Magazines for Toddlers

August 3, 2009 11:27 PM

I wanna get my two year old niece a magazine subscription.

But she's not so much into the New Yorker yet, so do you have any suggestions? I've seen this, but I'm wondering if there's one in particular that you recommend.

Deets: Two year old girl, Canada, Bilingual-ish (English/French) might be cool.

Also, feel free to tell me that this is a dumb idea!

posted by stray to Shopping (16 answers total)

My son really liked Babybug at that age, and now (at age 4) he'll still look at old copies that we saved -- each issue has several little poems and very short stories, with varied illustration styles. (Each issue starts with a little story about a child named Kim, who's of ambiguous race AND gender so everybody can identify with her/him, and Kim's stuffed bunny Carrots.) And the pages are glossy, thick, and hard to rip. It's very sweet in a sort of timeless way.

(We moved up to Ladybug when he was three, but he didn't start really appreciating that until he was about three and a half.)
posted by lisa g at 11:54 PM on August 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

I work in a science museum that has three subscriptions to Wild Animal Baby- kids looooooove them.
posted by aint broke at 11:57 PM on August 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

My toddlers both like Baby Bug and Wild Animal Baby
posted by gnat at 12:01 AM on August 4, 2009

+1 to Wild Animal Baby.
posted by plinth at 2:55 AM on August 4, 2009

I'm not sure they had Zoobies/Zootles yet when I was two, so my grandparents went ahead and got me a subscription to Zoobooks. My parents read them to me until I got impatient and started reading them myself within the year. I sort-of-jokingly credit them with helping me get past private school pre-kindergarten admission testing at age three as, when asked to explain how dogs and cats were similar, I answered, "They're both mammals." I'll be getting my nephew his subscription this Christmas, shortly after he turns two.
posted by notquitemaryann at 3:20 AM on August 4, 2009 [3 favorites]

This is really an awesome idea! Kids love mail.

Yet another vote for Wild Animal Baby. My daughter loved it when she was that age and would pretty much go ballistic when her new issue showed up. They're only about 10 or 15 pages long, which is a good size for a kid that age. We would read them over and over until they were quite ratty.

They have a limited age appeal, maybe a couple years, but it's also pretty easy to upgrade to My Big Backyard or Ranger Rick or just cancel out of them if the kid outgrows them.
posted by howrobotsaremade at 5:17 AM on August 4, 2009

The people behind Owl magazine also produce Chirp. It's a good mix of stories, activities, and educational articles, and is Canadian if that's important to you.

It is part of the Rogers empire, so like everything else they own, it's overpriced by itself (C$32/10 issues C$48/20) but if you have any other of their products, or subscribe via airmiles.ca, you can get it for much less.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 6:20 AM on August 4, 2009

Another vote for Wild Animal Baby through Ranger Rick. My kid is 13 and still refuses to part with any of hers.

When she was younger (maybe older than two, but still not yet reading), she loved looking at the pictures in National Geographic, and would spend long, mercifully quiet periods poring over each issue.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:42 AM on August 4, 2009

My daughter has been on the Babybug/Ladybug/Spider track since she was 2 (now 8); she will still drop an hour going through her archive. The writing is solid, the illustrations excellent and various. It's fun to get mail.
posted by defpotec at 6:48 AM on August 4, 2009

High 5 (the younger version of Highlights) rocks my 3-year-old's world!
posted by mdiskin at 7:08 AM on August 4, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was a big fan of Highlights when I was young, so I second mdiskin's suggestion of High 5 magazine.
posted by alligatorman at 7:18 AM on August 4, 2009

Chiming in on the Babybug/Ladybug/Spider track. Well-done and agenda-free.
posted by rikschell at 8:04 AM on August 4, 2009

In a few years, Highlights. It was the only thing that made going to the dentist at all bearable.
posted by theora55 at 9:43 AM on August 4, 2009

This is out of the the target age range of the OP, but I feel compelled to advise folks to stay the heck away from National Geographic Kids (nee World magazine). It is completely saturated with advertising; and worse, with product placement in the guise of articles.

It is a terrible publication that shames the National Geographic organization. Stay away!
posted by CaseyB at 10:32 AM on August 4, 2009

I read (look at) my gardening mags all the time with my son. He digs it. Pun intended.
posted by ducktape at 11:00 AM on August 4, 2009

I was also a devotee of Babybug/Ladybug/Spider, as well as Cricket and Cicada, before I decided I was too old. The latter two are especially splendid, and IMO are the closest thing nine-year-olds have to the New Yorker (assuming they aren't, in fact, reading the New Yorker).
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 11:40 AM on August 4, 2009