A Magazine Just For Kids

After years of doing home daycare, I currently am doing before and after school care. That means that my kids are older now, and it is becoming more of a challenge to purchase items they will like. It seems that all they want to do is play Game Boy! I limit that to 30 minutes a day (I have a total of nine kids in care, so they all have to take turns!).

Since all of the kids really enjoy watching Animal Planet, and the one thing they all have in common is their love for animals, I thought that I would give Zoobooks a try. They won the Parent's Choice Award from the Parent's Choice Foundation, so I figured my money would be well spent.

What The Magazine Offers

Each month I get a new issue, containing:

* Vibrant, full color illustrations
* Educational diagrams
* Captivating photographs
* Easy to read animal facts
* No advertising

Each magazine I have received so far has been 17 pages long. The pages are made of a nice thick glossy paper, and the pictures are fabulous. The first issue I received was about Polar Bears. There are short stories throughout the magazine that teach about the bears physical features, diet, agility, size, hunting habits and raising their young.

Aside from many different pictures of the Polar Bear, there are also maps to show youngsters where these bears live. It talks about their migration patterns, how they hunt, and the difficulty they encounter when their ice flows melt away.

I actually learned a lot about Polar Bears while reading this magazine! It was really fun for me as well as for the kids. Did you know that a Polar Bears fur is not really white? It's not. It's skin is black and the fur is colorless. The hairs are hollow, and when sunlight bounces off the hair it makes it appear white!

There are anatomical illustrations of the bears paw, skull, muscle structure, and skeleton.

In the center of the magazine are fun activities for kids to do, such as coloring, poems, puzzles, and a secret code game. These activities help foster skills for reading and math, as well as critical and creative thinking.

The last article is about humans and the environment. Over hunting of these animals is discussed, as well as their fate due to global warming. There is an address for the World Wildlife Fund for donations to help protect the Polar Bear.

The second magazine we received was about the Deer Family. Each month Zoobooks focus's on a different animal, and all of the issues are very interesting, even for adults! The first issue also came with a poster and a large set of animal stickers.

Zoobooks is an ducational children's magazine, aimed at kids aged 5 to 12! I have found that my kindergarden - 5th grade kids all love them. The short articles are written so that beginning readers as well as mid level readers can read and understand them. It is published in a very kid-friendly format that will help children appreciate animals, nature, and their environment.

There are a total of 59 issues that children can collect and read over and over again. The issues focus on zoo animals, wild animals, mammals, reptiles, insects and birds.

From The Zoobooks Website

Words and pictures work together to form concepts that children can quickly grasp.

Even nonreaders can learn from Zoobooks captivating illustrations.

The worlds foremost animal authorities contribute to each issue of Zoobooks.

Final Thoughts

Even for children who cannot read, they can learn lessons simply by letting the pictures tell the story. I am very impressed with this magazine, and if your child likes animals I highly recommend it!

I hope you have enjoyed my review!