Over the past several years I have reviewed many books aimed towards children. Not all books labeled “children’s book” are exclusively ONLY for children. Every now and then a book comes along that can be equally as amusing and entertaining for an adult as it is for a child. That is the case with many of the books from Kidsbooks.
Kidsbooks sent me a book to review on my site. I figured it would be easy enough to read and review. I didn’t realize that it was going to be a fun activity book that would challenge not only kid kids, but also me and my husband.
I received the Where Are They?: Christmas Fun Search & Find book. If you are not familiar with a search and find book it features different pages. Each page has objects carefully hidden among the illustrations. There is a “key” that tells you what object to look for. Sometimes there are more then one so you might see something like “Three Candy Canes” which tells you that you need to locate three Candy Canes among the illustration.
This is a children’s book… surely it has to be super easy to use. Ha Ha! No way! Even my husband and I need to spend time finding the objects on the list that we need to find. I would have to say that my husband and I have used the book just about as much as my kids have.
My kids ended up checking off the lists with pencil marks. I didn’t want marks in the book but I guess it’s a lot easier then trying to remember what you found and what you still need to find.
The illustrations are cute but don’t let that fool you. Some of the objects you need to find are a lot harder to find then you think. You can find all of them. It’s not like it’s impossible. I’m sure a child can find everything as easily as an adult. It’s just that a few are more challenging then you would think. I think that is a GOOD thing because it’s great to challenge your brain to find them. It gives your brain a “mental workout”. The older you get the more important those workouts become.
I also think as you progress in the book the Search & Find puzzles also get a bit harder and harder.
Even if you are not actively looking for something, the illustrations are fun to look at and read. It’s clear that a lot of time, effort and consideration was put into each illustration. There is usually a lot going on.
We have a holiday Search & Find book, so all the images inside the book are related to Christmas. Kidsbooks also has plenty of non-holiday or seasonal books too.
Kidsbooks publishes books that high quality and educationally sound. All of their books make learning FUN. Their books are available in hardcover, softcover, lift the flaps and board books.
You can find Kidsbooks online at at places such as Costco, TJ Maxx, Barnes & Noble, BJ’s and many other retail locations. Although not listed on their site I also found the books on Amazon.com.
Kidsbooks publishes 100+ new titels each year. They have over 500 “Evergreen” titles. I wasn’t sure what that meant so I looked it up. This is what I found.
Evergreen books are the how-to, professional and non-literary nonfiction titles that can sell for three or five years without a new edition, or in extreme cases, even several decades… Most evergreen titles aren’t intentionally crafted for a long shelf life, but they are often acquire d for that reason… You don’t want to fill a book with references to current events if you’re hoping it will still appear fresh in five or ten years.
I assume that means that the content in the books is timeless and will be just as relevant today as it is 10+ years from now. I guess you won’t find any Kidsbooks with images of iPhones or iPads in them. If I am wrong with my assumption feel free to reach out to me and let me know.
Kidsbooks has so many different types of books to choose from. Not only do they offer a variety of Search & Find books but they also have Brain Teasers, Activity books, Mazes, Drawing and How to Draw books, Chalkboard activity books, non-fiction books and even activity placemats that your child can write on and wipe off.
The books all look like a lot of fun. I wish Kidsbooks has an online shop so you can purchase the titles that you want (I have my eye on a few). Barnes & Noble seems to have several of them, but not all titles. I guess I’ll have to Google each title that I am interested in to see if I can track them down.
We love our Kidsbooks Where Are They?: Christmas Fun Search & Find book. In fact it’s the only holiday thing we didn’t pack away. Instead we’re keeping it in the book case so we can enjoy it year round. Sometimes it’s nice to sit down and do a brain teaser or two so it would be nice to have on hand until we can find more Kidsbooks books.
For more information or to check out their books, visit Kidsbooks online at www.Kidsbooks.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Kimberly
*I received a free sample copy to do a review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and were not influenced in any way.
Amy says
I’ll have to look for these – my 3yo DS loves search and find books