A perfect read

My first real job out of college, I worked at an educational publishing company. My division produced a CD-ROM full of reprinted articles and other information for children in elementary and middle school. We cataloged everything by subject and offered educators a guide along with the CD. It was a popular product with libraries and schools across the country. I could go into detail about my job and prove just how big a nerd I am, but how fun would that be?

One of the best parts about this job was that we subscribed to almost every single children’s magazine that was published. There was a large closet that served as our library, and we stored several years’ worth of all these magazines. I tell you, I was an expert on children's magazines.

Basically, it was the perfect job for someone who liked to read. A lot. Like, all day. But at a child’s reading level.

One of our staff’s favorites was the Cricket family of magazines. Cricket magazine is the flagship magazine of Carus Publishing Company. It publishes several magazines for kids, from pre-readers on into high school. For older students, there are magazines on specific subjects like archeology and American history. Everything is well-written and is produced with wonderful art.

I am not kidding when I say our staff fought over who was in charge of reading the Cricket magazines for content. (I read Ladybug, for three- to six-year-olds, and Spider, for six- to nine-year-olds.) I don’t remember if we had permission to reproduce the articles, but even if we didn’t, we couldn’t let that stop our company from funding our subscriptions! Er, I mean, our division’s subscriptions.

Now I have a kiddo of my own. Through the Parent Bloggers Network, the Cricket folks generously gave us a subscription to Babybug (for children up to age three). It's the perfect magazine for someone named Fly! He loves looking at the illustrations, which feature children his own age. Babybug’s stories and rhymes are about subjects Fly can relate to -- or he will in a few years. The current issue includes stories about a child moving from a crib to a bed, and a boy looking around his home for his teddy bear. The words are in large print, making them easier for him to look at. Each issue always has a new story about Kim and Carrots, a stuffed rabbit, as well as poems and simple tales.

Babybug is also the perfect size for little hands to hold. The pages are thick and don’t tear easily. (Fly hasn’t torn one yet!) So it’s really like getting a fun new book for Fly several times a year.

To make Babybug (and all the other Cricket magazines) even better, there are no ads!

Probably almost every parent wants their children to have a love of learning and reading, and I think it has to start young. Providing Fly with eye-catching, age-appropriate books and magazines -- and reading to him -- will help him want to turn to books to learn and to have fun. And if he reads so much that he wants to subscribe to every single children’s magazine there is, I’ll just have to clear out a closet.