The Big City Sticker Book by Maggie Li

Maggie Li has a new interactive sticker book due to be published by Pavilion Books on September 3rd, based on her ever popular Big City Explorer book. The Big City Sticker Book allows children to explore some of the world's most exciting cities and comes with over 350 stickers.

The very cute character, Penguin, acts as the guide on the virtual journey from city to city. He is hidden within the illustrations from each city, so younger children can have fun spotting him! Children can collect passport stamps as they globetrot their way through the book, showing the places they have visited.

Each page comes with a variety of activities and fun facts about the cities featured throughout the full colour pages. There are spaces on each page that children can complete using the stickers, which are colourful and fun, designed with Maggie Li's distinctively quirky style. 

 

Each city represented within the book comes with a city suduko, a compass game, a flag to colour and a map reference. There are facts about the language spoken, the currency and the population along with visual references to the famous landmarks, food, people and culture. Some pages have a 'Find It' challenge to test the readers knowledge and observation skills further. The book is packed with information to get young, inquisitive minds thinking.

Older children will enjoy the compass challenge, which asks them to navigate their way from city to city by drawing arrows on the compass on each page leading to the next destination. An atlas at the front of the book shows the location of each city for reference.

The Big City Sticker Book encourages an interest in the world around us. It develops geographical skills such as compass work and map reading. Children use their visual skills to find Penguin on each page and to match the stickers to the blank spaces. It is a really fun way to learn about cities and nurture wanderlust in even the youngest explorers.

This is another lovely title from Maggie Li which costs £9.99 for the large A4 size paperback book. It has 64 pages plus 19 pages of stickers. It is published on September 3rd by Pavilion Children's Books.

The Big Adventure with Mothercare and ELC

Mothercare has launched a new range for summer,  and it's all about adventure!  The Adventure range conjures up the world of camping holidays, the outdoors and nature watching.  For girls there are vintage florals and mix and match photographic prints.  For the boys there are muted and chalky colours, fluorescent highlights and graphics inspired by nature and adventure.

Tying in with this theme of adventure, ELC has a fabulous range of toys including the Discovery Channel 4 x 30 Binoculars (£6.99) and FM Walkie Talkies (£24.99), plus their own brand Explorers Kits (£15.00).

Freddy was delighted to receive a fabulous 'The Big Adventure' long sleeved graphic T-Shirt (currently half price at £3.50 - £4.00) featuring a cool photo of the great outdoors, along with some ELC goodies and nature books to help him enjoy his own big adventure!

We loved the T-Shirt which was well sized and well made from 100% breathable cotton, which is soft on children's skin.  The muted green raglan sleeves, the contrast stitching and the stylish graphic print make this the perfect top for big adventurers aged up to 8 years old.

The ELC Explorer Kit contains everything that a budding adventurer might need to discover the world around them.  A wrist compass, a magnifying glass, torch, magnified bug catcher with tweezers and binoculars plus some nature cards are packed inside a see-through rucksack.

My little adventurer was ready to explore!

For children, everyday is an adventure filled with discovery and wonder.  It was a rainy, wet day when we went for a walk around Bridgemere Gardens, but that didn't deter Freddy from going on his big adventure.  Using his binoculars, he looked around for birds, took a closer look at the leaves on trees and checked out the things up ahead.

He loved his wrist compass which he used to find North.  His daddy showed him how the arrow always pointed to the north, even if he moved around.  Freddy tried to find some bugs but the rain meant that apart from one brave Hover Fly, our adventure was relatively bug free.  So bug catching will be saved for another day.  Instead, Daddy hid some coins for Freddy to discover.  Using his exploration skills and the age old technique of 'getting hotter or colder', Freddy discovered the treasure among the plants and under the trees.  He loved his adventure and wondered if it was pirates, and not Daddy, that had left the coins for him to find.

The ELC toys help children learn and develop through play; stimulating their imagination and creativity.  

After a busy afternoon exploring, it was time to explore the cafe where Freddy enjoyed some yummy grapes and a Millionaire's Shortbread, whilst still wearing his compass.  An explorer's job is never done!

After his big adventure and his snack, Freddy's T-Shirt was ready for the wash.  I am happy to report that it washed up beautifully at 40 degrees.

Find out more about the Adventure range and view other products from Mothercare and the ELC at:

www.mothercare.com

Good Clean Fun with Cussons Mum & Me Little Explorers

Cussons have recently launched a lovely range of kids' bath time products, Mum & Me Little Explorers, to make having a bath more fun. Freddy was sent some to try out.  He is currently a little bit in love with his bath time and loves experimenting with new products, so he was quite excited about being the chief tester of the Super Soft Squidgy Soap and the Bath Crackles.

Super Soft Squidgy Soap [£2.49 – 200ml]

"Let their creativity flow at bathtime and have fun with the Super Soft Squidgy Soap that can be shaped and moulded into anything their imagination wants. The gentle formulation is hypoallergenic, dermatologist approved and contains Jojoba Oil and Vitamin E, helping to leave their skin feeling soft and smooth."

The squidgy soap is a fun, mouldable soap which can be used to make fun shapes whilst you relax in the bath.  It is white and Freddy liked pretending he had snowballs which he threw around!  It resembles shaving foam, and has a mild, pleasant smell.  It did leave some scum around the top of the bath water so whip your little ones out when you pull the plug to avoid them dunking their freshly washed hair into the scummy dregs that accumulate in the bottom of the tub.  Yes - that's what Fred did!  Other than that, the product is a lot of fun and kids get clean as they play. Perfect!

Funky Fizz Bath Crackles [£1.00- 30g]

"Add some magic to bathtime with these exciting bath crackles that pop and bang as they hit the water, before changing the colour of the bathwater as they dissolve. Your kids will love them and so will you as they’re hypoallergenic and dermatologist approved."

This is like Space Dust for the tub!  The water fizzled and crackled around Freddy which made Freddy giggle.  The effect was quite shortlived but a lot of fun while it lasted, great to encourage reluctant bathers into the tub. They did have a bit of a chemical smell, but as they hypoallergenic and dermatologist approved I didn't worry. It's another fun addition to bathtimes which Freddy approved of!

Our verdict: Good clean fun and excellent stocking fillers!