National Year of Reading - Books for Keeps

For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunity to share what they do and how people can get involved.

In this episode we are joined by Andrea Reece who is the Managing Editor of the children's book magazine Books for Keeps.

Started in the 1980s, Books for Keeps is a treasure trove of information about children's books and authors. It includes reviews and recommendations, a news and events section and regular essays about topics in children's literature, as well as an extensive digital archive going back over 40 years. It is a must read for anyone interested in children's literature and reading.

Transcript

Katy 0:11

Welcome to Mostly Book Talk. I'm Katy.

Ali 0:14

I'm Ali. And for the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people.

Katy 0:22

And for this episode, we have Andrea Reese, who is the managing editor of the children's book magazine Books for Keeps. I should say that you will hear Ali comes in a bit late to this interview, so she's just there at the end. Enjoy.

Katy 0:39

So I'm really pleased to have with us today Andrea Reece, who is the managing editor of Books for Keeps, which is an online children's book magazine, and she's going to tell us all about it. So Andrea, welcome.

Andrea 0:53

Thank you very much.

Katy 0:54

And do you want to just start by telling us what Books for Keeps is? Yes.

Andrea 0:57

So Books for Keeps is the leading children's online review journal in the UK. It was established in 1980. It's been around a long time. It has been around a very long time. And we publish six issues a year, always have done. So January, March, May, July, September, November. And in each issue, we will run a major interview with an author. The very first one was Quentin Blake. This issue is Patrick Ness. So that kind of gives you kind of scope. It used to be a print magazine, as in the when it started, that was all there was.

Katy 1:32

I remember getting it. I did used to get it as a print magazine.

Andrea 1:35

I have all of the issues, two copies in my house. And they're also at seven stories, if anyone wants to go and dig them out there. Oh. And then it was 2010 that we moved it on, or it began to be published online as well. And then I think it was about 2011 we just moved it completely online. And at that point, the entire archive was available. And then in 2020, we moved to a new website. And in fact, again, we moved the entire backlist of all the issues dating back to 1980 onto the website. So the entire archive is available at the clicks of various buttons, which is something I'm really proud that we managed to do actually.

Katy 2:18

Yeah, and it's a treasure trave, isn't it? Because you can search through it and find reviews of books from all years.

Andrea 2:24

Yes, reviews and author interviews and illustrator interviews. It's the whole pantheon of contemporary children's books is represented in Books for Keeps. And although keeping it going is not easy this day and age, but I think it's such an incredibly valuable and also a unique resource. So if you want to know about anything that's happened in children's books since 1980, and in fact prior to that, because while we are still reviewing and interviewing new authors, obviously interreviewing new books, we spend also time looking at classics or books that were once classics, and that's all so there's that looking back over the history of children's books, and that's something that continues to be really important to us as well. So we have authors like or contributors such as Brian Alderson, who for years was doing a classics in short piece, looking at all sorts of books from the 1800s as well as the and some from the 1700s, in fact, and is now writing valedictions instead because he has this incredible library of children's books, which he is donating to seven stories, and as he hands them over, he writes a bit about each one for us. We look back and we look at today and we look forward.

Katy 3:38

That's amazing. And you also have Darren Chetty in K Sands Econogy in a regular column.

Andrea 3:43

Looking at the history of Books for Keeps, we've always been eager to represent diverse voices. That was something that Rosemary Stones was the editor of for quite a long time, ran the other award. We did a what was in those days called a multicultural publication, just highlighting what was available. That was in the 80s, probably early 90s. Yes, I asked Darren if he would like to write for us, having come across something he'd written that I thought was really interesting, and he involved Karen, Sans O'Connor, and together they do the Beyond the Secret Garden article, which looks at representation of ethnic minorities in children's fiction or children's literature. And that again, they've looked at everything from sort of board books through to books for teenagers, poetry by theme. There's an interesting one on Robinson AIDS, which I think is something that Darren's particularly interested in. So it's been really brilliant, I think, to bring that on board. It's challenging to me every time I read it. I think it makes me look at things in different ways, it makes me aware of things that I should be aware of that I haven't been. It's absolutely fascinating. So yeah, we're really pleased with that.

Katy 4:51

It's an amazing resource. The whole publication and the site is an amazing resource and definitely a place to go to if you're looking for books. Because you've got the recommendations by age, haven't you?

