This is a set of illustrated cards with slots. The colors and designs will probably remind most readers of those cardboard bricks most kids played with as a child. Each card is made out of thin cardboard with a glossy coating. It's thicker than cardstock, but thinner than the pages of a board book for example.
The cards have multiple slots around them and each one has a different design - bricks, an archway, a flag, a window, etc. If you have the patient and fine motor control, it's basically like a slightly easier method of building card houses. I played around with them and my conclusion was first, don't try to build things with the fine running directly on them. Second, they require a lot of patience! Unless you are doing a basic four-sided tower, it's very difficult to extend and takes a lot of careful maneuvering to get your building started.
There is an insert with a "basic building guide" showing different ways you can slot the cards together and illustrations of all the different architectural features of a castle which are included, from portcullis to heraldry.
As far as library use, I wouldn't circulate these. It would be far too easy for the cards to disappear one by one, and time-consuming to lay all the cards out to quarantine. However, where this would work really well in my library is in our fine motor boxes. These are tubs that include a variety of manipulatives borrowed by families to use in the library but most often used by our visiting adult daycares and group homes. This would be great for kids or adults who enjoy putting together puzzles, card houses, or any other leisurely occupation, especially if they are comfortable with starting over multiple times.
I'm sad that we won't be able to use these right now, but I look forward to including them in our fine motor boxes when the library is able to reopen more fully.
ISBN: 9781843654469; Published by Pavilion in 2020, Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library
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