Stuff for Dads

  Waybuloo magazine

Cost: £2.35 per issue.

Contents:

• 28 page magazine designed to 'help your child learn about feelings and understand emotions'.


• Pull-out reward chart.


• Over 100 stickers - some to use in the magazine, some for the reward chart and plenty of spares.


• A 'free' gift. Past gifts include finger puppets and stampers.


• Good vibes and positive energy.

Age: 2-5 years. Activities don't get much more taxing than sticking stickers and/or colouring in.



Comments: Then Nok Tok had a thinkapow. He asked Yojojo to play his music, Lau Lau to give the plant a bongleberry, and then everybody danced. The happy plant grew and flowered. "Nok Tok's happy plant likes music, bongleberries and Cheebies!" said Nok Tok, happily. The happy plant was very happy too... Waybuloo!

Someone at the BBC has clearly tapped directly into my daughter's brain. I haven't had a look in there myself but I'm fairly sure I would find flowers and butterflies and cute, pink, floating, Yoga-loving cats inside if I took a peek. Personally, I think I'd have preferred it if they'd stayed there. But no. They've been sucked right out and turned into a show with a heavy emphasis on wind chimes and the breathless admiration of brightly-coloured gardening equipment.

Oh, goodness...

The magazine is very true to the TV programme, just with added stickers. Many of the stickers say stuff like 'You make me happy' and 'You're lovely'. Each issue has a topic such as sharing or learning to listen to others. I suppose this is a good idea but it's a shock to the system after all the books and games which have tried to teach my kids to read and count. In fact, I feel a little unwell. I think I may be allergic to this magazine.


Warning: May cause nausea.

In the story quoted above, Nok Tok's plant fails to grow because he refuses to listen to his friends' advice. He foolishly persists in giving it food, water and sunshine rather than playing it music and getting children to talk to it. Things almost go very badly until he learns the error of his ways... This is so many different kinds of wrong, I'm not sure where to begin. Even Sproglette (who wants to be a mermaid fairy princess when she grows up) found some of the details hard to swallow. No harm done, though - when I suggested she share her finger puppets with Sprog2, it took me three attempts to get her to listen and then she refused. She can't be taking it too much to heart.

At least the activities are well judged for young children. There's no writing or word searches or anything like that. The production quality of the magazine and stickers is also very high. If I can persuade Sproglette to go for Numberjacks again next time, however, I might be able to cope better. Still, I suspect those parents with a more artistic nature will love Waybuloo. And I should simply be thankful it's not Pink.

Conclusion: Want to set your little darling on course for an English Literature degree? Then this is the magazine for you.

Pros:

• Good mix of activities and stories.


• Lots of material on every page.


• Deals sensibly with emotional and social issues at a level pre-schoolers can understand.


• Ideal if you live in Stepford.


• Not as twee as Disney's Princess magazine...

Cons:

• ...but contains far fewer pictures of Belle and Ariel.


• Slightly too much colouring in.


• So fluffy it needs to be held down with a brick to stop it floating away.

Rating: 4/5.

Labels: toy/game review

 
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