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Find out what Mumsnetters thought of Bear Grylls Adventure series for children

105 replies

SorchaMumsnet · 14/03/2017 12:32

To celebrate the release of Bear Grylls' new adventure series for kids, we gave away a whopping 250 books.

Each story in the 12-book series follows a different child on camp as they receive a magical compass, allowing them to travel to an amazing place where they meet Bear himself, and learn new skills and facts that they can take back with them to real life. The books are suitable for children aged 5-7.

We ask all winners to share their child's thoughts about either The Blizzard Challenge or The Desert Challenge on this discussion thread. Everyone who gives detailed feedback on either book by 5pm, Friday 9 June will be entered into a prize draw to win a £100 Love2shop voucher:

This giveaway is sponsored by Piccadilly Press

Book giveaways T&Cs apply

Find out what Mumsnetters thought of Bear Grylls Adventure series for children
Find out what Mumsnetters thought of Bear Grylls Adventure series for children
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6
Megansmumsie · 22/04/2017 03:00

I like that idea poupee, a comic version would be a great idea!!

DBhatt14 · 23/04/2017 11:31

Thank you for the book! My son is a bit young for it being only 3 but I have read a few pages at a time and so far he likes the story. I'm sure when he gets older he will appreciate the book more.

bigwiggle · 23/04/2017 16:30

I received 'The Desert Challenge' and read it to my 5 year old boy/girl twins. They have no interest in football so quickly lost interest in the first chapter, but my daughter stuck with it and we are now half way through. It is the first time I am reading her a longer book and am impressed how it is holding her interest. I think the premise for the story is good and like that the lead character is going to face some challenges and overcome her fears, a good life lesson for us all!

staveleymum · 25/04/2017 11:48

My DD is 6 and I am reading this to her as her bedtime story. We got sent the Desert Book.

We are only 3 chapters in but she is enjoying it and always asks for one more page...

She knows of Bear Grylls through her big brother so is interested in how the story develops now he has turned up.

I do think that my DD could read this herself but is still a little reluctant to read independently. Hoping this will spark some interest and her request for one more page will lead to her carrying on reading after I've left her room!

piratetoes · 27/04/2017 12:23

My 7 year old son was excited to get The Blizzard Challenge in the post. He hadn't heard of Bear Grylls but was interested that he is Chief Scout.

Good story, well written and held his interest. I read it to him but I'm sure he could have managed it by himself.

I like these type of short chapter books, just what we're looking for at the moment. We will get The Desert Challenge next.

grecka · 27/04/2017 20:26

My 9 year old son loved it! He said he found it very interesting and didn't want to stop reading it! He thanked me for getting it for him.

CeeceeBloomingdale · 28/04/2017 11:27

My two girls (6 & 10) are big Bear Grylls fans. The eldest has read the full set of books aimed at the older reader but was still happy to jump in to this. She identified with Sophie as a girl who can and rated the book 10/10 despite it being a book suitable for younger readers. She found it engaging and was eager to see what would happen next and has expressed interest in other books in the series. She is Y5 and this ties in well with their topic this term where BG is covered!

The youngest is also keen. With a reading age beyond her years she was capable of the words but needed help comprehending the story but enjoyed it very much. As a mum I am delighted she is reading something other than the girly fluff she tends towards. Thanks so much from all of us, it was much appreciated and enjoyed.

anne262 · 29/04/2017 10:02

To be honest I wasn't expecting much from Bear Grylls and his Blizzard Challenge , just another celeb jumping on the "I am now an author" bandwagon. However I was pleasantly surprised with the content and overall gist of the story. My 6 year old loved the book , so much so that I had to buy him The Desert Challenge to read afterwards. The short chapters are perfect for young children and the survival skills made it an interesting story. I was impressed with the idea of encouraging young readers to do their best to succeed and over-come their fears, I need to take this advice onboard myself!

justwait · 29/04/2017 10:04

The Bear Grylls brand is weird.

A lot aimed at kids, but the Island is the most sweary programme on TV.

Holidayenthusiast · 30/04/2017 10:03

Many thanks - We received The Blizzard challenge book and were keen to read it straight away. The fact that Bear Grylls is known and the book is perceived as 'a boys book' really encouraged him in. He loved the fact that their was a fantasy element with the magic compass plus some real life dilemmas and problem solving. We will definitely be buying more in the series.

