If I had to list 3 "loves" of my 2-year old son's life, those 3 things would be Blue's Clues, playgrounds, and drawing. Magna Doodles are one of my boy's favorite drawing toys. Since two of those three "loves" can be found in the Fisher Price Blue's Clues Silly Sounds Notebook, it was a purchase we simply had to make.

Product Description:

For those not familiar with the famous puppy, Blue's Clues is a popular, award winning kid's show that airs on Nickelodeon (and Noggin and CBS). The stories center around an animated dog named Blue and her owner (originally Steve -- new episodes feature Steve's "brother" Joe). The episodes are like game-shows for toddlers -- Blue leaves paw-prints on items to mark them as "clues", and Steve/Joe uses the clues to figure out the answer to the question of the day.

The Silly Sounds Notebook is loosely based on Steve's notebook (which he uses to draw the clues). The notebook measures roughly 7" wide, 7" tall, and just over an inch thick. The drawing surface is just over 4" wide and 3" tall. A fake red spiral can be seen along the top of the notebook, with a large fake green-striped crayon in the spiral. The "crayon" your child uses to draw on the screen is stored in a little holder to the right of the screen, and is attached to the notebook via a red cord (note: not a string like most Magna Doodles). Blue herself is on the slider you use to erase the screen.

Along the top of the screen are 3 buttons. When the notebook is on display in the store the buttons will rotate between all 5 of the sounds made by this notebook, but when you get the notebook home there is a tab that must be removed, after which specific sounds go with specific actions. The sounds are as follows:
--> The orange "star" button makes a sound like chalk squeaking against a chalkboard
--> The blue "scribble" button makes that sliding whistle sound used to denote something going up and down.
--> The purple "swirl" button makes a "boing" sound
--> Moving the slider to erase the screen is accompanied by Blue saying "Bow bow", which sounds a bit like "bye bye" (which is cute because my boy usually says "bye bye" whenever he erases a picture)
--> Turning on the notebook or removing the "crayon" from its holder results in the sound of a trumpet fanfare.

The tip of the crayon is actually a sensor. When pressed, the notebook makes the sound of whichever of the 3 buttons was last pressed (either the scribble, up/down, or boing sound). This means that whenever your child is drawing, one of those 3 sounds is continuously playing. Mercifully, an on/off switch is located on the back of the notebook. The Magna Doodle portion of the notebook works perfectly well with the notebook off (the only thing affected by the switch is the sound).

Fisher Price recommends the Silly Sounds Notebook for children ages 3 & up. Two "AA" batteries (included) are required.

The Physics of the Magna Doodle:

I am one of Magna Doodle's biggest fans, because my son is nuts about them. For the uninitiated, a Magna Doodle screen is white/light gray, and when you write on it with the magnetic pen (or any other magnet, for that matter) it creates a very well-defined dark line. To erase the screen you simply move a sliding lever across the bottom/side of the screen once or twice, and it instantly becomes clean and white again.

So, you might ask, how does a Magna Doodle really work? Well, the screen itself consists of 2 sheets of translucent plastic. Between the two sheets is a honeycomb lattice (you can see it if you look closely). The lattice serves to separate the two plastic sheets, and divide the space into cells. Within each cell is an opaque white liquid, and mixed into the liquid are fine black particles of iron oxide.

When you touch a magnet to the front of the screen, the iron oxide particles are pulled up through the liquid to the magnet, where they then become visible against the plastic. They stay visible (due to the thickness of the liquid) until "erased". To erase, you move the sliding lever, which moves a long magnet along the back of the screen. The eraser-magnet pulls the particles down and away from the screen's surface, and the thick white liquid covers them.

Our Experiences:

My kid, who is crazy for Blue's Clues and crazy for Magna Doodles, simply loves his Silly Sounds Notebook. As a parent I'm thrilled to have found something that he likes so much, but I do have a number of complaints...

Sounds on toys normally do not bother me. My boy has toys that make just about every sound imaginable, and usually I'm fine with that. This toy, however, grates on my nerves very, very quickly. When turned on, it is making a constant noise whenever my boy is drawing, which is all the time. His favorite seems to be the squeaking-chalk noise -- just imagine hearing that sound over and over for 10 minutes! His second favorite sound is the "boing", however the boinging makes him want to stab the drawing surface with the crayon (with the "boing" highlighting each stab), rather than draw. If there was no on/off switch, I probably would have removed the batteries a long time ago...

Another complaint is the "crayon" itself. Normal Magna Doodle pens have an exposed magnet for drawing on the writing surface. The magnet on the crayon, on the other hand, is covered with plastic (which triggers the sounds whenever the crayon is used). Because the magnet is not exposed, it doesn't draw on the screen as well as our other Magna Doodle pens. I'm used to seeing a dark, well-defined line, however the best the Silly Sounds Notebook can do is a thicker, fuzzy gray line. Since the drawing surface isn't very big anyway, the "crayon" is a bit of a letdown.

The rest of my complaints are more minor. There is no volume control, however the volume isn't set too terribly loud. My boy LOVES storing crayons in the spiral of his other notebooks, much like Steve and Joe do on the show. It bothers him that he cannot store the crayon of his Silly Sounds Notebook in its spiral.

I hate to sound totally negative about this toy, because it is really cute and my boy really loves it. It isn't all bad... even with the batteries it is small and lightweight enough for my boy to carry around without a problem. My boy has a number of notebooks and drawing toys around the house, yet he always uses Silly Sounds Notebook at least once a day (usually more than that).

Quickie Summary:
Pros:
+) On/Off Switch (thank goodness!)
+) It's a Magna Doodle!
+) It's Blue from Blue's Clues!
+) The notebook is reminiscent of Steve's Handy Dandy Notebook.
+) Makes 5 funs sounds
+) Good size for a toddler to tote
Cons:
-) Repetitious sounds can get very, very annoying.
-) No Volume Control
-) Cannot store crayon in the spiral
-) Included "crayon" doesn't make lines as dark as those on other Magna Doodles

Final Thoughts:

Because my boy loves Blue's Clues and loves Magna Doodles, he really loves his Silly Sounds Notebook. As a parent, I would actually recommend avoiding this notebook unless your kid is a big Blue's Clues/Magna Doodle nut like mine. There are better Magna Doodle toys out there, as well as better Blue's Clues notebook toys.

Related Links:
A guide (including pictures) on how Magna Doodles really work:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/magna-doodle.htm
Official Blue's Clues Homepage:
http://www.nickjr.com

Related (Blue's Clues) Reviews:
Joe's Handy Dandy Notebook
Learning Time ABC Playhouse
Play 'n Learn Keyboard
Sing Along Radio
Magic Moves Blue
Bubble Blower Carry Case
Color in the Tub Activity Case
Blue's Tunes
Bounce with me Blue
Bubble and Sand Toy
Show Review: Steve vs. Joe


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 8.99