Meet Pierre's new bedtime buddy, Twilight Turtle (review)

You may have noticed me talking about Cloub b's Sleep Sheep (you have a couple more days to win one in my giveaway, if you haven't entered already) but it was a different bedtime buddy that arrived at The Madhouse for Pierre - a soothing Twilight Turtle.

This nocturnal hero in a half shell will create a calming glow and project star constellations on the ceiling in a choice of three colours - amber, green and blue. It has a timer built in so it will turn itself off after 45 minutes. Unlike many night light/light show products on the market, it doesn't provide any sounds or music and the star projections are static - the fact that it is quiet may help young children get to sleep more easily (I remember the Madhouse kids had a music and lights projector when they were small and they'd wake up and start cring when the music switched off !) and it's definitely a bonus if you have an older sibling sharing a bedroom who doesn't want to be disturbed. (I've just noticed that is a second version with music available too.)

Pierre loved it as soon as he saw it in the box. 

I scrutinised the box, crossing my fingers that we would have the right combination of batteries in the kitchen drawer, and got my first nice surprise for parents - it takes 3 x AAA batteries and they are included. How often does that happen ?!

The second nice surprise came during the unboxing. I am frequently annoyed and often perplexed by the mindblowing array of devices used by manufacturers for holding toys in boxes. These days scissors aren't enough, you sometimes need a screwdriver just to get the product out of the box ! Well, Cloud b have made it nice and simple for parents - the velcro strip covering the battery compartment is the only thing holding it on the cardboard packaging. Perfectly sufficient and dead easy to remove. *Breathes a sigh of relief and puts away the toolbox.*

The Twilight Turtle has a soft body but a hard plastic shell so I wasn't sure that he would be very comfortable for taking to bed. I suggested to Pierre that we put him on a shelf but he decided he was still lovely to cuddle.

It was still daylight but Pierre wanted to shut all the curtains to make it dark enough to have a play. There are three buttons that you can press to choose the colour, plus an on-off switch. His favourite was the blue one because if he pointed the shell towards himself, he turned into a star-covered version of Avatar ! The different colours offer varying degrees of brightness - blue gives the most light, green is more muted and amber is a discreet glow.

The plastic shell has a series of star shapes and one moon cut into it and the light shines through these to project the constellations on the ceiling. The enclosed little guide book explains that there are eight different constellations on the turtle's shell and helps you recognise them.

As well as being good fun and educational as you try to spot the constellations, the mystical and mythological names such as Orion The Hunter, Pegasus and Draco the Dragon can be great prompts for inventing bedtime stories. The packaging mentions a Star Guide and Storybook but I could only see the double page constellation guide in various languages.

Pierre loves the Twilight Turtle, both as a snuggly playmate during the day and a reassuring nightlight at bedtime. It's also great fun to take him under the covers and make a starlit den too apparently !

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £26.95

for more information : http://cloudb.com/UK/home/

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.