Suburban Reviews

Kids are a fickle lot- today’s favorite shirt is tomorrow’s floor-warmer, favorite foods are discarded as quickly as they are discovered, and don’t even get me started on the toys that were begged for for months before being played with twice and relegated to the bottom of the toy box. Not many things are able to stand the test of time where these short people are concerned, which is why it is so amazing a personal favorite of mine, Highlights Magazine, is celebrating their 60th anniversary this year. 60 years! Proving you are only as old as you feel, Highlights has launched a brand-new magazine for the 2-5 year old set called High Five. I got to check out the new magazine courtesy of the Parent Bloggers Network, and I’ll say already, it has knocked my socks off.

With High Five, Highlights has done an amazing job of taking the best of their regular magazine, and bringing it down to a preschool level. Each issue contains 6-8 short stories that are just the right length for a preschooler’s notoriously short attention span. I was incredibly tickled to see instead of featuring ‘The Timbertoes’ like they do in Highlights, the company has given the Timbertoe dog his own comic series in High Five called ‘The Adventures of Spot’. He always was my favorite character ;)  Remember doing ‘Hidden Pictures’ every month? High Five carries on the tradition with ‘My First Hidden Pictures’. Similarly, each issue also carries age appropriate crafts and activities to do with your little ones. The only thing I could possibly say is missing is the Your Own Pages section which usually has drawings and pictures sent in by readers. I think inviting parents to send in pictures of their kids with crafts they made from the magazine would be an excellent way to encourage participation and reader loyalty, and young children love seeing pictures of other kids their age.

Overall, Highlights has done a truly amazing job of creating a magazine for preschoolers that looks and feels like the classic reading material so many of us grew up with. By including the best features of the older magazine in their newer venture, they create the perfect bridge for kids to transition from High Five to Highlights as they get older, and in doing so encourage us long-time readers to keep subscribing.

Check out the Parent Bloggers Network for information on the blog blast on March 7th to find out how you can win a free subscription to High Five for your own family, a $30 value!  

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Having been a nanny to a young boy and then having a couple of my own, I am no stranger to Bob the Builder. With all the trucks and tools and construction going on in each episode, its probably the only preschool-age show on tv that is aimed mostly towards boys. When I was offered an advance copy of Bob the Builder On Site- Roads and Bridges from the Parent Bloggers Network, my two little guys were over the moon excited.

Right up front I have to say this DVD took some getting used to, because it is NOTHING like the tv series. Oh, Bob, Dizzy and Rolley are there, but everyone else seems to be missing in action. Where is Pilchard? Where is Spud? And where oh where is his are-they-or-aren’t-they partner Wendy? Not once is her voice heard in this movie, quite odd since she is a regular on the tv show. While I’m sure plenty of little girls would still watch it without her, it is nice to have a relateable female character, something this episode lacked. On the other hand, the live action mixed with the usual animation proved to be a novelty that kept both boys watching the entire hour.

The best part of this movie was by far the scenes that showed the real trucks. We have a couple of movies about trains and trucks, but this was the first I’ve seen that tells what they are and how they worked, rather than just saying what they do and moving on. Whether due to the content itself, or being stuck inside with 2 sick boys, I was strangely fascinated by the explanation on when you use a large cement mixer and when to use a small one. Who knew they even came in different sizes?

Despite missing the regular supporting characters, the video was a hit here all the way around, and one I’m sure will be getting plenty of play time with my two wanna-be builders