My son gets his own magazine each month

For my sons second birthday this last January, his Great-Aunt gave him a couple of wonderful books along with a years subscription to Wild Animal Baby. I had never heard of this magazine and to be honest, my first thought was, "A magazine for a 2 year old? That's nuts!" Oh how wrong I was! You see, my limited mind was in such a state that I simply couldn't imagine that a magazine, good for a 2 year old, could even exist.

Still, I waited for it to arrive. The day my son's first issue got here, I was so excited! It was simply darling! It was a type of card board book, and on the cover was a drawing of a sweet baby animal.

About Wild Animal Baby

Wild Animal Baby is published by the National Wildlife Federation. An issue comes out every month or so; each issue is very durable, safe and non-toxic - like I said, it's very much like a card board book. There is no advertising in Wild Animal Baby.

What's in Wild Animal Baby?

There are monthly features in Wild Animal Baby, just like there are in the magazines I read. Here's what they are:

Out and About with Duffy - Duffy is a darling white doggie. This part is usually two, two page spreads which tell a story about Duffy and his human family. It goes along with whatever is going on that month. (i.e. for the month of July, Duffy saw fire works.)

Zudzee's Zoo - Zudzee is an elephant who seems to live in her bath tub, or at least she's always in the tub (it's the same picture each month). For this two page spread Zudzee will have an animal shape up on the bath tiles and on the page just across from this, there will be four animals. The child is to pick which animal is the same as Zudzee's.

What do you say? - Each month there's a two page spread with real photos of an animal along with their name and the sound that they make. The child is to imitate the sound that the animal makes. This is always a very fun part for my son!

I can! - in this two page spread we see a child on one side doing something (such as showing her teeth) and on the page next to it we see an animal doing the same (such as a crocodile showing his teeth). Then the child reading the magazine is to do the same.

Aminal Opposites - just what the same says. On one page we'll see... say something HARD (a turtle) and on the next page we'll see something SOFT (a rabbit). This is a great way for children to learn about opposites.

Featured Animal of the Month - then comes the five pages of our monthly featured animal, this is the animal that is on the cover. For the month of July it's the dolphin (my favorite!). Here there are amazing photos of the baby animal (it's always a baby animal, usually with its mommy), as well as a little story to go with them.

Sammy Skunk - a darling little skunk in red overalls. You're to find Sammy who 'hides' in four different places in each issue.

Other things - in addition to the above mentioned features there are two other two page spreads which differ each month. It may be colorful pictures with a simple poem or a little game for children - such as how to make a bee hive shape with your hands, or a very short story.

Their web site

Wild Animal Baby has a web site (http://www.nwf.org/wildanimalbaby/index.html) at which there are activities each month, just for toddlers. And if you're a subscriber to Wild Animal Baby you'll get a password each month at the back of the magazine so you can enter the subscribers only section. Here there are book reviews, as well as more fun activities for your child to do with you.

What my son and I think

We both love Wild Animal Baby! It's like getting a new animal book in the mail each month. My son loves it when he gets his magazine. *lol* I love it because it's fun, colorful, durable and very educational for my son. Wild Animal Baby helps him to learn about animals and wildlife at his current level. And the photos are gorgeous!

I very highly recommend Wild Animal Baby to anyone with a child between the ages of 12 months and 3 years. It is perfect for them and makes a wonderful gift!