Where's Santa Now? product reviews

It's always exciting to see what books Scholastic is going to release each Christmas, and I have to say that I was truly impressed by the books that came out this year! Miss 3 recently got a 'My First Look and Find Book' however this book only contained 6 or so pictures to find per page and they were all relatively easy to find, she therefore exhausted this book in no time at all. I was excited to see that a similar book had been released by Scholastic "Where's Santa Now?" as Miss 3 is so completely Santa and Christmas obsessed I knew she would love, and being the next level up in 'Look and Find' books I knew this would be perfect for her.

At the start of the book there is a page which is set up in the style of a comic which starts off the whole story behind the book, that Christmas is only a few days away and Santa is watching all the children bad and good, of course Miss 3 declared she was on Santa's good list! The next page features a glossary of 12 characters or items which can be found on each page of the book, as well as each of the other things that can be found on each of the pages, it also explains a little bit about each of these characters so that you get to know them.

Each of the pages has a list of 12 different items which need to be, and the number of these items per page vary from 1 to 12 of the same various items being hidden on the page. I loved that this was consistent throughout the book as it was a great tool for continuing to strengthen Miss 3's counting both from 1 to 12 but also from 12 to 1. With the amount of time which she has spent reading and looking for items she can now count up and down from numbers 1 to 12 and is also able to recognise the numbers herself, I have found her several times with the book out unattended counting each of the objects.There are various different themes throughout the book such as The Future, Sailing the Seven Seas and Medieval Castle and they are all beautifully illustrated full of colour and such well done details, Miss 3's favourite theme in the book is The Jurassic Age, as she loves dinosaurs.

Each page features many individual graphics of different objects and characters, some which are smaller than others and so obviously harder to find. I loved that Miss 3 continued to look for each character no matter how small or hard it was to find. This book has been a good tool for teaching her to persevere and also for her eye-tracking and matching skills. It has given us many opportunities to spend quality time together as we race to find each of the objects first which has been a lot of fun. I have shared this book several times with the children at my daycare and they are happy to now have there own copy which was brought by the centre manager and now has been beautifully set up on a table with christmas linen for the build up to Christmas, I noticed they photocopied the page at the front of the book which has all of the other items to find on each page, which I felt was a great idea.

This is fantastic book, well worth buying to gift to any child who loves to look for objects in books or anyone who is a fan of Santa and Christmas, a great book for family bonding.

I tried to hide this book from Mr Six until I was ready to review it; however, he is into finding things and he managed to find the book without too much of a problem! He then had his nose in the book for ages trying to find the various items on each page. He decided that it was a fun thing to do with me too and kept managing to get me to sit down and search with him. We had a race to find things on each page. I have got to say that I was a bit hooked too and I didn't notice his bedtime come and go! A sign of a good book is when a child doesn't want to let it go.

As with any book like this, each page provides entertainment for a considerable amount of time. Mr Six is right into comics now and he loved the fact that the beginning of this book is in comic form. The story follows Natasha, who is the world's naughtiest child, on a journey through time. Santa tries to track her as she has an item from Santa's workshop which sends her through time. Mr Six noted that there was also a little comic on each page to tie the whole story together. He liked that. We looked through the book, he ran off to find another Scholastic book that he has really enjoyed, 'Where's Kiwi' and he sat the two of them down side by side. Although they are not created by the same illustrator, they are similar and both engaged Mr Six in the same way.

This sort of book provides challenges for children of all ages - from young children, who are pre-readers, right through to adults. The words in the book are accompanied by illustrations, so even a child who cannot read yet would be able to enjoy the book in the same way as someone who could read. Searching around the page for various items will be good to encourage childrens' eyes to develop well for tracking required when reading too.

Mr Six enjoyed the combination of 'goodies' and 'baddies'. He also liked the fact that the early pages of the book gave him tasters of the characters he was going to meet in the book. He took the time to read the page near the beginning which introduced the characters from the book too. There is quite a bit of humour throughout the book and Mr Six thought it was particularly funny when he saw an image of a shooting jellyfish in 'Sailing the Seven Seas' page.

Although the book is obviously aimed at the Christmas period, once you get inside the book, it is full of fabulous pictures and the Christmas theme becomes more of the background story. With this in mind, it wouldn't be out of place on a book shelf at any time of the year. I think this would be a book that any child would love for as present. Of course if would be perfect for a Christmas gift this year!