Children make up their own stories with the 'Muddle Races'! (Muddle Races - Ant Parker)

Name: kingfisher111

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

Send message to member

Product:	Muddle Races - Ant Parker
Date:	06/07/07 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great interactive book

Disadvantages: None

'Muddle Races' is a really fun little book written and illustrated by Ant Parker. It is actually described as a magnetic playbook because it has four different double paged racing scenes and seventeen different magnets which is great as it means that your child can really interact with the story and decide for themselves what happens!

The book is really very thick and sturdy (and also wipe clean which is always handy with sticky little fingers about!) The pages are very strong, and, I'm not sure how this works, they have a magnetic attraction which means that all the little magnets - these are mainly racing cars - are able to attach to the pages. The book also has a strong carrying handle which helps children take it with them wherever they go without any of the magnets falling out. On the front cover you can see all the magnets inside their plastic case. However, when you turn to the first page you see a big garage door and when you open this by sliding it carefully, all the little cars can come out and find their way onto the track.

I will tell you a little bit about the story now. It all starts when lots of different animals meet up in their cars in order to take part in a thrilling mountain valley. Over the four double pages you see the start, the mountain section, the pit stop and finally the finish. One thing is missing from all the pages though - the racers! This is where all the little magnetic pieces come in as these are all the racing cars with their racers in them and the children can put these wherever they want, creating their own races and thereby making up their own stories. In fact the book is written in such a clever way that the children can even make up their own ending as we don't even know which team wins. Children will probably look at all the cars and drivers and decide on their favourite and make that one the winner (in my daughter's case it has to be the pink car!)

You might think then, why bother having any text at all, because children could just as easily just use blank pages. This is not the case though as the text is quite fun and does move the action along from one page to the next. It is pretty much in the style of a racing commentator and it is also written in rhyme which children often enjoy, and my daughter particularly likes to predict the rhyme. There are also some little instructions to follow along the way, such as matching the correct colour cars to their pit stop teams.

All the pages are beautifully illustrated too with so much detail to pick out on every page. I particularly love the strong bold colours which makes every page look so exciting. All the magnets are lovely too with a real range of interesting, colourful and sometimes wacky cars and drivers. My daughter loves looking at all of these and deciding which are her favourite!

My daughter really enjoys both reading and playing with this book! She loves the fact that she can make up her own stories and also move the action on and around the different tracks. At just four, she has such a strong imagination, and this book gives her the opportunity to use it in a structured way.

The book is published by Campbell Books and has a RRP of £9.99. However, at present it can be bought from The Book People (see my previous review if you don't know of them) for only £3.99, which I think is incredibly good value!

Summary: A great little book to stimulate young children's imaginations!