Light a celebration of the work of Alan Garner by Erica Wagner.
16 I Wish I’d Written… Phil Earle chooses.
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12 The 2015 Carnegie Medal shortlist: appraised by Nicholas Tucker.
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16 Good Reads chosen by pupils at Hexthorpe Primary School, Doncaster.
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17 Briefing Obituary: Fritz Wegner ___________________________________remembered by Ian Beck.
18 Two Children Tell: Miffy, the Giraffe and Rebecca.
19 Chicken House: 15 years on and still clucking!
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20 REVIEWS Reviewers 20 Under 5s (Pre-School/Nursery/ Infant) 20 + Editor’s Choice 20 5–8 (Infant/Junior) 22 8–10 (Junior/Middle) 24 10–14 (Middle/Secondary) 27 + New Talent 27 14+ (Secondary/Adult) 30
32 Classics in Short No. 111 Uncle Lubin and the first sighting of Heath Robinson Contraptions.
___________________________________ COVER STORY
Emma Shevah. Thanks to Chicken House for their help with this May cover, and 15th birthday congratulations!
This issue’s cover illustration is from Dara Palmer's Major Drama by
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editorial
t the 35th IBBY Congress in Mexico City last year, delegates were introduced to Mardonio Carballo, the Mexican actor, journalist, writer and poet. He writes his poems not just in
Spanish but in Náhuatl, one of the indigenous languages of Central America. He read some of his poems, short, to the point and often humorous, but with adult themes, because Carballo does not write for children primarily. However, as he commented, his poetry seems to cause a problem for librarians and booksellers; it regularly gets shelved either in the Anthropological section (because it is written in Náhuatl), or in the Children’s section, because his poems are short. In either case, he is rendered invisible.
Invisibility seems to be the fate of much poetry, but of children’s poetry in particular. While there has long been a popular perception that poetry is elitist and only for the few, the awareness and enjoyment of poetry used to be widespread. When Field Marshall Wavell compiled his anthology Other Men’s Flowers, he drew on the poems he knew and could recite by heart. Many of these poems he first encountered at school under a system where learning by rote was the accepted method of learning anything. This is no longer the case and though in general a good move, it seems to have had the sad effect that young people are not being introduced to our poetry heritage. I believe that children can enjoy poems that haven’t specifically been written for them; to say otherwise seems to be dismissive of young people.
Recently Chrissie Gittins, herself a poet for both adults and children, commented on the reasons for poetry’s invisibility: poetry does not sell so publishers do not publish it, and if poetry is published it does not get the market exposure so it does not sell. This is similar to what I was told as a children’s librarian: ‘Poetry does not issue.’ I then conducted an experiment over the summer months in my library whereby I recorded all poetry books borrowed, and found that at least one went out every day.
The apparent invisibility of poetry is strange Books for Keeps
May 2015 No.212 ISSN 0143-909X © Books for Keeps CIC 2015
Editor: Ferelith Hordon Assistant Editor: Ruth Williams Managing Editor: Andrea Reece Design: Richard Langford
Editorial correspondence should be sent to Books for Keeps, c/o The Big Green Bookshop, Unit 1, Brampton Park Road, Wood Green, London N22 6BG
2 Books for Keeps No.212 May 2015 Ferelith Hordon, Editor
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because even the youngest children love rhyme and rhythm; indeed some of the most successful picture books, like those by Julia Donaldson, are in effect poems. However, publishers like Faber are beginning to produce picture book editions of poems by Eliot and de la Mare. There are also some novels written in verse, such as Sarah Crossan’s The Weight of Water, which blur the artificial divide between fiction and poetry.
Young people need to be introduced to poetry regularly, in order to develop a love or even awareness of it. They usually respond enthusiastically when a poet visits the school; poets are often great performers, especially when engaging with children. Children should also be encouraged to write poetry themselves. Initiatives such as the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award organised by the Poetry Society or, more challenging, the Stephen Spender Prize for poetry in translation, are very welcome.
Poetry has never been excluded from the major children’s literary prizes such as the Carnegie and the Costa, but it rarely seems to feature on the shortlists. Congratulations to the CLPE (Centre for Literacy in Primary Education) Poetry Award, now in its thirteenth year. Championing the publication of children’s poetry since 2003, it has just issued the shortlist for the 2015 award. What’s more, CLPE has launched a shadowing scheme aimed at primary schools, a very exciting development with a very exciting reward for participation. We must do our best to bring poetry back into mainstream children’s literature where it belongs.
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