SEVERAL lucky hand-picked pupils from Minehead Middle School and Minehead First School were recently given an opportunity to read and review some of the latest children’s fiction publications before they hit the shelves at WHSmith.

All of the books were well received and given the ‘thumbs up’ by the young readers.

Mrs Thompson, Minehead Middle School librarian, said: “Nothing really takes the place of peer to peer recommendations when it comes to reading, and it was wonderful to see the enthusiasm and buzz it created amongst the pupils. This is a great initiative and we are very proud of those who gave up their free time to take part.”

In recognition of the time and effort spent by the children, WHSmith donated the books, 40 in all, to the schools and Minehead Middle School also received £100 worth of book tokens for the library.

Malcolm Adams, manager of WHSmith, said that he was delighted by the very positive response by parents to the reviews and the subsequent sales of the books that ensued as a direct result.

The reviews and books can be seen on a special display at WHSmith in Minehead.