Cuboro

⭐⭐⭐

Cuboro is a beautiful marble run set, but is very hard to create, and it is very expensive. I didn't enjoy it enough, and don't play it enough to justify the high price. Pros & Cons:

Pros:

• Beautifully made
• Stays together well- marbles don't break the run when going around corners
• Cool pieces

Cons:

• Very puzzle-like and you have to always be aware of what is happening inside of the block
• It must be played on a flat surface or everything will break apart
• Does not contain instruction book, you have to buy it separately (for that price no INSTRUCTION BOOK? Would it really hurt them to put an instruction book in the box?)
• Not easy to play with 2 people or more- solo

As you can see, with this marble run set, the cons outnumber the pros, and I would NOT recommend this to anyone, unless you have fun pushing your brain to do hard puzzles, and you have a perfectly flat surface at home.

Haba Marble Run

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really liked this marble run set, and it was very fun, this probably being the marble run set I most play with. Pros & Cons:

Pros:

• Easy to play with 2 or more people
• Nicely made
• Easy to get started
• If you buy the big set you get a giant container of marbles to use, and they are really cool
• Cool big pieces such as bell, jingle slide, wooden tick slide, big slides, little slides, drop-down pieces, long curves, straight pieces
• You can buy many other add-ons that steady the marble run and make it cooler (jumps, clamps etc.)

Cons:

• Falls apart when the marbles hit the corners
• Sometimes the marbles get stuck in the corner pieces
• Corner pieces not easy to use without breaking the whole marble run
• It gets tall really quick and becomes unstable (especially on carpet)

I really like the pieces of this set, and I think it is one of the best ones. The clamps you can buy steady the marble run set a lot more, and it is really fun and easy! 

Duplo 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Duplo is meant for toddlers, but I think it has potential for any age. It is so easy, and the bright blocks are really fun to play with. I personally do not have ANY cons for this product, so I will just list the pros:

• Big, bright, colorful blocks are fun for toddlers to put together
• You can build as high as you want and it still won't get unstable
• So many possibilities with Duplo, NO LIMITS!!! 
• Duplo can be played with from age 3 to age 10, because there are many ways to put them together, when you are little you can build simple structures, and when you get older you can build castles and real set-ups with towns and stores and houses.

I strongly recommend you buy Duplo, even if you think it is only for little kids. Duplo is fun for everyone, and there are so many sets you can buy (especially now) and it is just an AWESOME toy! 

Playmobil 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Playmobil is one of my favorite toys, and is super fun. I can play this for hours and hours, and still not want to stop. 

Book Reviews

Peter Nimble And His Fantastic Eyes

By Jonathan Auxier

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary:

Peter Nimble And His Fantastic Eyes is about an orphan named Peter Nimble, who is blind. He is taken in by a man named Mr. Seamus, and he teaches Peter how to rob food stalls and houses. Mr. Seamus isn't kind to Peter though, and one day when Peter is pickpocketing a crowd, he meets the Haberdasher, who is selling rip-off hats to people. The Haberdasher sees Peter pickpocketing, and tells him to put all the stolen goods back in their rightful owners pockets. Peter is taken aback by this, and even more so when the Haberdasher tells Peter to guard his carriage. Peter has a very strong nose, and he soon sniffs out something much more valuable than gold inside of the carriage. Peter soon robs the carriage of the odd little box inside of the carriage producing the smell. He doesn't know what is inside the box until he is brought away on a quest by Professor Pound and Professor Cake, meeting his sidekick Sir Tode (part man, part cat and part horse) and he discovers that the 6 valuable ball-shaped items inside of the box are The Fantastic Eyes. Sir Tode and Peter find a message in a bottle, with a riddle on it, and they go on a long journey through sea and desert and end in The Perfect Palace. Peter finds out his true identity, and his past, and learns what the Fantastic Eyes can really do.

I would really recommend this book to anyone, and this is one of my favorite books ever. 

The Real Boy

By Anne Ursu

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary:

Oscar, a boy who is a hand to the famous magician, Master Caleb, mixes herbs and roots together underground in his small pantry, to make the remedies and magic that Caleb sells to the Shining People. But when Caleb goes away on a trip to the Continent, Wolf, Caleb's apprentice is ripped into pieces by an unknown force in the forest. The City children are falling severely ill, all of them missing something, and nobody knows how or why. They all need Caleb to help them, but seeing as Caleb is away, and Wolf is gone, Oscar is by himself. Using the help of his friend Callie, the healer's apprentice, they learn what may have caused it, until they see what Oscar finds in Caleb's workshop. Will Callie and Oscar be able to fight this mysterious force, and heal the City children?

I really enjoyed this book, and I recommend it to anybody who liked Peter Nimble or Breadcrumbs.

Breadcrumbs

By Anne Ursu

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary:

Hazel, a girl who never really fit in, loves fairy-tales and pretending to be on an adventure, with her best friend Jack. One day Jack doesn't want to play with Hazel anymore, and Hazel gets really mad. During recess she throws a snowball at him, not knowing that inside it is a magical mirror shard. The snowball hits Jack in the eye, and he has to go to the hospital. Hazel feels horrible, and tries to go and see him the next few days at his house, but then Jack's mom, who is depressed, tells her that Jack isn't home. Hazel soon realizes that jack has been taken into the forest. She goes on a long quest through the forest to find out where Jack is, and soon finds him at the ice queen's palace. But the ice queen's power mass Jack not want to go home. Will Hazel be able to persuade Jack to come home with her?

I loved this book until the end, when I was a bit disappointed by the ending, but it was really sweet and was very good quality writing. You really believe the character, and it is a nice twist of Hansel And Gretel and Narnia, and any fairytale.