A Mixed Bag: I Was Expecting a Frenzy, But These Books Are Just Okay. What's Missing, and Why I Won't Buy Them All at Once.

I have to admit, browsing through educational materials for kids can be overwhelming when you're in a store. I've heard of 'The School of Seven Bells' for a long time, and now that it's being released either as a set or individually, you can actually check out each book before buying. This time, I decided not to buy the whole set, but instead spent some time browsing through series 2-3, and ended up buying 5 books. I noticed that the illustrations in each book are different, so I wouldn't recommend buying the set without checking out each book first. I ended up removing the rest of the books, like 'What is Good', because the illustrations are just awful - they're strange and ugly. I wasn't a fan of it at all and didn't buy it. The geometry book seemed too easy for my son, who already knows his shapes from the Play-Doh 'Geometry' set, which includes an oval, a rhombus, a heart, and more, so I put that one aside too, because I knew my son wouldn't be interested.

After taking another look at them at home, I ended up with 4 books, because I wasn't satisfied with the alphabet book.

So, we ended up using the following books, and I'm mostly happy with them.

-Seasons

- Professions

- Pets

- Plasticine pictures

What I don't like about this series.

There's just too much cut-out material, and it's all different sizes and textures. Some of it's cardboard, which is great, but some of it's just paper, which is a pain. I'm really not a fan of how they're stored - it would be so much better if each book had a little pocket in the cover to keep everything organized. As it is, even with my best efforts, a lot of it gets damaged or lost. Trying to store it in the book itself is a bad idea, because everything just spills out and half of it ends up on the bookshelf.

I'm also not a fan of the weird information and illustrations. For example, the pets book has pictures of different dog and cat breeds, but they're all just randomly drawn, and even an experienced dog or cat owner would have trouble identifying them. And what's the point of that information for a 2- or 3-year-old, anyway?

I was really surprised by how sloppy the creators were. The first page has pictures of household pets, and a poor little sea pig is labeled as a 'hamster'? It's like a test to see if parents are paying attention? Not a big deal, I guess, since kids can't read until they're 2 or 3, but parents might accidentally confuse them. I didn't catch it right away, and the authors made a mistake with the breed of dog - it's a 'Yorkshire terrier', not 'Yorkshire' - come on, it's a kids' book!

But the book itself was actually pretty interesting for the kid. He enjoyed putting together the puzzles and showing me where the dog lives and where the bird lives, but it didn't hold his attention for long.

The police profession part was kind of cool at first - my kid enjoyed quickly and enthusiastically sorting the lotto, but then he started asking some questions about the police officer. For one, he's a traffic regulator, not a police officer, and why does he have a barricade in his arsenal? In my opinion, they could have depicted him differently.

I was really surprised by how much my kid enjoyed the seasonal activities in this book. He finished the whole thing in 15 minutes and didn't want to do it again, which is a good sign. I had to wait a few times for him to forget and then offer it to him again, but he'd push the book away. Maybe it was just the repetition of the same landscape in different seasons that got to him.

This book is perfect for kids who need something to keep them occupied. The plasticine pictures and fun rhymes make it a great choice for little ones who can't think of anything else to do.

Despite the downsides, I've got to give credit where credit is due – there are some definite positives in this series that are hard to argue with.

- Availability is a major plus – you can find these books in every kids' and bookstore, no problem at all. I can just pop in and grab one book or the whole set.

- Price-wise, it's a no-brainer to get the whole set, but the question is whether it's worth it. At 100 rubles per book, I think it's a steal for an educational resource.

- The fact that you can buy the set or individual books is a huge plus.

- The parent pages are super helpful in preparing for lessons, explaining what each book covers and how it can benefit your child.