Review Detail

Ninjas and Pirates and Djinns… oh my!

This 32 page comics and activities book is an engaging cross between an educational magazine and supplemental short stories—all rooted in the LEGO Ninjago universe. Activities include: descriptive finds, matching, image unscrambling, map-based pathfinding, coordinate reading, pattern association, and a content recap quiz. The longer central story is called ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’, and the moral of the story lives up to its title.

The most unique and crowd-pleasing feature of this booklet is the front-page inclusion of the pieces for the Ninjago character figure of ‘Jay.’ This also gives kids the opportunity to follow base assembly instructions (found in the back of the booklet.) The quality is exactly what one would expect from LEGO, and my 7-year-old is delighted with the bonus. Three cheers for the book + toy combo!

My one minor complaint would be in the design of the booklet’s cover. Once the encased figure pieces are removed and the backing cut away as suggested, a rectangular hole is left—producing a sort of window to the first page. Said window isn’t centered over any particular image, however, and so the placement feels regrettably unintentional (from a purely aesthetic standpoint.)

This is a fun, versatile product, and one which should appeal to kinesthetic learners over the age of 7.