Get ready for those half-term car journeys with the Michelin i-Spy Range

Half Term is upon us (well, us - ours starts tomorrow but most schoolkids will be on a break from next week). We love to get out and about (as you'll already know from our adventures chronicled on my wife's excellent days-out blog, Can I Walk Mummy) but that usually means a long car journey to get to the most interesting places.

We don't do the backseat iPad / DVD player thing, instead we rather enjoy the fact that Charlotte can spend most of the journey staring out of the car window looking at things instead. So when we were asked to review the i-Spy range of children's activity books by Michelin we jumped at the chance.

Having recently joined in with the National Trust "50 things to do before you're 11 3/4" summer activities, we loved the idea of finding something else in a handy and convenient format that helps children discover more about their surroundings. Though the i-Spy range covers diverse topics such as car-spotting, creepy crawlies and trees, we opted for the books that covered nature.

With a ton of brilliant photographs, handy tick boxes and bonus points awarded for clever spotting, and kid-friendly text, the books are absorbing and engaging enough to see out the longest car journeys. The convenient pocket-sized format also means that tiddlers can tuck them into their coat pocket and use them while you're out and about in the woods, at the countryside or even at the beach.

Charlotte wanted to know who the jolly character was, that features in the book so it prompted us to look up and talk about the Michelin Man and how he's the enduring symbol for the company.

The i-Spy range is available from most good booksellers at the very pocket-friendly price of £2.50 or less.

Charlotte's best bit: We loved some of the 'curve ball' spotting that the books throw in from time to time, oh and cute red squirrels - we really hope we get to see one of these one day!

Daddy's Favourite bit: A fantastic diverse range of topics, brilliantly priced and perfect for those car journeys where you really need to stave off those "are we nearly there yet?" whines!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Michelin Publishing)