Disclosure: I received this product free for review. All opinions and speculation about my cousin’s enjoyment of this book remain my own! This post contains affiliate links.
I love presents. I both love receiving gifts and giving gifts: I might even enjoy giving gifts more! My favourite people to buy gifts for are children. I have seven special kids on my list for Christmas (not including Cub): my four cousins and my three nieces and nephews.
DK Books Color Illusions is what I’ve chosen for my wee cousin, E, who is in Grade 2. Yup, I’m the lame grown up who gives books for Christmas presents. Well, guess what? Books can be super awesome, and fostering a love of books in my junior entourage is extremely important to me.
Cousin E is notorious in our family for a phrase most parents know all too well: “I’m bored.” The idea of starting a drinking game, in which one takes a shot every time this statement is bandied about by E, has been considered though never implemented.
Hard to tell from this picture, but yes, this is the boy who is so often desperately, terribly bored:
So what does one offer to a boy who’s big on boredom? Well, probably a video game or unlimited access to my iPhone. But barring that, what about the coolest book ever??
If you’re shopping for a gift for a curious youngster who loves to know more than you and know it well, to prove you wrong and impress you (sounds like a young me), Color Illusions is sure to please. Since the book has extra pieces, it comes shrink wrapped, so you might not know just on the shelf how awesome the book will be. When I unwrapped and opened the book, I actually said, “WOW!”
It’s been a really long time since I last visited Vancouver’s Science World (now called “Telus World of Science,” I think), but I have very vivid memories of my favourite exhibit: the optical illusions. This book brings those optical illusions and various impressive facts about colours and visual perception home:
Can you tell that the square of green on the right (with the pencil in the middle) is actually two shades?! I couldn’t until I lifted up the pencil!
Here’s another childhood memory that this book brings back: remember when an episode of “Third Rock from the Sun” aired in 3D?! I can’t remember where you got the 3D glasses to watch it (maybe in the TV Guide?), but I sure thought it was cool. (I checked, it was in 1997.) Who would have thought that, a decade later, there would be 3D televisions!?
Yup, the book comes with 3D glasses. A sure-fire boredom buster in book form!
Important to note: This is definitely a book for school-aged children, and one to keep far from the grabby hands of younger siblings as there are pieces that can be easily ripped out or simply lost. The book targets ages 7-12, and I would go with the younger side of that recommendation.
Color Illusions is available at Amazon.ca or Amazon.com.
What kind of books do you like to give as Christmas gifts?
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