I refuse to be an adult! www.achuka.com (achuka.com)

Member Name: zusy

Product:	achuka.com
Date:	02/03/01 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Sack loads of information, reviews, news, links and interviews

Disadvantages: Design a bit scraggy

We've had Harry Potter taking over the world just lately, followed closely by would-be-HP's clutching at his coat tails.

The phenomenon has opened many people to the possibility of reading 'Kids books' on the train, without being stared at oddly by bewildered strangers, concerned for one's sanity.

I am thrilled that children's literature has had this much-needed publicity boost - in my view, many of the best books published recently have been aimed primarily at a younger audience.

I am not a child, I have no children to read them to or buy them for. I am an adult reader of children's books and I can now throw open the doors of the closet and scream this in an "I am NORMAL" (god-awful advert) style.

www.achuka.co.uk describes itself as: "The Chock-Full, Eyes-Peeled, Independent Children's Books Site" and this about sums it up, although I shall endeavour to fill in some of the gaps that succinct statement leaves blank.

Achuka is a website dedicated entirely to bringing the best new young-reader's books to public attention. There are constantly updated reviews of the latest releases, award-winning books, reviewer's best-buys and so on.

I have often used this site to find out about books I may otherwise have missed. The majority tend to be aimed at what is called the 'Young Adult' market, and this seems to be the largest section on the website. The reviews are not exactly in-depth, but considering the amount of books that they review, and the fact they are independent, this is not surprising.

One of the best things about Achuka are the author interviews. Just recently they have interviewed Melvin Burgess, with past luminaries including: David Almond, Philip Pullman, Babette Cole, Diana Wynne Jones, Jonathan Allen, J.K Rowling, Daren Shan and Anne Fine (I've left out many, many more...the list is quite extensive.)

Some of the i
nterviews still to come are: Jacqueline Wilson, Allan Ahlberg, Margaret Mahy and Peter Dickinson.

The website has lots of other features - Publishing industry news concerned with children's books and authors, advance reader reviews, links to author's own websites, an extensive collection of links to other young fiction sites, author profiles, chat, who's-said-what in the media.... Phew! This is a busy and constantly changing site.

My one complaint comes from the way the site looks, the way it's laid-out. It looks, well, sort of messy and untidily thought out. I *hate* the utterly unnecessary flash thingy that leads you into the site. Where do I click? How can I stop the lime green and pink squares coming, mummy? Arrrgh!

I think this website needs an overhaul, to sort it out and give it the professional look it deserves. It's all a little 'my fist homepage'ish for my liking. Not that people's first homepages are to be sniffed at, but this isn't the image such a brilliant resource as this should cultivate.

Achuka is best used to dip into, find an interesting book, read an interview or two and come back later to find out more. It's fun, informative and absolutely essential for the children's bibliophile...

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