Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:13:08 -0800WeeblyThu, 07 Jan 2010 09:32:25 -0800http://www.kidscompass.co.uk/1/post/2010/01/the-costa-awards-hit-the-right-note.htmlTuesday morning the winner of the 2009 (or 2010? Announced in 2010 but relating to 2009) Costa Book Awards was announced. The winner is Patrick Ness for his absolutely awesome book, The Ask and the Answer.

We found the first in this series, The Knife of Never Letting Go, through a recommendation from a member of staff in our local bookshop. I bought it, read it, passed it to James who read it in almost no time at all. We were both completely awed by it, the sheer originality, the wonderfully written characters, the genuine emotion you feel (although that emotion is sometimes terror!) and the way Ness writes. For a short time the real world falls away and nothing is more important than going on that journey with Todd and Viola. A really wonderful book.

I was both excited and worried when the second book was released. How often are we disappointed in a hastily written sequel that didn't live up to the wonder of the debut? In this case my worries were unnecessary. The Ask and the Answer is not the same book, certainly. Todd isn't as much of a child as he was, a little more cynical, a little more wordly. However, it has all the elements that made the first book so wonderful and then some. The book has a steel core in its main characters and we're both waiting the final book with eager anticipation.

On a similar note, the second book the in the Michael Grant series has been published this month. Gone was a mindblowing start to this series and I'm waiting by the door for the postman every morning! Definitely one to watch and we'll have it reviewed and posted just as soon as we can.

Speaking of which, the rate of updates has slowed a little for Christmas and the New Year period. We're working away and will have some new reviews, some new features and articles and also some news on what will be released this year!
]]>Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:09:46 -0800http://www.kidscompass.co.uk/1/post/2009/12/winter-wonderland.htmlWell West Sussex is covered in a blanket of snow and the hill in a sheet of ice which means we have no choice but to stay at home and curl up with a good book. This week, I've been catching up with The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. James read them and reviewed them for the site (which you can find here) and he was so impressed he's been nagging me to read them.

I was absolutely blown away.

These books are fantastic! The plotline is gripping, the characters are not just believable but likeabe, which can be an entirely different thing and its written in a simple but compelling style. I devoured them both in such a short time and quickly began reecommending them to everyone I know.

We also managed to see Where the Wild Things Are this weekend. I loved the book when I was little and James is a recent convert so we were quite excited to see the film  The director took this little story and turned it into a huge film, more about childhood than a film for kids.

We won't be updating the site for a day or two over Christmas, so we wish all our visitors a very Merry Christmas and we hope to see you all again after the festive season!
]]>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:29:59 -0800http://www.kidscompass.co.uk/1/post/2009/12/christmas-at-kids-compass-hq.htmlHello there and welcome to our first ever blog post! The nights are colder and darker, the fires are lit here at Kid's Compass HQ, the tree is ordered and on its way and I am browsing all the wonderful books that are out there at the moment, trying to find perfect matches for the family.

I'm really pleased that so many retailers are offering such a great choice these days. There is such a massive wealth of wonderful stuff, especially at this time of year that you can discover a new favourite every day if you had the time to dig! If you don't have the time to dig then hopefully you can find something on our site. We read and review each book personally and we can absolutely guarantee that you will get our honest opinions. If you find something that you like on the site then you can also buy it here too! We are in partnership with Amazon so can bring you the lowest price for the books we review. Just click on the Kid's Compass Bookshop! It also helps us to continue searching for the best in children's fiction, so thanks for your support.

Our favourite book of the moment is The Circus Ship, by Chris van Dusen. Its a marvellous picture book, visually a riot of colour and detail and the story is superb. I read it whilst travelling on a very busy train, standing in a packed carriage with a large picture book, guffawing loudly and completely mesmerised. I'm certain that if you are buying for a little reader then this book will be a hit.

We hope to be updating regularly and we try our best to put up new reviews all the time so do bookmark us, follow us on twitter and remember to visit us again! We really do look forward to seeing you.

Jo@kidscompass]]>