Roar with pleasure, hiss with delight…Zoobooks are OUT OF SIGHT!

My son, like any other child, thinks it’s super cool to get mail. When we walk down to the mailbox and check the mail, his first question is “Anything for me?”. If there’s an interesting piece of junk mail I used to be able to con him into thinking it was his, but now that he can read, he isn’t always so willing to take on Mom and Dad’s leftovers.

Zoobooks, on the other hand, belong exclusively to him. We were introduced to them through a school program where you had to fill out several cards (I think there were 10) with the names and addresses of family and friends to solicit magazine subscriptions from. The school gets credit toward computer equipment for the number of cards filled out, not the number of subscriptions sold, so it’s a pretty worthwhile exercise. I just make sure that I contacted my family and friends on the list and told them they were not obligated to buy anything!

At any rate, Grandma decided to order the Zoobooks magazine for my son from the program. I was a little skeptical, having seen a number of low-quality children’s magazines before, but the first issue changed my mind completely!

Zoobooks come once a month, and each month the magazine highlights a different animal (or other non-human being…there are bugs, reptiles, and other creatures that I wouldn’t classify as animals!). One month, the feature may be cute and cuddly koalas, and the next month, a creepy looking iguana stares at you from the cover. The cover photographs, by the way, are excellent. A big, colorful, full cover picture that catches your attention immediately. You just can’t miss a Zoobook in your mailbox!

The magazine is short; only 24 pages, but it’s packed full of interesting facts, pictures, and drawings of the feature creature. The regular article my son loves is the one where drawings depict the muscular and skeletal structure. In a factual manner, the magazine explores the social habits, feeding style, lifecycle (which may include some breeding information, but it’s matter of fact and nothing you shouldn’t be teaching your little squirt anyway!), habitat, and more really cool details.

In addition to the high quality put into these magazines, and the plethora of information, I like the fact that they are lasting in nature. I can toss a couple in a book bag, take them to church or on a long car trip, and my son will look at them with interest, even if he’s looked at them a hundred times before. He doesn’t get tired of them, and they are a valuable addition to his book collection!

There are no advertisements in Zoobooks, and for that reason, they may be a little more expensive (and hard to find) than other children’s magazines. However, I just checked out their web site (www.zoobooks.com) and you can order subscriptions online via a secure server. Cost per magazine for a three-year subscription is $47.85 for 36 issues (approximately $1.33 per magazine).

Zoobooks are suitable for children of preschool age and up. The writing level may be a little difficult for a younger child to read on their own, but Mom or Dad (or big sis or brother) can read the text to them and not be bored. Illustrations and photographs are very high quality, and any child will enjoy looking at them, even if they can’t read the text!