Babybug Magazine

Does your child get any magazines?  B has been getting Babybug Magazine since he was 4 or 5 months old.  I had used it in my work as an early childhood teacher for years and I was so excited to get it at home for my own little one.

 Now our whole family loves it!  It is such a sweet little magazine.  It comes 9 times per year, and is about the size of a board book on thick, heavy pages.  It is so perfect for little hands -- even the rounded corners protect the youngest readers.  Each issue contains a serial fiction article about a little toddler (Kim) and her stuffed bunny (Carrots).  There is also always a short non-fiction article with photographs.  This section is B's favorite lately!  His February 2014 issue has an article about bears that he wants to read again and again.  The magazine also contains various Mother Goose rhymes, songs, and action rhymes with lovely illustrations.  Subscribers can access the website to play some of the songs from each issue.

Besides being a lot of fun, the magazine can be a great resource for parents and teachers.  Parents will enjoy some of the "tips" at the end of the magazine that suggest activities that correspond to the theme of each issue.  Teachers will find this to be a great way to learn new poems to share with their class at Circle Time!

What magazines does your child read?  We are curious about the National Geographic magazine for little kids, since B seems to like the non-fiction articles in his Babybug so much.

How do you store and display books at your house?

This photo (courtesy of BAF Photography) showcases one of our favorite parts of B's nursery -- his bookshelf.  We kind of fell into this bookshelf by accident.  It's the kind of shelf you might find in a preschool classroom, and yes, it was in my classroom a few years ago!  But it just didn't fit the space.  And so, with the very generous permission of my boss, it made its way to our home.

I have to confess that I never loved this bookshelf in my classroom.  I found that the kids were constantly knocking books down and I was constantly putting them away.  But a nursery with one little baby is much different than a room full of rambunctious four year old children!

I really feel that having books this front and center in B's room has encouraged his interest in reading.  He can easily take books out on his own, and he is even beginning to put them away now.  He is able to see them all and to choose what he wants to read (independently or with a parent).  I like the bookshelf much better now!  I will say that we are (obviously) big book collectors, and we can't keep all of B's books on this shelf.  So it is lucky that we have some overflow storage areas.

How about you?  Where do you keep books in your home?