When I was asked to review this sweet wooden stacker toy, by Hape, I knew I needed help. So I called in the resident toy expert, Henry.

At fifteen months old, Henry has approximately fourteen months experience of testing toys to destruction, so I was confident in his assessment.

With true professionalism, he started with Pepe’s Overall Appearance. His smile and the way he dashed over to Pepe and pulled off his head awarded the toy a good score on the Appeal Scale.

Next – Functionality Test. Henry removed each of the brightly coloured rings of Pepe’s body from the central stick. He then tested whether the rings could be replaced – both in the correct order and in random order – they could. Henry then discovered that you could remove all the rings, turn the central stick upside down and push the stick into the rings as they lay on the floor. This gave him surprising pleasure. Thus Pepe passed the Versatility and Capacity for Non-standard Usage tests with flying colours.

Next, rings once more in place, I demonstrated to Henry that if Pepe’s head were pushed down, he made a cute barking noise. At this point Henry collapsed into laughter – yes Pepe passed the Amusing Surprise Feature test too.

Finally – the Destruction Test. With typical conscientiousness, Henry took each part of Pepe in turn and threw it with all his force on the floor, which made a pleasing noise, but there was no damage to Pepe, or the floor.

So, all in all, this is a very appealing toy. It encourages colour identification and balance skills, while developing play skills. Most important – Henry really liked it.

The Pepe Sound Stacker from Hape is just one of a whole new range of fun-loving characters in the exciting world of PEPE & Friends. Other toys in the range include an Activity Cube, a Musical Push Along, a Friendship Tower and Puzzle Blocks. Using a range of natural materials and only water-based paints, and avoiding harsh glues and plastics, Hape are the largest producers of wooden toys.

By Dr K Thompson, author of From Both Ends of the Stethoscope: Getting through breast cancer – by a doctor who knows

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A7DM42Q http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A7DM42Q

http://faitobooks.co,uk