Dinosaur Alphabet by Karen Rossi – Ravensburger – 60 pieces
This artwork isn’t my favorite color scheme, it’s slightly washed out and dull – but it was a fun little kids puzzle that went together quickly. As an added bonus I learned the names of a few dinosaurs that I’d never heard of before. I just love learning new things! 😁
It had a loose fit, but has also been a very well-loved puzzle that seems to have been assembled many times. The previous owners seem to have been quite organized too. There was an X written inside the box, and an X on every piece; if piece(s) got loose you would know which puzzle they belong to and which box to put them in – great idea for kids puzzles if you ask me.
The last three letters were dinosaurs I’d never heard of before. I’ve done my share of dinosaur puzzles and I don’t recall ever seeing these names. Very cool!
Many of the words that the letters represented were put into the image in the middle to pull it all together. Overall just a great puzzle for kids; the image, the information, and the quality.
Unusual Animals by Allison Strine – Buffalo – 500 pieces
This was absolutely my kind of puzzle image – bright colors, collage, interesting artwork, informative, great quality – it had it all!
Do you ever have a puzzle that you know you’re going to love? Before you even put two pieces together you know it’s gonna be great? This was one of those puzzles! It was as fun and beautiful as I knew it would be – isn’t it fantastic when that happens? 💖
Excellent quality, as per usual for Buffalo. Lately I’ve mostly been purchasing Ravensburger and Buffalo puzzles; I’m too cranky these days to deal with crappy quality. I know when I buy a Buffalo puzzle that they care about whether or not their puzzles are entertaining and well made, and it is most definitely appreciated.
The color of both the background and the spider jumped out at me while sorting, and this was the first section I assembled. I wouldn’t want a Black Widow spider anywhere near me in the real world, but don’t mind at all it showing up next to all the other unusual animals. 🕸
I love all the information provided for each animal. Who has heard of an axolotl before? If you check out some images online you’ll see that they have the cutest faces (but they’re not brightly colored at all). Very unusual indeed.
This one I’ve definitely heard of before – there’s a whole family story about this bird – and we talk about the Blue-Footed Booby when we think something going on is ridiculous, or a waste of time.
When I was young (probably around 10 or so) my father was watching a documentary on tv about this bird, and he made me and my sisters come downstairs and watch it with him. We absolutely did not want to. Mom and dad had a “discussion” about forcing us to watch it; dad said it was educational so we should “learn something” and mom said it was stupid to make us watch it if we didn’t want to.
I don’t really remember any actual information about this bird, just the situation of being made to watch a documentary we weren’t interested in – and of course the bird’s ridiculous sounding name. It’s funny what memories stick with you, isn’t it?
The artwork by Allison Strine was excellent for puzzling, and both interesting and educational. If there are more of her puzzles out there anything like this one – I want them.
If you see this puzzle out in the wild, and you’re so inclined, I highly recommend adopting it and bringing it home. I don’t regret it, and in fact loved every single piece. 💝
Tour the States by Craighton Berman – Buffalo – 300 pieces
This puzzle was very quick for someone who knows the geography of the US, if you know where the state is you know where the piece goes. I’m certain if there was a map of another continent I don’t know as well as North America it wouldn’t have been as quick to go together. I loved the bright colors and excellent quality.
The northeast was the hardest to memorize when we were learning all the states in school, at least it was for me. All those little states up there took the most time to commit to memory.
Ok, I understand the gator and Louisiana, it’s swampy and perfect for alligators. But why in the world is it eating a banana? Am I missing something?
I’d never heard of the “hit” YouTube video until I put this puzzle together. Honestly, I haven’t looked it up to watch it either but it must have been quite popular to turn into an online store and have a puzzle made up from this image. Have any of you heard of this before?
The Nineteenth Amendment – Cobble Hill – 1000 pieces
This was an amazing puzzle to assemble, and the minute I was finished I wanted to take it apart and assemble it all over again. Before I started the box was put away along with the poster that comes with it; I knew I wanted the assembly experience to last longer. So many words to assemble – it was so much fun!
Cobble Hill puzzles have always been very good quality, and this one was no different. I love the linen textured paper, the random cut of the pieces, and the beautiful image reproduction. The fit is usually quite good as well, the fit on this one was excellent. Overall just a wonderful puzzle with a great image that made for an extremely entertaining assembly.
