Cute zoo puzzle, 17m likes, high quality birch plywood, less MDF...
936530
[Edit 8/2012 - In my enthusiasm over the puzzle pieces being made of birch plywood, I had previously missed the fact that the backing of the puzzle is made of MDF. So the puzzle itself is not MDF free, but in my opinion at the time it was a better choice for us because the puzzle pieces were not MDF (the ones I was seeing in my local stores had puzzle pieces that were MDF).  My son did the whole chewing stage at kind of an extreme level....  As an additional note, this puzzle has been kicking around our living room for a little more than a year now and still looks the same as when we had first purchased it.]

We've had this little pet puzzle for about two months. My 17m little boy is into the concept of puzzles, and this puzzle sits out for him to play with every day.  As a note, we also have the Educo Zoo Animals Knob Puzzle, which is a very similar chunky peg puzzle, and which we also like and play with every day.

Background: My very active little boy decided that he was interested in the chunky peg puzzles after noticing  them at the library when he was about 15m old.  So I've been on a quest to pick up some age-appropriate chunky peg puzzles for him ever since - I wanted jumbo pegs, small number of large-sized pieces per puzzle for simplicity, bright colors, and nothing "edible" for the teething-crazed toddler.

I originally targeted one of the leading brands, because they seem cute, some have totally massive jumbo knobs, and they seem very mainstream, but I discovered that although this leading brand claimed to be wood, that they appeared to be a particle board/MDF substance, i.e. something approximating sawdust and glue, not great for babies that eating-and-dissolve-everything teether toddler.  So, I decided to try an Educo large peg puzzle as it claimed to be actually wood, with the pictures printed on, not stickered. And it turns out that they are indeed made out of wood, albeit a birch plywood, which is at least a smooth high grade plywood. The cute illustrations are brightly colored, and are screen printed on, not stickers. The packaging itself states: "Materials: Russian Birch Plywood, German ink, MDF". It also notes that the product is made in China, in case anyone is interested.

Puzzle Pieces: They're a good size, no choking hazard. The gold fish (which is a fluorescent yellow color...) is 2.5" x 2"; the striped tabby cat is 2.25" x 3"; the grey spotted dog is 3" x 3.5".  The color palette is reasonable bright, and as I note above, the gold fish isn't gold, likely because the cat has a bright yellow body, but overall, the puzzle's colors are still quite cute: Three different nice blues, bright red/orange/yellow; the dog gets light grey, dark grey and black, but that's okay.

I've already thoroughly reviewed the Educo&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Zoo-Animals-Knob-Puzzle/dp/B004PXOKAE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Zoo Animals Knob Puzzle</a>&nbsp;here, where I discuss the puzzle hardiness, and knob size, etc.  (I had one of the Zoo puzzle pieces splinter twice because I ran over it with a playyard roughly a couple of times...)  The features are pretty much identical for the Friendly Pets Puzzle.

Overall, I'm very happy with this puzzle, it's exactly the sort of early learning large-peg puzzle that I was looking for. And my little boy likes it, too, the Friendly Pets and the Zoo puzzle is out every day (as is the Vehicles Puzzle we bought by Small World Toys/Ryan's Room, also nice puzzle).
1582322
My elder daughter likes assembling puzzles.  And, last year, she did a report about Big Ben for school.  She was thrilled to have a chance to try her hand at building a 3D Big Ben and clock tower puzzle.

The pieces are puzzle pieces, but they're made of plastic, not cardboard.  The plastic is well made and has a feel of quality to it.  The pieces fit together perfectly -- there are no struggles to snap them into place.  This company took pains to manufacture a high quality puzzle.

In all, it's a lot of fun, and building a 3D puzzle is a nice variation from the standard 2D designs.

Recommended.
2522569
My son has really been into Rubiks cubes lately.  And hes been wanting a 4 x 4 cube to add to his challenge.  This has nice glossy cubes with rounded corners.  Theres some play in the cubes when turning that makes it super easy to manipulate.  It turns quickly and smoothly without catching on the corners.  It seems durable.  There is one square that has a logo on it.  It comes with a cool little black frame so you can display your cube at an angle.  It even comes with a pamphlet that is unfortunately not written in English.  However, there are pictures to show you possibly how to solve the puzzle.  But I haven't checked out their directions.  What fun is that?  This is a fun hands on puzzle that works well for kids with fidgety fingers.

 I value credible,  informative, and candid Amazon reviews by other Amazon buyers and hope this review helps you. Im willing to write a little more than the average user because of getting this at a discount.  Although I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest and unbiased review, I don't spend all this time and energy to post non-truthful reviews.  My integrity is worth more than saving a couple of bucks.  [...]
1981016
Great puzzle... this was our first 3d building puzzle... wasn't difficult, but challenging enough for an afternoon of fun for three of us.  This one is really neat-looking when it was done, too.  I left it up for a while just because it was so cute.  It can be kinda wonky trying to keep it all together and not leaning or coming apart a bit in some areas, but nothing too terrible.
999281
This wooden circus play set comes in a fairly sturdy cardboard box, brightly colored to look like a circus tent. Why I may have preferred a tin or wooden case, for longer lasting storage, this is about as durable as your average board game or puzzle box, so can definitely be re-used.

