Review: Rainy Days Kids Adventure Book, £9.99

Review written by Toddle About VIP Club member, Dave Walker. My first impressions of this book were very good.  The size is convenient for putting into a small day bag, and the printing and binding are excellent.  The photos are bright and sharp, and the text is very clear. The book itself is divided into five sections: Introduction, Rain, Wind, Snow and Skills and the coloured corners to the pages allow you to flick to the appropriate section with ease.

The book starts with suggestions for putting together an "Out Pack", which is filled with things that may be helpful for an outdoor adventure in typically British weather.  Refreshingly, all of the suggestions are cheap, easy to find and useful. The writing throughout is rather lyrical, and almost poetic in places.  There are some fun little rhymes dotted throughout the book, which add to the sweet character of the book.  These are largely successful, although a couple do seem slightly forced, if I'm honest.  There's a lovely page at the beginning of each section dedicated to using your various senses to experience the different types of weather, which is a nice touch. I was especially impressed by the information given on topics such as the Water Cycle, the Beaufort Scale, Knots and Weather Forecasting.  These seem aimed at slightly older children, but it was nice to see some genuinely useful information in a book like this.  In terms of age, there are a range of activities for children around 3 or 4, right up to maybe 10 or 11, i'd suggest.  The cover says 3-99, but I don't know how interested older children would be with these tasks.  Some of the fiddlier projects (the water wheel and the zipline hang glider come to mind) seem likely to frustrate younger children, but this is amply remedied by the inclusion of easier activities such as the “puddle olympics” as well. Overall, I was very pleased with the book and I look forward to trying out some of the projects and activities with our small children.  I'd definitely recommend it for families that like to get out and about, but shy away from days when it's raining or windy or cold.  As they say, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes! Purchase from Pavilion