Not interested in women’s rights or information about the American suffrage movement? You should probably stop reading here. It was a fun, great-quality puzzle. If that’s all you wanted to know, have a nice day. The rest of this post is not really puzzle related, it’s about the the suffragettes and what they did and said.
Did you know that for two and half years “The Silent Sentinels” (shown above) picketed in front of the White House for the suffrage movement? Nearly 2,000 women took their turns picketing – they were actually the very first group to ever picket the White House. Many of them were harrassed, arrested, and unjustly treated by both local and federal authorities – including force feeding, torture, and physical abuse.
Here’s another little tidbit for you….did you know that the last state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment was Mississippi? Did you know that happened in 1984? Sixty-five years after it was passed by Congress. What the actual hell Mississippi? Sigh.
Susan B. Anthony is probably the best known suffragette, and she was the first female citizen to be depicted on a U.S. coin. There were thirteen women whose images were shown in this puzzle, it was difficult choosing which ones to show close up. I choose Susan B. Anthony because she is the most well known – and because this is a great quote.
Although many black women worked alongside white women in the movement, they were definitely not treated as equals. Frances Watkins Harper was one who called them out on their racism, and was not afraid to be confrontational. This quote, from a speech she gave at the 1866 National Women’s Rights Convention, called out white women for their lack of female solidarity across the racial divide. Black men were granted the right to vote by the fifteenth amendment, but black women – even in the suffragette movement – were largely ignored and dismissed and effectively banned from voting until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
This quote from Lucy Stone speaks volumes, and still rings very true today – more than 125 years after her death. Although it seems to me that if the women of today knew and truly understood what those who came before went through so that we could enjoy all of the freedoms we have – they wouldn’t behave as if some tiny slight was stomping on their freedom when they don’t get their way.
Just a random opinion from an old lady who remembers that in my own lifetime women in the US weren’t allowed to have credit cards in their own name and could be fired for becoming pregnant – or for not sleeping with the boss.
Educational puzzles make me so happy, and the assembly is almost always fun. (Spoiler – this one – lots of fun) Learning new things or getting a refresher on things I already knew is entertaining for me; thank goodness there are so many great puzzles out there to learn from.
Puzzlebilities is a new brand for me, and happily the quality was pretty good. There were a few slightly bent pieces, but a teeny bit of muscle power put them right in no time at all. The chipboard was thick and the fit was nice as well. Overall, I’d say the quality was good/very good. They have quite a few educational puzzles to choose from, including two shaped puzzles of the Earth and the Moon – those two look a little too challenging for me. Click the link above to look through their catalog; their mineralogy and human body puzzles are the ones that jumped out at me. They look like fun! The company (Hinkler) is an independent publisher based in Melbourne, Australia, but I found this puzzle at my local Barnes & Noble.
I don’t ever recall seeing this big ol’ swordfish looking dinosaur before – wow! The Shonisaurus was forty-nine feet long; it sure would be something to see that thing swimming towards you, wouldn’t it?
Ok, how many of you knew there was a dinosaur called the Arizonasaurus? How about the Prestosuchus? Without shame I am admitting that I’d never heard of them before. Gee, wonder where the Arizonasaurus was first found – I’ll take a wild guess and say…….Arizona? These two stood out to me for another reason as well, both of their heads look extremely similar to a T-Rex’s. At least they do to me.
This puzzle has already found a new home with my honorary grandson, and he was extremely excited! I haven’t seen him very much this past couple of years and he has apparently developed a love of all things dinosaur. I’m so glad I decided to get this one on my first trip puzzle shopping after my break; it has found a new home and will be greatly loved.
This image is more difficult than I thought it would be, but there was plenty of fun assembling it anyways. Learning new things – especially from a puzzle – really does make me happy. I was so excited to show hubby the new dinosaurs I’d never heard of, and he patiently listened and pretended to be interested. What a good husband. 💜
*Speaking of the hubby, Happy 246th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps! To all those who serve and have served in The Corps, like my husband and his brothers…..thank you. Semper Fidelis!*
My Jigsaw Journal 