CROSSWORDS FOR KIDS: BEST PUZZLE BOOK FOR AGES 8 AND UP (The Puzzler)

My 9-year-old granddaughter was looking forward to learning this fun activity, and the many positive reviews I read about this series made it sound like a great introduction. But in just the first few puzzles we found a number of clues that seemed to obscure, rather than suggest, the answer. In many cases, the clues seem to indicate a part of speech that is different from that of the answer. Examples:1) "Like a sweet potato" seems to call for an adjective, such as "orange" or "egg-shaped." Nope, the answer is "yam." Why not use "A food like a sweet potato?"2) "Contains the stars." A verb? No, "sky."3) "Tests to establish facts." A verb? A plural noun? No, "experiment."4) "How many." Answer: "numbers."5) "Move with aid of the wind." Answer: "sailing."6) "Soft and icy cold." Answer: "snow."And on and on. Really, it would have been easy to phrase clues that communicate better -- "This contains the stars." "Moving with the aid of the wind."But the one that took the cake was this: "Sixty seconds makes up one of these." Answer: "Hours." HUH??Was there an editor in the publication process?We ended up ordering one of Trip Payne's "Crossword Puzzles for Bright Kids," and I'm hoping the frustrations of the other book haven't soured my granddaughter on crosswords altogether.

My daughters 10 and 12 have recently gotten into crosswords - I wanted to get them a book they could do without too much help, but this is rediculously easy and a very small amount of clues per puzzle. It's like the board book of crossword puzzles - definitely shouldn't say 8 and up. I found another one for "teens" and that is much more what I was looking for, unfortunately it was published in early 2000s and the pop culture questions are for teens in the 90s and early 2000s referencing shows that don't exist anymore and teen heartthrobs that are middle-aged now. LOL. *ooof

My kids are able to blow through these a little to quickly with no help from me. I do wish the puzzles offered a greater challenge for them. There are only a handful of clues to each puzzle and the clues are very easy. Usually, I like that crossword puzzles reinforce problem solving skills and using context clues and inferred language or puns, and it is interesting to see how their logical thinking and puzzle skills improve the more puzzles they do. If your child is new to crosswords, this book might be a good jumping off point, but if your child is a strong reader and experienced with puzzles, they might not find these interesting. This book will live in the bathroom and eventually get completed while they are a captive audience, otherwise, it won't hold their attention!

Perfect introduction to crosswords! Got this for my 9yo daughter. Large book, quality . The clues are perfect when paired with the theme or number of letters. My only complaint is some clues are singular and their answers are plural. The review complaining about the clues was actually my deciding factor to purchase, my daughter figured them out when using crossword puzzle solving techniques. I’d recommend for kids 8-12, would make a good gift as well.

I think this is the 3’rd or 4’th book by these authors I’ve purchased for my grandkids. I’m very concerned about kids these days getting too much entertainment from just looking at phone screens, computer screens etc. It doesn’t work their minds. The books by Ms. Patterson and the Puzzler seem to grab their attention right away and if you as a parent or grandparent work with them a little they seem to really like it and want to do more. My 9 year old grandson almost immediatley started in on the first crossword and had some wins with it and did several more. These books are great!

8 year old kept trying to do my crosswords and was frustrated. She LOVES this. Not too hard but she feels like a big kid and has to think at it at times. We did several as a family in the car on a long road trip and it was fun to hear the kids shout out the answers to us. (6 and 8 yr old)

The clues are obscure or very poorly written. Sometimes the clue is singular but the correct answer is plural. Some are just factually in accurate, like saying that strawberries grow on vines. Some of the words are not words kids “ages 8 and up” would know. However, my son and I had fun doing crosswords together every night at bedtime, he got more comfortable with his language arts skills, and we used the mistakes as opportunities to remember that even grownups who write books make mistakes.

Nice crossword book for a third grader and up. Each crossword has a clearly labeled theme, the puzzles are not too long, not too obscure and they are fun. Almost a given that it will reinforce spelling and it also may increase vocabulary and general knowledge. My 8-year-old is enjoying it.

Really good quality. Great packaging. Perfect condition

many many mistakes so had to throw the book away !!!

Most of the jokes were not funny and way beyond a 6 year olds understanding! Very disappointed in this book

Hi there, I wish I could give this book a good review, but unfortunately, I was very disappointed in the quality of the clues. Many of them weren't clear or were confusing. Also, I found it unconventional that clues would appear as an answer in the same small puzzle. The biggest issues were the errors. One example was a clue involving minutes. The answer should have been the singular form of "hour" but was instead "hours"? Also, because the puzzles were so sparse there were very few points of intersection. For new crossword puzzle solvers, it would actually be easier if there were more answers in each puzzle because each intersection provides a clue. Some of the words were quite long, and combined with the poorly written clues, I actually had trouble figuring out some of the answers and I am a dedicated NYT crossword solver! I hope they'll take this feedback and improved the next edition.

My 7 year old son loves this book. For the most part the clues are reasonable for the child to answer on his/her own.