I've subscribed to several children's magazines for my 2 and a half year old son, but none were able to hold his interest for very long. Even the fabulous Sesame Street magazine, filled with pictures and activities including Elmo, Cookie Monster, and all of my son's other favorite characters didn't hold his attention for long.

Honestly, I subscribed to Wild Animal Baby because they offered free kids binoculars with each subscription. I had no idea what to expect in the magazine, other than the fact that it was geared towards toddlers. I was surprised, but impressed when we received our first issue.

It's Different
Wild Animal Baby is not your typical kids magazine. First of all, it looks more like a board book than a magazine. The pages are made from sturdy card stock. The magazine itself is the perfect size and shape for little hands. The dimensions are about 6" x 7" and the corners are nicely rounded.

I felt comfortable letting my son play with and look at Wild Animal Baby by himself. I wasn't worried that all the pages would be ripped out or torn. The pages don't bend easily which makes looking at this magazine much easier for little kids.


Inside
The pictures are a combination of actual photographs and illustrations. Again, this adds to the "board book" appearance. All the pictures are simple and appealing.

Each issue starts off with a seasonal short story. The August/September issue has a story about 2 kids at the beach and all the sea animals they see. It talks about shells and that little sea animals use shells for their homes.

The issue continues with simple games, finger plays, and sometimes songs. Several of the games include a picture of one or more animals on one page and instruct the child to find the same animal in a bigger and more detailed picture on the opposite page. My 2 and a half year old isn't a pro at the game yet, but the exercise encourages patience and attention to detail.

The magazine usually concludes with photos of an animal baby and spends several pages telling a story about how that animal lives, eats and plays.

The last page has a password you can use on the magazines web site to access instructions for a craft as well as several other activities that relate to the issue, which you can do with your child.

Advertising?
What a pleasant surprise...there are NO ads in this magazine, aside from the mailer or two to subscribe to Wild Animal Baby. I guess since there are only about 12 pages per issue, there really isn't room for ads anyway.

The subscription price for this magazine is around $17 a year and since it is published every two months, you only get 6 issues. I guess that can be considered a little pricey compared to other children's magazines out there. However, the quality of this little board book/magazine makes it a better buy for your toddler than lots of other magazines out there.



Recommended: Yes