Andrea 5:01

So we we've always done them by age range, so it's under five, five to eight, eight to ten, which is tricky now because then it's ten to fourteen and there's quite a lot of crossover, and sometimes I put them in both the degrees. And then we also do 14 plus. Which is also tricky. Yes, actually, yes. And then we do books about children's books. So we review books that have been written about children's literature.

Katy 5:25

And they're really interesting for teachers, aren't they? Because they're an interesting kind of professional development resource as well.

Andrea 5:31

And also for I mean, in terms of who Books for Keeps is for, we always say it's anyone really with an interest in children's books. So it's teachers, librarians, authors, illustrators, students of children's literature, and parents as well. So if you want to find out what the best new children's books are, then we're the place to go to. I think it was Rosemary introduced the star system so we grade everything with from five down to one star, and where five is outstanding excellent and one is poor. I tend not to publish one-star reviews before we get very many. But occasionally, occasionally, if it's something, for example, a book that's being really hyped for whatever reason and it's not very good, I think it's just worthwhile saying that. And obviously, our reviewers are all experts in their field, so they might be lots of them are librarians and teachers and retired librarians, but also specialists in their field as well. And we and quite a few academics as well.

Katy 6:31

Yeah, no, but it's an interesting range, and it's they're always interesting perspectives in that they're not just uh this is what happens. There's always a bit of an analysis or consideration of what kind of reader might like it or something like that. I'm with you on that. I think if a book, if you haven't got something nice to say about a book, then probably just quietly put it to one side. But I know what you mean about those books that everyone's they're being held up as being amazing, and you think a bit like really? Really? So are you doing anything special for the National Year of Reading?

Andrea 7:04

So what I felt like we needed to do, so what we also do lots of news stories, so I try and cover everything that's happening in children's books. So it's really helpful when people actually let me know what's going on. That's brilliant. Yeah. And I think for the National Year of Reading, part of what we will be doing is just keeping our readers up to date with new initiatives that are going on and new developments, things that they might be able to get involved in depending on where they are. So in our forthcoming issue, I've asked National Literacy Trust managers from different parts of the country to talk about the initiatives they're working on and what they're seeing as being most effective. Because it's quite nice not to be too London-centric, that's always a danger. So that will be happening. So we will be reporting on all of that. But in a way, my feeling is that Books for Geeps is just made for the National Year of Reading, especially this one. Because if you want to go all in and you want to find the books that are going to inspire young readers, or the authors that they might be interested in, or the types of stories, pony stories, whatever. Sorry, I'm really into pony stories at the moment. I've just read a really good one.

Katy 8:12

I'm just gonna let Ali Ali, welcome. Hello. Hello. So we're on to pony stories. I was just about to ask, have you read JP Rose's ones?

Andrea 8:23

Yes, I have. Yes, and I absolutely love them.

Katy 8:26

Yeah, yes. We interviewed her, and she is just so into horses. It's just they clearly bring her a lot of joy, and this was her dream project. Yes.

Andrea 8:37

Oh, I absolutely loved it. Yeah. I gave it to a reviewer who I who said, Oh, I don't think I'm quite as into the pony stories as you are, but she also really loved it, so I was happy with that. That was good, brilliant. Right, good.

Katy 8:49

So the first thing you're doing is with the National Literacy Trust looking at what they're doing around the country. Are there any other things planned for uh later on in the

Andrea 8:56

uh so there'll be things like our own kind of this is how you could use the national year of reading practically. Uh so that might be Charlotte Hacking wrote a really interesting piece on it in our January issue, I think, about ways to approach it, ways to make the most of the national year of reading, and there'll be features like that coming up as well. And yeah, but I think really it will be just letting people know what's going on and how they can use that in their own work, whatever.

Katy 9:27

Because you've got quite a useful page, haven't you? Is it I can't remember it's got some news and events.

Andrea 9:32

Yes, we always have our uh we always yeah, have news pages, and then obviously in our editorials we try and round up what's going on, let people know about that kind of thing as well, and then new initiatives. So it yeah, I think it really is letting people know what's happening. I think I'll do more of the kind of reports from around the country because I think that will be really interesting, and just like examples of so I I interviewed Frank Cottrell Boyce when he became children's laureate, and he was really interesting, saying there's loads of really good initiatives, and it's just like letting people know this works for these people, this is what they've found out on their own, and that's let's just share best practice. And in a way, I think the National Year of Reading can just be a huge opportunity to let people know what works, how to get kids to go all in on reading. You can't force someone to enjoy something, like I will never enjoy ice skating. Books aren't never, but books aren't like ice skating, there are so many and such a huge kind of wealth, particularly at the moment, there is some fantastic publishing going on. So it's just let's just find the way of turning reading into. I really like the National Year of Reading strategy of reading being a social thing. And I think getting, I think Books were keeps, I hope, has always been a way of prompting conversations about reading. And I'd I'd like us to facilitate that during the National Year of Reading even more than ever, really.

