Does Bob Need A Fix? (Bob the Builder Magazine)

Name:

Hello doyoo user, You have to be logged in to use these functions... Login or register Close window

Product:	Bob the Builder Magazine
Date:	13/09/02 (721 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great For Kids, Stories, Educational

Disadvantages: Falls apart to easily

Well, the older kids have their magazines coming through the letterbox; Mum and Dad get the paper and junk mail. But what is there for the four year old?

Well, once a month a huge and beaming smile crosses his face first thing in the morning as he bounds downstairs to find the monthly Bob The Builder magazine from BBC Publishing on the doormat.

For the sake of the review, I will assume that you have a basic knowledge of Bob, a cartoon builder, and his happy band of helpers (the talking digger, cement mixer and more!). If not, they were number one a couple of Christmases back!

So, what does the little one get for the £1.40 I have lavished on him? Well, a 24-page colour magazine that is completely dedicated to Bob and the gang, containing only 3 pages of advertising. And the adverts are for Bob The Builder Accessories.

The October 2002 edition (why do magazines insist on dating publications a month ahead of their release?) comes with a free rubber tape measure which has had my little one taking details of the size of everything in the house. While the irony of being able to stretch this item to longer than the 70cm it is purporting to measure will be lost on him, the undeniable joy of this freebie makes the purchase worthwhile by itself. Gifts in previous issues have included fridge magnets, 100 shiny Bob & The Gang stickers and cardboard cut out masks of the various characters. He has loved every freebie. That is good enough for me! The only point of care is that some of the gifts are unsuitable for children under 36 months old.

So, getting beyond the cover and the gift: page two introduces the characters from the programme (we now have a house full of them) before we find some practical uses for the tape measure on page three. The opportunity to measure various items on the page and tick boxes to identify which ones are the longest is both fun and educational for a child of his age. The items in question are a

lso topical for this publication.

There is nothing my little one likes better than curling up on Daddy's knee to read a story before bedtime. While all the books in the house have been exhausted, this magazine provides two different stories combining text and pictures well. And we get this monthly! The first story is three pages long, incorporating small paragraphs beneath colour pictures. This allows the youngster to follow the story easily. The second story is shorter but more interactive. Some of the words are replaced by symbols (for example, a picture of Bob or some sausages) allowing the non-reading 4 year old to do some of the reading! Again, the educational benefits of this method of involving a developing child in telling the story cannot be underestimated.

The accessories advertised in the magazine are fun. Unfortunately, the delivery charge of £3.99 (or £10 for a next day guarantee) is expensive and you can probably get most of the items from Argos or Boots. Feel free to check out www.newcron.com for details of lamps, bins, sleeping bags, clocks, bedding and lots more. The characters from the cartoon typically cost around £6 each. Lego sets can be found at www.legoexplore.com while Bob books can be tracked down at www.bbcshop.com.

Other pages include cutting out games. I let Grandma take care of this side of things just before we throw the magazine out, as my artistic skills leave a lot to be desired. If you have the time and patience, as Grandma does, this can be great fun for the developing child as he decides where to stick the various pictures.

We are also given word games, including some work with letters, which stimulates greatly. There is also a competition to win an inflatable scoop (that?s the yellow digger, if you were unsure). The phone call cost for entry is restricted to less than the price of a first class stamp. The tape measure comes back in to play on a couple of occasions too.
Firstly
, to find out which character owns the tape measure. Subsequently, to measure things such as the height of a kennel. All good innocent fun with genuine educational benefits.

There is colouring. We have counting the hidden sausages to help feed the dog. And more.

Is there anything wrong with the Bob The Builder magazine? My only complaint is that it seems to fall apart too easily. Two more staples would make it last longer. The little one is always sad to see it put in the recycling bag and if it could just stay together for an extra few days he would be happier.

In summary, a magazine obtainable from the local newsagent, priced fairly, highly entertaining and highly education for the age group that it is aimed at.

Can we fix it? No need! Because it is GREAT.

Summary: