Babybug is a BIG HIT!
When Parent Bloggers Network offered us some back issues of BabyBug and a year subscription to the magazine for the smallest readers, I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe because of that absolute lack of expectation I was simply astounded. However, I think even if you were familiar with the rest of the work done by this magazine’s company, you would be pleased with what Babybug is offering our kids (ages 6 months to 3 years).
When I think of a magazine, I think of something that rips easily. You know, flimsy paper pages. In fact, LittleBrother recently chewed on one of my magazines and it disintegrated in his mouth. (Not one of my finer parenting moments, true.) That’s not what Babybug is at all! The pages are hard, like those plastic/wax books from back in the day, and basically impossible to rip. (I tried!) LittleBrother was able to chew on them without ingesting extra, uhm, fiber. Also of note: if you spill something on them, like say, oh, your coffee? Well, it just wipes right off. Nothing ruined. Thank goodness.
The magazine is also small and square, not big and rectangular. LittleBrother and BigBrother both were able to handle these magazine with ease.
Now, of course, the content is where its at, let me tell you. Each volume is filled with six or more little stories and poems. Often we are treated to a story of Kim and her rabbit Carrots. This running theme is something that BigBrother really enjoyed. Seeing the same people from magazine to magazine helped him associate the volumes together. Plus, since other things are also included, it never gets boring.
But can I go back to the poetry? It’s not deep, mind you. We’re not introducing these kids to William Carlos Williams. Little rhymes and short poems about rocking horses are featured in the magazine. And that’s fine by me. I have this dream that my boys will be poetry nerds like me. (Or maybe I should dream that they aren’t poetry nerds like me. Hmm.) At any rate, introducing them to poetry at this age is just a great idea.
Furthermore, can I tell you how much I love the diversity depicted on these little pages? That’s important to our family as we fall into a unique category. It’s hard to find books and magazines which depict a wide array of children and families instead of all one color or formation of a family. This was the first thing I noticed, as did FireDad.
By far, the best thing about Babybug is that it comes “wrapped” in a thicker paper cover with information about that particular issue. It gives tips for helping your child(ren) explore each issue as well as some great ideas for things to do with your kiddos. An example? In April it told parents to plant a tree with their children on Arbor Day. It’s just nice that a kids magazine is acknowledging that the parents need to read with their children and continue to educate themselves in the process. Very awesome.
I cannot fully explain how much we love this magazine. In fact, I plan on continuing our subscription until both boys are ready for Ladybug, which is the “next step up” for kids ages 3-6. One more great thing is that they offer a flexible 5 year subscription plan. You lock in at the low price of $25.00/year and, as your child grows into the next age group, you simply switch their subscription to the next magazine at no extra cost. Now that’s customer service. I know our family won’t be disappointed. We already love Babybug and can’t wait to continue reading and learning together.
Thanks for the review. I have received info on these magazines in the mail and even saved the info for possibly buying them but I did not know anyone who had subscribed in the past. I may have to get that for the my daughter for the next occasion.
[...] used to receive Babybug (but with the economy being what it is, we did not renew our subscription). We have also looked at [...]