October 2009, Campbell Books
Components: 30 magnets, 4 small books with 8 pages each, Board book
Review Copy
Children's, contains small magnets
Clouds: 3
Pencils: 5
Smiles: 5
Yunaleska's recommended rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Apologies - I haven't got a bigger picture of the book and blogger is being awkward with resizing.
I think every child will like this brightly coloured interactive book. The book opens out in the middle, revealing a large space for the magnets (explained below) and on both of the flaps are colourful holders for the four books.
First of all I'll talk about the stories themselves. The hardback books are sturdy enough to withstand lots of battering from children. Just like the space station they are brightly coloured, using people and objects from the selection of magnets. The stories include:
- Alien Hide-and-Seek
- Dogs in Space
- Cosmic Cookies
- Robot Rex
The stories provide a great starting point of ideas for what children can do with the magnets. While the story is being read they could put act it out with the magnets, or just play with them afterwords. They are cute stories which made me laugh.
The best part of the book is the magnets and the magnet area. The 30 magnets include characters from the books (including little green aliens!), gadgets, vehicles and a fridge. There is lots for children to play with. Yes, they are a little small so children will need to be old enough not to put the magnets in their mouth, but they stick on well to the board. When I mean well, I mean really well. I put all the magnets on the board (in a random order), turned the whole thing upside down, shook it violently, and none of them fell off. That impressed me.
On the back of the book there is a small checklist of what the book should achieve:
- Develops manual dexterity - yes, playing with magnets, opening the book, opening the magnet box.
- Introduces new environments - um I guess space is a new environment? And maybe specific areas of the house? Not entirely sure on this one.
- Encourages creative thinking - definitely! No doubt about that.
The only small downside is that children might find it a bit tricky to get the magnets out - I suggest putting them in a separate pot so children can access them easily. Other than that, this is really good value for money and will provide hours of entertainment.
Check out Joy Gosney's website, which includes the other magnetic books available.
Like this? Try Pull Out Pals: Snowy Fun! by Stephen Gulbis
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