My mother works a number of different roles across two schools, one of which has a book club which the staff place regular orders with. She is therefore very often poised with a number of books for our children whenever we pay a visit.

Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs Magnet Book by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds was the ltest gift for my son. He is three years old and very much interested in everything boy-related, including of course dinosaurs.

This is a rather large book measuring 330mm x 258mm. It is a board book with a lovely raised, padded cover which gives the impression of being very good quality.

I have looked around on the internet for this book and have found it at a good price at www.thebookpeople.co.uk. It is currently available at just £4.99, with an RRP of £12.99 this is a very good price. The recommended age for this product is from three years onward, most likely due to the magnets that are inside.

The front cover displays a clear plastic compartment where there are nine magnets, seven dinosaurs, one football and one bucket to be exact. Next to the brightly coloured picture of Harry and his dinosaurs is a sign which reads 'With 9 RAAAH-tastic magnets!' These magnets can be accessed by opening the cover and simply lifting off the top part of the plastic compartment.

We have owned a number of magnet books in the past and more often than not a number of these magnets go missing, often to be found under the rug or settee or hidden away in the bottom of a toy box. This book however has just nine and they are of a rather large size too, making it far easier to keep them safely where they should be. The sign on the front cover of course is also a good reminder as to exactly how many should be in there!

This is a board book, although the pages inside are not as thick as some. It has not suffered any damage however and it has been played with by my one year old daughter as well as my son.

The illustrations throughout are brightly coloured and attractive. The text is written in small and large fonts in order to emphasise certain words.

This book does not have a specific story as such, it simply details the places that Harry goes and calls for us to place on certain magnets at different points along the way. The dinosaur magnets have the names written on them and so we can match up the correct dinosaurs to those that are asked for on the page. This would obviously be rather difficult for a very young child to grasp as the names of the dinosaurs are rather long and complicated. Scelidosaurus, for example, is one that I struggle to get my tongue around! My son does however know the names of some of these dinosaurs already and seems to manage quite well in finding the right one with a little help.

Overall this is a lovely book and one of very good quality. It could perhaps be a little better if there was more of a story to it. Both of my children however have had a lot of enjoyment from it so far and the use of the magnets encourages them to open the book and ask for it to be read to them. It is maybe not as intriguing as some but does make a lovely addition to the bookshelf of any young dinosaur fan.

978-0-141-33257-4