Celama · 01/05/2017 11:11

We received the Desert Challenge and got the Blizzard Challenge afterwards as he enjoyed the story. The facts and "helpful" information on what do do when you fall through ice, get stuck in the desert as you do (!) was what appealed to my son the most. I have to admit that I felt that the children had quite unlikeable characters whereas Bear came across as Mr Perfect but my son never noticed that so that's obviously just a grumpy parental observation! Overall, he enjoyed it, it was very interesting and was the ideal length and structure for those going into their first chapter books and I'm glad there is a series of them.

danson16 · 01/05/2017 11:27

My son is a Beaver and was really looking forward to reading this and knew about Bear Grylls. I must admit during reading I was a little disappointed by the book. It wasn't quite what I expected. However in saying that my son was happy with it, he found it interesting and asked lots of questions.
Overall I wouldn't look into more of this series as I do not feel that it was good enough to get more. However as my son did enjoy it, I would get it just for him.

webster147 · 01/05/2017 20:03

I have just started to introduce my 5 year old to stories with chapters, she loves adventure stories so I thought she might like these books. We received The Blizzard Challenge. We read the book over 5 nights and she really enjoyed the story, she asked lost of questions and wanted to now who Bear was in real life from the photo on the back of the book. I will definitely be buying further books from this series for her.

Genka · 01/05/2017 23:01

Thank you for my book! I am reading it to my little one as she is still not able to read. I m really excited about the book as I find it very interesting myself and I think it is a great read for every child of the this target age (and not only). I find the book very educational and I think this is the best about it- they can learn a lot through reading it. I will be glad to read all parts of these books as they all look amazing!!!
P.s. I don't have a picture because I m not good at posting. I tried on twitter when I received the book but something went wrong so my post was unsuccessful.

Amaksy · 05/05/2017 00:03

Totally forgot to share my thoughts - really great book. I had The Desert Challenge and read that with my son during the day, was quick to get through and great images/ pics too

Wizotto · 15/05/2017 21:03

Thanks for the review copy MNHQ. We received a copy of Desert Challenge. DS who is 6 has read it to me over a few evenings. The language level is just right for him as he can read most of the words but there are some challenges in there too. He is not very interested in fiction and given the choice reads fact books. He did not pick it up on his own, but he enjoyed reading it and had lots of questions about what he was reading and we had to find pictures of ravines etc. so he could imagine the scenery. I think he liked the mixture of fact and fiction and he scored it an 8 out of 10. I found it a bit dull and it is not a great book in terms of the quality of the writing but perfectly ok.

ZebraCath · 07/06/2017 12:38

My sons (7 and 5) were very excited when this book arrived in the post. They are both keen on Scouting and aware who Bear Grylls is. They enjoyed the book (read it very quickly) and loved all the survival tips it included.

Faithless12 · 07/06/2017 12:52

He has read it twice now so I'm guessing that he really enjoyed it. He has been talking about what happens in the book quite a bit.

ButtonMooooon · 07/06/2017 12:57

It took a while for my DS to get through this, unfortunately it didn't hold his interest for very long so it took quite a few nights a bit at a time to get through it.

I maybe wouldn't have persevered for so long if it was just a book from the library

drsholmes · 07/06/2017 13:11

We loved this book! And by we I mean my 5 yr old daughter and mummy and daddy. We read a chapter a night and like it so much we are going to buy the other one.
We had the blizzard challenge book.
It was a good book, my 5 yr kept saying "there are many ways to die" which was a quote from the book 😂

Baldwin1973 · 07/06/2017 13:21

My daughters who ar aged 6 and 8 years old both enjoyed reading this book. My 8 year old in particular was very excited to read a book by Bear as she enjoys watching him on television. The book kept their attention throughout and they both liked the plot and the characters. Thank you

meyersfan · 07/06/2017 13:30

We received The Blizzard Challenge and read it over a few nights with my eight year old son. He enjoyed the story and the context was familiar in that he's been a Beaver/Cub scout. It wasn't the most amazing storytelling but accessible and easy to read. Will certainly keep an eye out for the others.

missSonic · 07/06/2017 13:32

7yo opinion:
"I liked that they killed the scorpion without it hurting them. The characters and story were amazing. I would like to read the Snow Bear Grylls book now. "

koala1979 · 07/06/2017 14:39

thank you for our copy.
our son is only 11 months old, but we read to him regularly. being unable to communicate in a way that we totally understand yet, i couldnt ask him for his opinion, but he did sit and happily listen to the book, which is always a good sign that he isnt clamboring to get off your lap, or worse, rip the book.

jameela1 · 07/06/2017 16:10

My daughter really enjoyed the book. It's educational, entertaining, it's fun, and written in a brilliant way. She was really excited about the whole project as she likes the TV series,too. Brilliant book,definitely recommended. Would love to see more books for children by Bear Grylls.

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