A travel companion for the young that actually proves to be worth a look, and nails the fantasy theming. It starts out a bit blandly, with just a calendar/diary page, and space for you to scrawl a packing list and tick things off when bagged up. Then we must already have arrived, for there's a page for you to list and score the sites you expected to see, and the things you ate and drank. There's a space for a list of things friends back home might be getting as a gift, and for new friends' contacts.

But it's not too long before we're in with the activities to be used up, whiling away the flight delay or parental argument about which restaurant they fancy. A fantasy term wordsearch, a fairy glade spot-the-difference, a dragon-seeming join-the-dots – these all may seem very simple, but how about a fit-the-words-into-the-grid puzzle where you don't get the list of words? That's magical. Yes, a chunk of this is blank for you to write your own fantasy story to the prompt given, and the puzzles cycle round again after that, but this is geared to the fantasy reader without being too bookish, and probably won't end up a waste of space on said packing list. It'll get a kid's mind doing something worthwhile when on holiday, yet not too taxingly, while still engaging with her/his favourite hobby. I've seen many a book like this, un-themed, with bland, generic, very disposable appearances. This presents as being much classier. A healthy four stars.

This was a cute book. I liked the little activities. They were fun and easy to do, but not so easy that I was bored. My only complaint is that my tablet didn’t like it so that was frustrating but that has nothing to do with content and probably if it had been a physical book, I would’ve been happier.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a kind of weird book to rate. This seems like it's made for kids because the bulk of activities are spot the difference pages, word searches, and mazes. It seems to have a fantasy and adventure theme where you do things like help dragons and fairies in the puzzles. There's also some coloring pages and they sort of look AI generated which confuses me, but they also look like Japanese-MMO style with big eyes and proportions that don't look human and they don't seem like they're made for kids. It's not a bad book, just an unexpected collection of content.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This book is perfect on a lazy day or when you are planning a trip. It has everything from cute checklists on what to pack , what to and what to eat., It's perfect for the traveler and the dreamer and it has wonderful graphics , great prompts and it's nicely packed together.

Great concept as there is an underserved audience of tweens who's boredom busters are screens... screens.. and more screens. I appreciate that there as so many competing/conflicting interests as this would be best enjoyed by those in the 8-11 age bracket. My tween loved the fantasy themes.

The idea behind this book is a fun one, however, I don’t think this was executed well overall. The images used throughout seem like they came from random sources online (I highly recommend that most of these images should be changed). The activities do become a bit repetitive, however it’s fantasy theme gives this book that bit more of magic and excitement for children, There are also sections throughout the book to “write a fantasy story”, I think it would be better if prompts and ideas were included to make it easier for children, rather than it just saying “write a fantasy story” with 4+ blank pages (I recommend for there to be various prompts, setting/character suggestions etc), maybe break it up a bit. Overall, the idea is fun for kids who want to be kept occupied on trips or during their free time, and for those who love fantasy and magic, there are a range of activities from colouring to crosswords. I just think the images used and free writing sections should be improved.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author and publisher for this copy to review!

I have been looking for things for my kids to do on road trips and while camping that don’t involve screens, batteries or frustrating sighs of boredom, and was very happy to be able to review this as it seemed like the perfect way to not only keep kids busy but also give them a push to be more organized.

I have a 15 year old and he was the main user. A couple of the puzzles and activities were a bit young for him, but I have a 9 year old as well, so it worked out well. I even enjoyed doing a couple of the word game puzzles! This gave us several hours of BLISSFUL SILENCE, which as a parent is so hard to get on long car trips! I definitely recommend it, even with some of the simpler puzzles/games, the majority of the content works well for kids in their early teens. And the fantasy theme was pretty on point, my oldest’s Percy Jackson reading helped him in several of the games!

This book would be a fun gift for road trips and fantasy readers as a limited fantasy reader enjoyed it ( I screenshotted the pages and printed them out). I also like the fact that they had blank pages to stop your marker from bleeding through the coloring pages. I only have a couple of pieces of feedback is research the books you're adding to this activity book some of the novels added were dystopia (Divergent, maze runner, hunger games) also another thing is that the first 11 pages are just wasted on new contact information and gift planners But overall I enjoyed this and thank you NetGalley for giving me an advance copy..

