Sparkle World Magazine- hey, can I see that?

One magazine we get that I need to brag about here on Epinions is Sparkle World. Seems like a card to get a subscription came in a box with a toy, and I paid $12 something for a year’s worth of issues (6 bi-monthly issues), but the regular price for this is $19.95 for a year.

Sparkle World is definitely something for girls- in no way would any boys be interested in this- it features activities with Strawberry Shortcake, Bratz, Littlest Pet Shop, Polly Pocket, My Little Pony, Angelina Ballerina, and Rainbow Magic- which I had never heard of- but turns out it’s pretty cool.

Newsstand price for one issue of this mag would cost you $4.99, so it would be much cheaper for you to just buy a subscription. As far as age range goes- I’d say from about 4 or 5 to around 7 or 8, and anywhere past that, well, older girls might find this a little to ‘baby-ish’ for them. I’d say the prime age to be around 5-7.

Ok, so here’s a breakdown of the mag, using our March/April 2008 issue:

You’ll see a pink cover (which is an obvious turnoff for boys), and you’ll see all the featured characters on there and it says ‘Lots of Sparkly Fun Inside!’ It also lets you know you get 75 stickers inside as well. The magazine is 35 pages in all and there are no ads except one on the inside front cover for buying the other magazines made by Redan, which prints this one- for the boys out there they do offer a Thomas & Friends mag, as well as a Disney and Me, Playroom (which features Caillou, Doodlebops, Curious George, Bob the Builder, Horton, The Land Before Time) a My Little Pony one, Disney Princess, and Barney- and they all run for $19.95.

The first thing you’ll see is a ‘Story Time’ feature that has Strawberry Shortcake in a story called “Fur Ever Friends”. It runs 4 pages long and is done in color. It was a cute story about some posh puppies that came to visit Strawberry Shortcake.

Next, you have a Word Search featuring Angelina Ballerina. Then, you have a two page section where you can play a game called “Polly’s Wheels Game”- you cut out the little pieces, but you have to have your own die to roll.

Then, you have a page where readers have sent in drawings, and a space where you can draw your own, send it in, and not only could you have your drawing featured in the magazine, but you will also be in a drawing for a My Little Pony DVD.

After that, you have a 4 page pull out workbook section that features My Little Pony. In it, you have coloring pages, counting, matching, and letter exercises and also a dot to dot page.

Then, you have the Rainbow Magic section, which are these different fairies, and after looking at their website www.rainbowmagiconline.com, I learned that these are a series of Scholastic books- each featuring a different fairy. There are pet fairies, rainbow fairies, jewel fairies, and weather fairies. The books are chapter books, and for girls around 3rd grade or so, but pretty cute. Anyway, the magazine has a page where you pick the fairy out of three that is different, and then there is a little spot at the bottom where you can enter a drawing for a set of the books.

Also, there is a maze page featuring My Little Pony again, and there also you have the chance to enter a drawing for a pony by sending in a postcard.

Next, there is a two page article featuring Rainbow Magic where you use the magical circle in the magazine. You close your eyes, move your finger around the circle 3 times, and open your eyes to read about which fairy chose you. It then tells about the fairy and what her special powers are.

After that, you have a Pet Maze featuring the Littlest Pet Shop pets, as well as 75 stickers featuring them as well.

Next up, you have a two page article featuring My Little Pony, where you make friendship promises- they are these little coupons you cut out and give to friends and they say “ I promise to be your friend”, or ‘I promise to always share with you.”

The next article is a two page one featuring the Rainbow Magic Fairies and a story called “Jewel Thief”

You then have a page about Bratz and can enter a contest for a free DVD featuring them.

The last page is one you could use as a poster featuring Strawberry Shortcake.

Experience:

This is a magazine that my oldest can do on her own pretty much- she might need help with a few of the words, but other than that, it’s something she can figure out on her own and doesn’t have to be explained or read to her. Sure, it’s probably not the most educational out there, but it does have some nice activities in it as far as my opinion goes- and it’s girly! If you have a 100% girl at your house, well I think they would love this magazine.

I can appreciate that there are not ads on every page, but because of this, the magazine is a little more expensive, and $19.95 for 6 issues is really not a good deal, but you could shop around and find a cheaper price at some of these online magazine selling sites.

This magazine really has a lot of activities just to be 35 pages- and there are contests to enter as well! You never know, your kiddo could win something from the contests! My kids really enjoy this magazine and I would recommend it- it’s something they enjoy from cover to cover.