Little Miss C and I review a huge number of children’s books together and it’s a job we very much enjoy. Finding a book that stands out though can be tough, but The Polar Pack has managed just that – literally!
As well as being a beautifully illustrated book about polar animals, The Polar Pack also has an envelope at the back containing push out card pieces that you can use to make all the animals featured in the book. You just need a bit of glue to hold them together and then you have your own set of polar animals.
As well as turning the book into a craft activity it really helps to bring the animals to life and LMC really enjoyed seeing that happen. There was lots of putting the card creations next to the book and seeing how they compared.
The card animals also then became toys in their own right – with LMC acting out several stories with them and then also introducing more animals from her toy box as the stories became a bit stranger. Have you ever seen a panda and a reindeer together?
Some of the card shapes were a bit fiddly to get out of the sheets and they did require a fair amount of dexterity to build them, but it really didn’t take long to do so, and they do turn the book into so much more than it would have been without them. The card that the animals are made from is good quality and thick, meaning that they can withstand a fair amount of play too.
I’ve reviewed books before that have one card character in the back, but The Polar Pack was somewhat different, having several animals, and also having to build them yourself. We really liked it though and it turned the book into a whole afternoon craft activity and role play session – fantastic! And LMC got to learn about the polar animals at the same time. Even better.
The series also contains The Jungle Crew and The Safari Set which would be perfect for children who love these other animals. I’ll certainly be considering all three titles when I’m on the look out for birthday gifts for children over the next year.
Disclaimer: We were sent a copy of The Polar Pack for the purposes of this review. This post contains affiliate links.
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