This book is fun! I just reviewed Boredom Buster Travel Journal and Activity Book / Fantasy by A.B. Whelan. #BoredomBusterTravelJournalandActivityBookFantasy #NetGalley
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Perfect girft for grade schoolers on family vacation. Lots of fun activities for kids 4-8th grade. Word searches, cross word puzzles, write your stories, lists to remember where you went, where you hoped to go, people you met. I'd get one for any kids whose family is traveling this summer!

Boredom Buster Travel Journal and Activity Book/Fantasy
A.B. Whelan
What a wonderful travel journal; the adventure can be real or pretend. This book begins by helping us get organized from packing list, to sightseeing list, to a list of people you need to purchase a gift for. The theme of this book is Fantasy. While others will benefit from this book its focus is on those who love fantasy. There are a variety of games to play from dot to dot, find the word, find the differences, and crossword puzzles.
I highly recommend this book for upper elementary through middle schoolers. Too often trips are spoiled by boredom. This book allows the reader to assist in organizing and planning the trip. The games are great for entertainment. Don’t tell you child/teen but they might even learn something.

Boredom Buster Travel Journal and Activity book
A.B. Whelan
Pub date: June 7, 2023
Burbank books
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Filled with activities for tweens and up. Some of the mazes seem a bit juvenile for this age group however.
This book is good for a road trip and maybe it’ll keep their eyes off a screen for a few days.
I especially liked the packing, itinerary planner and souvenir shopping sections.
5 stars

This book gives so much to do on a trip. Lots to keep the reader busy and entertained with a variety of different activities. The theme is nice and the book is cohesive.

Going on a vacation? Boredom Busters Travel Journal will help keep the "I'm bored" feelings at bay for a little while. Filled with crosswords, wordsearches, colouring, mazes, writing prompts and more, this book is aimed at the high tween/mid teen and up audience. (Some of the mazes do see a little young for the target audience, but that is a minor flaw)

Some of the activities are modelled after popular online word games, and they are all fantasy themed - from dragons to witches to mermaids and more!

The travel side of the book include a travel journal, itinerary planner, pack list and souvenir shopping guide at the front of the book.

An entertaining book which should hopefully keep eyes off screens for a while.

~ Many thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ~

Days worth of activities & a vacation journal in one

Boredom Buster Travel Journal and Activity Book Fantasy (Boredom Busters) is an activity journal for kids 14+ who want entertainment while traveling. My daughter is 13 and still really enjoyed this book. I had to help with a few activities but she liked that we were completing them together.

There are SO MANY activities in this book. It's good for a road trip and/or on an airplane. It'll last a few days, depending on how often your kid gets into this each day of your trip.

The travel calendar and sightseeing checklist are an excellent way to get your kids involved before you head out the door and keep them hyped for the trip. My kids enjoy helping us plan and this is a fun way to document ideas.

My 13 year daughter liked the fantasy story-telling section, she needed some prompts to help outline her story but she had fun getting creative, especially since the family joined in with opinions and ideas. My 15 year old son would have liked a male main character lol.

This would be great for the 7-13 year olds that I know, to keep them busy on the car on a road trip, or waiting for food at a restaurant, I think they'd really enjoy it

Fantasy lovers dream! This colorful and beautiful planner and activity book is full of cute pictures, useful travel planning pages, interesting games and fantasy-style journal pages. I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

Boredom Buster Travel Journal and Activity Book started out great with the logs and planning tools included. Then the book turned to the activity section. And I didn't realize this when I started reading is that this book is FANTASY. Not my thing. If you like dark, Halloween type things, you will most likely enjoy this book. If your annoyed with Halloween, DO NOT buy this book. The pictures in this book are all geared around Halloween type themes. The activities are diverse, crossword puzzles, word searches, coloring pages, etc.

This seems like the perfect thing to give a young teenager on a roadtrip, or any other time they can't have access to wifi/data. Filled with puzzles and activities, there are so many fun things to do! This would make a flight go by so quickly for me if I were to have had this as a kid.

Thank you to Victoria Editing Netgalley Co-Op and NetGalley for this ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of “Boredom Buster Travel Journal and Activity Book / Fantasy”
by A.B. Whelan. All opinions are my own.

This travel journal and activity book includes a range of different activities including crosswords and coloring pages. It would be good to bring on a trip or when you have down time waiting around.

Some of the pages didn’t feel like they fit together. It was a little bit random in terms of design. Interesting idea though.