Nothing tickles my children quite like mail with their name on it. And if that mail happens to contain reading material, they are over the moon. You can imagine how delighted they were when we recently received Bayard Box Magazines, with different publications for all three age ranges in our household.
Bayard Box Magazines are much more than a magazine. They are more akin to high-quality soft-cover books. With high-quality glossy covers, they contain stories and activities from a variety of contributors, allowing children to have exposure to a variety of styles in writing and illustration. Each publication contains a book-length story as well as different animal themes and science explorations.
Story Box is geared toward 3 to 6-year-olds. Each 52-page issue begins with a 25-page story that is richly illustrated. The "Wonder with WhizKid" sections discuss ideas such as why we get bruises, why trees lose their leaves, or why the moon seems to follow us when we drive in the car. The "Animal World" sections introduce a new animal with each issue, including wolves, stags, and owls. Story
Box also contains comic strips that continue with each issue, activities and games, rhymes, and a wordless comic strip that my little ones love: "Polo." Story
Box also has a cd with an audio reading of the stories within the magazine.
Adventure Box is 68 pages long and is geared toward 6 to 9-year-olds. Its story section is written with the beginning reader in mind. Each issue's story is a 44-page chapter story. Adventure
Box contains activities, comic strips, and science topics such as weather, animals, and the world around us.
Discovery Box is 60 pages long and is written with 9 to 12-year-olds in mind. It contains a plethora of activities and explorations on history, sports, science, geography, and more. Each issue also includes a large foldout to explore.
The different publications are age appropriate, but each of my children loved all of them, regardless of the age range intended.
If you live in the U.S., the cost is steep at ?72 EUR, which is the equivalent of around $104.85 per year's subscription. However, the cost for UK residents comes in at £39.00 and would be worth the investment. A year's subscription includes 10 issues of each publication. My family has really enjoyed these, so hopefully a more affordable solution will be available soon.
Product review by Jennifer Harrison, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, January 2010
|