Katy 10:55

Yeah, we would be totally with that in terms of the importance of talking about books as a conversation and making those connections with people to talking about books being really important.

Andrea 11:07

Talking about books as well, or just enabling people to start those conversations, which are really important as well.

Katy 11:13

And I think resources like Books for Keeps are the ones because it's really hard for teachers and adults, parents to keep up to date with everything. And you walk into a bookshop and it can be quite overwhelming in a sense. And Ali and I have this thing of watching, you know, you can't help it when you're in a bookshop, but you're over hearing those conversations that parents are having with their children about books. And there's almost always one that's going, but I don't want to read that too long. It looks really boring. And you can see that it's a parent going, but it's a very important proper book.

Ali 11:46

Or I love this when I was a child

Andrea 11:48

that's the killer line, really, isn't it?

Ali 11:50

Yeah. I do a little bit of what about this book? I do a bit of that. And they're like, Do you work here? I'm like, no. So that is yeah.

Katy 12:00

Because we do all know the books that we read. Yeah, exactly.

Andrea 12:03

I did get my daughter to read The Little White Horse, which was my all-time favourite. And I've got two daughters, and one of them couldn't get on with it at all, so she's excluded now from Christmas. But the other one, it was so she loved it as much as I did. In fact, she wanted me to make a little white horse riding outfit for World Book Day.

Ali 12:23

Oh wow, which was that's my favourite book as well. Yeah, love that book. I love the fact, and the main thing about I mean, it's quite an old book. It is old. But the main thing about it is it's has a female heroine, which was actually quite unusual. You know, it was boys' books and actually chooses just Maria. Maria Merryweather sorts it all out.

Katy 12:44

Brilliant. And so people can find books for keeps online, very easy to find if they want to. Is there anything in terms of engaging people or getting them involved for the National Year of Reading? Is there anything else you would invite them to do or encourage them to do? Just come and find you. Or are you going to be doing it at any events or that or you will just come and find you online?

Andrea 13:03

Yeah, we will be. I think that's one of our issues is we're an incredibly small team, and getting out to events is just quite often, it's just like there's nobody to do it. But we will be at more this year, and we do have informal partnerships with UKLA or the YLG. So you'll you'll find us at places like that. Although I tend to think we might just be talking to the converted anyway, really at those events like everybody should know. We are doing more with teacher training colleges these days. So we do we've had people from different colleges working as interns for us or getting work experience, and that's proved really interesting, both for us and for them, I hope. And so we'll be doing more of that kind of thing and just yeah, trying to get out more. But we do we rely really on all our readers to tell everybody else how great we are.

Katy 13:59

So that's the challenge for the National Year of Reading is for people who know about Books or Keats to find out about it this year, to pass that on.

Andrea 14:06

Just to tell it like if they all told three people, that would be amazing, wouldn't it?

Katy 14:11

Yeah. That would be brilliant. And then so there's finally, what are your hopes for the National Year of Reading? Do you hope it achieves?

Andrea 14:18

Yeah, I hope I hope I suppose it is the beginning of something and not just, oh yeah, reading, we did that last year. I looked back at our report on the end of the 1999 National Year of Reading, because obviously I could find that easily in Books for Keeps, which made me laugh because it referred to the National Literacy Trust as a small literacy-based charity. So it's grown, grown quite a bit since that and and that had a that had a real impact and it did change people's attitudes to reading. It looked like that the number of parents who were reading with their children at bedtime had gone up significantly. So I hope that this year's National Year of Reading has all of the same kind of impact. So it does make people understand the importance and the joy to be had in sharing children's books. And I hope it works in the go-all-in kind of theme in that it it moves books from shifts along from education so that we think about books as being entertainment, yes, an entertainment form that's really good for you, but one that you would do because you really want to. And I hope that the initiatives that start carry on. That's what I would really like to see. And it's libraries in schools is just that's a brilliant way with a librarian in them, would be a fantastic thing to see carried on into the future, because that's the kind of thing that makes all the difference. It's about conversations carrying on and conversations by people who have got infused as well and informed about children's books. Yeah, that's what I'd like to see.

Katy 15:49

Brilliant. Thank you.

Ali 15:50

Brilliant. Thank you.