Another great product from Melissa and Doug. This, and the similar Melissa & Doug Construction Wooden Chunky Puzzle, were my 21-month-old son's first jigsaw puzzles, and he loved them on sight! Because these puzzles are made of thick, sturdy wood, there are some not-completely-smooth edges. No biggie -- I gave them a little buffing with very fine sandpaper and they were fine.

He worked with the puzzle, with a little help from Mom & Dad, until he had literally memorized it and could put it together lightning-fast. Now, at 24 months, he enjoys putting his puzzles together wood-side-up, too, so we're really getting our money's worth with this thing.

One thing to note is that, after much love and enjoyment, the paper is starting to wear at the edges. And my son actually managed to tear some of it off one of the puzzles in a moment of toddler curiosity. However, contact cement pasted the paper back on and all is well again.

The recommended age is 3+, but I think kids much younger than that can enjoy starting to learn how to work jigsaw puzzles. The look of pride when they figure out how to put them together is priceless!

These are great wood puzzles. To make them a little more user friendly, a light sanding around the edge helped the pieces flow into one another more seamlessly. Great quality however, and the best test is the kid test....it passed!