Blues Clues Toys: Oct 16, 2008

Blue's Clues Joe's Handy Dandy Notebook | Blues Clues Toys | A notebook just like Joe's! With wipe-off pages and a dry-erase crayon. Blue's Clues gets preschoolers thinking farther, laughing harder, feeling smarter and playing to learn! Ages 3 and up. : Blues Clues Toys
Customer Review: A Winner!
My 2 year old absolutely lit up when he saw this. I was lucky and didn't pay nearly the "collectible" price. He's gone through so many writing pads I can't even count. The plastic front a back cover make a nice sturdy notebook for the punishment a 2 year old can dish out. How ever long it lasts, it was worth the look on his face when I gave to him! Blues Clues Toys
Customer Review: The Best Notebook Option Out There
I own this notebook, as well as Steve's Notebook and the Golden Notebook. While all three look good, I would only recommend Joe's and Steve's, with a couple of qualifications. Blues Clues Toys

First, I would not recommend that Golden Notebook primarily because the front and back are made of cardboard instead of plastic, as the other two are. Blues Clues Toys

Regarding Joe's Notebook and Steve's Notebook, here are the qualifications:

1) The pages can soak up water when you clean them. That said, I have never put that much water on them. Usually a little dab on a paper towel will do the trick.

2) While a little dab of water can do the trick, it is not an easy chore and not something all little kids will be able to do. Depending on how hard your child writes, this could be more or less of a problem.

3) This is probably the worst issue for me. The crayon simply does not draw very well on the pages. You generally have to press down pretty hard, and this is not always easy for little ones. My little girl often shows me her drawing and tells me what it is, which is good seeing as how I can barely see a faded dark line here and there. It is nothing like simply drawing with a crayon or marker on paper. Of course, this is to be expected I suppose, considering the washable nature of the product, but still. Blues Clues Toys

4) You will likely need to get creative and find a way to attach the crayon to the notebook otherwise it may get lost on day one. Some string and a rubberband will do the trick. I am sure you can come up with something. Blues Clues Toys

Now, even with all those concerns, I still say this is the best notebook out there and here's why. This one and Steve's are the only ones I know of that have plastic fronts and backs. Anyone who is looking for Blue's Clues stuff knows how hard it is to come by and how expensive it can be. These are notebooks that will last a good long time. Not only that, I have found that it is very easy to get some colored construction paper, a hole punch and a better pen on a leash and "reload" these notebooks til your kids are out of college. That right there is the true value of these particular notebooks and the reason that, despite all my problems with them, they still get 5 stars. Blues Clues Toys

So, out of the box, they're not bad and worth the retail price, but what makes these things really shine and makes them worth the "collectible" price is the fact that they will last you a good long time and can be modified and "reloaded" time and time again with a little work. The Golden Notebook, on the other hand, while a good think cardboard and perhaps worth the retail price, still wears down quickly, as one would expect even think cardboard to do. Blues Clues Toys

Other notebooks I have seen have been much, much worse. Be careful what you get.