My Fireman Sam Magnet Book - Fireman Sam

...a while!

My Fireman Sam Magnet Book is a relatively new book in the Fireman Sam franchise made for toddlers and older children. This book is a lovely hardback, with its top half in bright red, just like the Fire Engine Jupiter, with a big picture of Fireman Sam and Jupiter on the bottom half of the book. It's lovely and bright, really eye-catching and very inviting for children. My first impressions of the book were really good and ...
...as well!

My only complaint about the book would be the size of the drawer. When you first get the book, all the pieces are sat in nicely, but obviously they all need to come out. The problem came when I tried to get them back in again and they wouldn't lay flat properly so I had to almost force the drawer shut. It's quite tough to get them all in properly, especially when Harry is trying to help, so you definitely need adult help with ... more

Two days ago was Harry's 2nd birthday. He's been a very lucky boy and has been given some wonderful gifts by his family, each of which has made him a very happy little man! We had a little party for him yesterday, and one of the presents from his aunt and uncle was this Fireman Sam Magnet Book. When he ripped off the paper, Harry's face lit up and he sat reading it for ages, it clearly eclipsed his other presents for a while!

My Fireman Sam Magnet Book is a relatively new book in the Fireman Sam franchise made for toddlers and older children. This book is a lovely hardback, with its top half in bright red, just like the Fire Engine Jupiter, with a big picture of Fireman Sam and Jupiter on the bottom half of the book. It's lovely and bright, really eye-catching and very inviting for children. My first impressions of the book were really good and Harry already loves sitting with me to read this one!

On the top half of the book, you can see there is a rectangular space where the magnetic shapes are kept. This is just a thin, sliding plastic drawer which houses all of the pieces that comes with the book. This is a see-through drawer so your toddler can see the pieces and want to get to grips with them straight away. The drawer slides out easily, with a little groove for you to put your finger in, and it took Harry all of 1 minute to figure this out, and now he loves opening and closing the 'door'!

The magnets themselves are a good size, and vary in size depending on who or what the magnet is depicting. The larger 3 magnets are Fireman Sam, FireFighter Penny Morris and Fireman Elvis Criddlington. There is also a Dilys magnet, Norman Price, Mandy, Woolly the Sheep and of course, Jupiter the Fire Engine. Each piece is sturdy cardboard with a brightly coloured picture on it, and a magnetic backing. They are nice and chunky for little fingers to grab and are easy to use.

The story pages of the book are about two thirds the height of the whole book, because of the drawer at the top for the magnets. There is a small text box at the top of each page, with a couple of lines of story, and then an instruction. For example, the first pages instruction reads 'Find Jupiter and place it in the picture. Can you find Fireman Sam too?'. So I read this to Harry and he finds me the right magnets and puts them on the page, albeit upside-down! Then we carry on reading the story and putting the magnets in the right place. The story is 10 pages long and involves Sam playing the hero and rescuing Mandy from her house.

The last 2 pages have light-coloured pictures of the magnets on, with their names alongside their picture. The text invites you to put the magnets on the correct picture to complete the story. Harry likes trying to match the people to their picture, and already manages to get them all right! He loves the fact he just put them on and off the pages as he pleases, and he seems to do this easily, so the pieces are easy to use and child-friendly as well!

My only complaint about the book would be the size of the drawer. When you first get the book, all the pieces are sat in nicely, but obviously they all need to come out. The problem came when I tried to get them back in again and they wouldn't lay flat properly so I had to almost force the drawer shut. It's quite tough to get them all in properly, especially when Harry is trying to help, so you definitely need adult help with this part, I don't think young children could manage this on their own!

Other than this though, it is a great interactive book for toddlers who love to read and keep busy with their hands. Harry has jts discovered stickers, so this magnet book idea is perfect for him, and already he has had loads of fun with it, and it's the first book he goes to get from his book-box! The book is nice and sturdy and hard-wearing, with a hardback cover, and chunky cardboard pages, and as mentioned, the magnets are also great quality, so this is a superb product!

I don't know how much was paid for this book as it was a present for Harry, but the back says it has an RRP of £5.99, which is good value for such a good book these days! I have seen them on Amazon for £4.49, and they also come in Bob The Builder, Postman Pat, Thomas the Tank Engine, and Miffy designs so something to please everyone there I imagine! Published by Egmost UK Ltd, in 2007. ISBN: 978-1405232968.

Thank you for reading and of course.. 

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