We were really lucky to be chosen as one of two parent bloggers (check Sarah’s review over here) to review a new kind of book coming from the very lovely people at Autumn Publishing.

A Clever Book has been described as a 3D manipulative story adventure, and the first of its kind.

With my child-of-the-eighties head on, it reminds me a lot of some of the offshoot Rubik’s puzzles that came after the cube – there was one really great one, a pyramid which would kind of fold in on itself, and you could keep repeating the same fold, and eventually after a few turns you’d be back at the start. Back then I could spend hours just twisting it around and I really enjoyed it. Bring it forward to now, and what you have is a house shaped puzzle-book which does exactly as the Rubik’s puzzle – you fold each section and keep doing it, until eventually you’re back at the start.

BUT! There’s more to it than that.

Each section of the house features a Hello Kitty character and a simple piece of text about what they’re doing. Right now this is perfect for H – she’s three and a half and starting to identify some words and be able to work them out (as well as developing a Hello Kitty obsession). We’re still reading to her but I know once school starts in September that it will change and she’ll be much more proficient – and this kind of book is ideal – simple text but plenty going on. The puzzle element really appeals to me, and didn’t take H too long to work out – see this video, taken when the book first arrived. (bear in mind, our video isn’t the most engaging, but is a look into the first time a child sees the book, so will give you an idea!)

All Clever Books are published with the educational tagline ‘Clever Play, Simple Learning’ – and I can’t think of a more apt description. It’s targeted at children aged 3-6 years and as well as the Hello Kitty book, there’s a Fisher-Price title. They have a RRP of £4.99 and are published by Autumn Books and are available from July 2013. Highly recommended!

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