A Great Magazine For Toddlers!

When my daughter was a baby, we lived in Italy in the military. If you've ever been overseas with the military, you know that you get these things called FPO or APO addresses. It's great that you can get mail sent to you overseas as easily as you can get mail if you were in New York (although a couple days slower), but the downside is that you share a mailbox with everyone in your command. If there's another family that shares the same name as you, there's bound to be mixups. My husband shared the same first and last name with a Petty Officer at our command. So we had mail mixed up ALL the time.

One day, they accidentally delivered me a copy of Wild Animal Baby. The other family had a baby that was only a few months younger than mine, and they had subscribed to this magazine for their son. I looked through it, wishing that I didn't have to send it back. It looked great!

I did send it back of course, but then I ended up subscribing to it myself sometime later. It was my daughter's first magazine.

So why do I find this magazine so special?

Content

This magazine has content that young children love. All kids love animals, right? Well, most of them do anyway. The content in this book will keep kids interested from about age 1 to age 3. I've taken this book to work before and read it to 3 year olds, so I know that as a group, they still like this magazine.

Every cover of Wild Animal Baby has a picture of an animal. The first four pages of this book tell a story about the animal on the cover. There are large, interesting pictures, and only a little bit of text, so young children can stay interested.

The next two pages are usually a fingerplay and a poem that you can do with your child. There is usually a bright drawing that accompanies this page.

The next two pages have a huge photograph of an animal and an activity that you can do with your child. For example, in the March 2004 issue, it asks "Can you ROAR like a lion?" and shows a picture of a roaring lion.

The next two pages is usually a poem, accompanied by things that you can ask your child to do. They usually involve counting objects on the page, tracing a path on the page, or other similar activities. When my daughter first subscribed, she couldn't do too many activities on this page.

The next two pages after that are an "I Can!" section showing a young child doing some sort of physical activity, asking if your child can do the same activity. On the opposite page, there is a photograph showing an animal doing that activity.

After that, there's usually two pages that make a comparison. The March 2004 issue has a picture on one side with a child in a heron costume, and on the opposite page your child is supposed to find the picture of the heron. In other issues your child is supposed to find the gold colored bug, or other similar activity

The last six pages of content include an illustrated story about an animal character. The same character comes back month after month for quite a while, so as you subscribe, your child will become familiar with this character.

On the very last pages are the editorial information, an activity to find "Sammy Skunk" interspersed throughout the magazine, and a few pictures for your child to play "I Spy" with and find in the magazine.

The back cover always features a letter and an illustration with one of the adorable children that have submitted their picture for hopeful use in the magazine.

Construction

What impresses me most about this magazine's suitability for young children is that this is a board book. It is printed on heavy cardstock/lightweight cardboard, so it is fairly durable and can handle mild toddler wear. It's not heavy enough to withstand the worst toddler beatings, but it is sturdy enough that I could give this magazine to my daughter to play with without having to worry about her ripping it up immediately.

I have had to repair the bindings on some of her magazines, but then again I've had to do that with some board books too. If your child is old enough to enjoy this magazine, your child is old enough to learn to start taking care of this magazine.

The book measures 6"x6", which is just the right size for your toddler to play with. There are no staples in the binding, which makes it perfectly safe for your child to be able to play with.

Subscription Info

The subscription to Wild Animal Baby costs $19.95 a year (10 issues) if you order from their web site, http://www.nwf.org. This board book is sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, the same people who make Your Big Backyard and Ranger Rick. If at some point in your subscription, you feel your child is too old for the activities in this book, you can change the remainder of your subscription to Your Big Backyard by letting the company know.

There is no advertising, so you don't have to worry about your baby starting to ask for the latest Barbie doll after reading this magazine.

Conclusion

Children love animals. They love to get their own mail. You can start their love for reading by getting them a subscription to Wild Animal Baby.