The pieces are sturdy, brightly colored and set up well for play. There's a car and trailer set that can be used together, via magnetic attachment, or separately, as well as animals, acrobats, a high wire and a fire hoop that the tiger can jump through at the behest of a the trainer. (Ironically, the lion, who is in a sitting position, doesn't really fit through the hoop.) And a horse and trick rider that can actually sit on her mount, which was my daughter's favorite part.

To me, the major downside is that the inclusion of some small pieces (and the potential for the magnetic pieces to become unglued, I'd assume) means that this is rated for ages "3+" even though I think the appeal is likely highest for kids 18 months to 3 years for these sort of solid, wooden playlets. By the time kids are three and up -- for example, my four-year-old son -- they tend to prefer more intricate toys, and these didn't really hold his interest at all.

All in all, a nice set, as long as you supervise, for toddlers, though some more forethought about younger-age usage could have made this a five-star set.
4001902
First jigsaw puzzle for our three year old. Thought it would take longer for him to "get it", but since the animals are each a different color, it's the perfect level of difficulty for his age. He can pretty much do it by himself now and he's had it since Christmas (just over one month). I do think that the quality is better on our other Melissa and Doug chunky knob puzzle, this seems more like the print could come off with time, but overall we are happy with the purchase. Has held up fine so far and my son is *not* gentle with things. He can get the pieces together without trouble, so that's great. Overall, I recommend.
3054745
This was a really fun puzzle to assemble.  My son loved the "false" edges and I loved the pieces that were split in two.  Lots of fun and a challenge for my puzzling boys.  The picture is so cute, too - might just frame it for their room!
4389259
My 3-year-old loves this puzzle as it combines his two favorite things: the alphabet and puzzles. It is a little trickier than flat jigsaws but he quickly figured it out. Note that you can NOT stand the dinosaur up while putting it together or after the puzzle is completed. Also, the puzzle we received is not quite as pictured--the shapes are the same but all the pieces are in shades of green or blue. I was hoping for the more colorful version but otherwise this was a good purchase.
4421202
The pieces were a little loose on a couple of them, but overall very nice.  The wood seems to be cleanly cut and they fit together well.  Really fun puzzles.
586262
This is a cute puzzle, love that it has different textures to match the animal...the only thing I wish it had were deeper cut-outs for the animals. Carrying the puzzle is a challenge without losing all of the pieces.
3879239
I had a very good time making this jigsaw puzzle (in about a day). Nice bright colors and good balance of "easier" areas (books, fruit, figurines) with a couple of more challenging sections (cat and foliage).
Pieces interlocked well.
I usually donate puzzles after I make them, but this one is a keeper for now. Plus I love cats!
3901256
The puzzle pieces are slightly warped but otherwise we love it! We've been collecting plastic animal toys to go along with it to add one more layer of learning.
1319532
It was very fun putting this together with my family. It took us 5 days to complete it. It wasn't extremely difficult, but it was challenging. I must say that the puzzle is darker than we expected, but it's still very nice. The pieces are of good quality and have fun shapes I hadn't seen before. I'm definitely buying Buffalo puzzles again!
2469385
This is the perfect puzzle for my daughter, who just turned one.  Very bright and colorful pieces, and they did a terrific job painting the animals and farmer. My favorite part is the size of the knob handles, which makes it easy for my daughter to lift up and put the pieces back.  We've had this for about two months now and have had no issues yet, but I am a bit concerned about the longevity of this puzzle.  It is not solid wood but 3 layers of wood glued together, and I can foresee this being a problem as it gets more and more use.  There are also deep lines in between the animals on the surface where the jigsaw cut the pieces out, and I worry about the design flaking off the top layer of wood in these weak areas.  Overall it's a fantastic puzzle for little ones, but I'm not expecting it to last forever.
2540740
My 6 year old put this together with minimal help needed. The instructions were easy enough for him to follow (match 1 to 1, 2 to 2, and so on). The pieces fit together snuggly, some more than others. I know he will want to take it apart and put back together, so we chose not to glue it together. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase and am buying the T-Rex and Velociraptor puzzles.
468066
My 14 mth child loves this puzzle and learned how to put it together fairly quickly. I like the design and educational value of it. Unlike some posters, our pieces fit easily and the circle, triangle and square all fit in no matter their orientation. It has paper glued to the wood, so it needs to be handled with some care, but that is to be expected for the price. There are other higher quality first puzzles; however their price is twice as much. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a very first puzzle.
4217993
My 3 year old is OBSESSED with this puzzle. He puts it together on his own (but loves it when I help.) The puzzle goes together so well. (Some other puzzle pieces curl or don't quite fit well. These pieces fit perfectly. The image is really beautiful. My son loves animals so it's a huge hit!