Okay, so about a year ago, Baby Girl got a free issue of Babybug magazine in one of her subscription boxes. I thought it was a cute idea for a toddler magazine. It had a story with a lesson, nursery rhymes, songs, and other things in it, and it had semi-sturdy pages that allowed her to read it multiple times before it was shredded to pieces. As a result, I looked up the magazine, but thought it was a little pricy. Luckily for me, I came across a subscription deal for it on Zulily, and snatched it up. The first couple of issues were decent, but then my husband and I began to get sick of them. I refrained from reviewing them negatively right away, but now that our subscription is up, I figured I’d write a quick review and tell the public why I will not be renewing our subscription.
So, this magazine is not all bad, and might actually be great for you. Some of the positives:
Unlike any other magazine out there, this magazine is specifically targeted to kids as young as six months old (Its listed age range is six months to three years). As such, they do a really good job. They mix and match original poems with the classics that we all remember, and there are lots of great teachable moments inside. Everything from sharing, to counting, to different types of vegetables might be covered in a single issue. The pages, as I previously mentioned, are made of a sturdy cardstock that doesn’t tear super easy, and is reasonably resistant to drool. The illustrations for the most part are beautiful and diverse (our February issue had a beautiful set of illustrations that I probably would have considered beautiful as prints). Baby Girl loved it. That should be the most important part, and it was for the first few months, but then it wasn’t anymore. I’ll tell you why below. She still loves all of the issues that still survive.
Now, the not so good parts.
Six months to three years is a huge age range to cover, and little kids brains are growing so much! It’s quite the responsibility to take on! My main issues may seem very minor to some. The first is that while the recurring feature “Kim and Carrots” seems endearing at first, and I understand its teaching potential in most cases, it is annoying. In the same way that the TV show Caillou is annoying. I dislike it. I didn’t mind it too much at first, but for every issue to have this only tolerable feature is too much. Also, in every issue there is a dud poem. One poem or song in every issue is just dumb, and I dread reading it. The last thing, and the reason that I will not be renewing Baby Girl’s subscription is that there are no actual stories in these magazines. Baby Girl is starting to develop a real attention span, and she loves to sit and listen to “stories” all the way through. Not only do the rhymes in these magazines get boring and repetitive for my husband and I to read over and over again, but it just feels like she’s growing out of the format…and she’s not even two yet!
So, all of that said, Baby Girl really did love her subscription while we had it, and continues to enjoy the issues that have held up. My husband believes that if you’re the type of parent who allows books on the potty while potty training, these would be great for that, since you aren’t worried about them ruining them. If the subscription was less expensive, I might have considered renewing regardless of the negatives, but I just can’t justify the price. I am seriously considering a Ladybug subscription for her next year though, and that is published by the same company.
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Happiness is Now 