Curious Columbus - When I Grow Up

I have 3 quiet books and this is by far the best for a 2-3 year old bc it gives more opportunity for sustained interaction with imaginary play. High quality and great for travel.

we needed some thing. Our kids could play with during church service and this was a hit.! It’s also great for long car rides or just something to help. Keep them distracted without the use of screens

HIGH QUALITY! This is such a a cute item! I was thrilled with how cute it was -- and I love that it zips closed rather than a button as it keeps all the pieces enclosed. I did have a small issue with the item I received and the customer service was INCREDIBLE!

Very well done book. My 3 yo has had it for a few days now, and she loves it. I especially like the shoes and shoelaces. She's always been intimidating by tying shoes, but this lets her play around with shoelaces without the pressure of doing an actual bunny ear tie. She likes each and every page except, perhaps, the dog collar. She did that once and then was bored, BUT I completely understand that this book is meant for a wider age audience, so I'll accept this as just being too simple. Importantly, the quality of the build is good, the activities are engaging and the "illustrations" are very cute and approachable.

Overall this is a good quiet book, although more appropriate for slightly older toddlers. When we got this for a long international trip for my son he was 21 months, and couldn't open the tent zip or thread the shoelace, or open the buckles (the buckles to be fair are VERY tiny and even I struggle if I'm a bit tired). He enjoyed the moveable velcro items (and yes we lost a bunch on the plane), but it didn't keep him busy for more than 5 minutes. Now that he's over 2 he can at least do the zip, but still can't do the other stuff. Whoever decided to have a removable part on the front of a toddler book (the plane propeller) gets negative points though! We lost it immediately - probably on the overnight flight over to our destination, but who knows. We realized the plane looked weird at some point and that there was supposed to be a propeller on it. Otherwise this is well-made and durable.

These are pricey but very well-made. I bought both this one and “My Busy Day” at the same time, but they come with a 15% off coupon for a future purchase so I wish I had waited to buy the second one. While the recommended age is 3+, I bought this for my 15-month-old, thinking he would grow into it and could at least do the Velcro things for now. He loves these and begs to get them down whenever he notices them, but he is definitely a bit too young. The Velcro is quite strong and the pockets are tight (both good things in a product like this so pieces don’t get lost!) so you tend to need two hands and he just doesn’t have the dexterity for it yet. That said, he loves to try, and he points to things and has me do them for him. He’s already getting better at several of the skills needed, so it’s good fine-motor practice (although I’m honestly surprised he doesn’t get more frustrated by it.) So, it’s not the solo entertainment I had hoped quite yet, but he loves them and I believe will continue to love them. I also have to check the whole book every time I put it away to make sure the pieces made it back to their spots, which is a little cumbersome for now. A note on the pieces and little ones - if you have a little who constantly puts things in his/her mouth, consider waiting. Mine listens well and hasn’t had the urge to put these anywhere near his mouth (probably because the parts that come out are just felt so nothing to gum) but it could certainly be a choking hazard if you’ve got a little gummer. I also have a particularly attentive little, but a more age-appropriate busy book for his age would probably have more to do on each page. We bought these for a flight because every toy we use on long car trips makes noise and we didn’t want to be murdered by our seat mates, and I think they will be great for that... as long as we can keep track of the pieces. We’ve already used them on a three-hour car trip that turned into a seven-hour car trip (thanks, blizzard) and they definitely saved us from meltdown territory. We did temporarily lose a piece that went over the side of the car seat. Since there is Velcro on the back of a lot of pieces, they’ll find creative spots to stick themselves in a car interior. :-|

My daughter loves this book! It was great for our trip!

Activities hold kids' interest and provide great prompts for learning and imaginative play.