Highlights High Five

Edit 7/2016 Half a year later the magazine came with an offer for a free book and a free tote disguised as a scratch off game. Everyone would win. The catch is that the "free" item would be shipped with a book subscription, which cost money. So read the fine print as I underlined in the image and remember there's no free lunch. ------------------------------------- At first, it puzzled me that there's a magazine for kids who haven't learned how to read. But once I received the magazine, I got the answer. Most of the contents are games with pictures and not too many words. For example there's a game where the kid searches for all the weird things in a picture that seem out of place, such as a giant mouse driving a car. Another example is a cut-out memory game that the whole family can play together. It's amazing that kids didn't need much instructions. They automatically figured out how to play the games. There are some short stories that parents can read for the kids, and also some easy readings for kids who barely learned how to read. Whenever this magazine arrived at the mailbox, the kids celebrated with joy and even put down the iPad to read it. Even the older kid (9 year old) would fight the younger one over who gets to read it first.

I'm giving this five stars for the quality of the magazine, although it took me a while to accept paying $35 for a subscription. The content is geared perfectly for my 5 year old daughter. She gets excited every time a new issue arrives and reads it cover to cover within a couple of days. Each issue follows a standard recipe of readings, puzzles and activities. They even have a Spanglish story each month that introduces a few key words in Spanish. After my older daughter is done, it gets handed down to the two year old. I'm not sure if she only likes it because she's copying her sister, but she seems to enjoy all of the pictures and loves writing all over it. There are not a bunch of annoying ads, although they did call me twice to try to up-sell me some puzzle magazine (so be careful which number you give them). Although the internet has made me think that all content can be free, my children's education is one area in which I'm willing to pay up.

I subscribed for my preschooler son (4 year old) and he loves it. First it's fun to get "mail" when you're four, but the content is really nice. Bright illustrations, gentle stories, simple games, and hidden pictures. All content, no ads!!! Our son is a bit quiet, but he was eager to try a lot of the activities they suggest. I liked it so much I ordered it for a friend's daughter.

My daughter has sent me photos of my granddaughters reading their Highlights magazines. When the mail comes with their recent issue(s) all other activity ceases and they head to the reading area and will not stop until they have finished. The older one refuses to part with any of her treasured issues because it might have something she's saving for later. The younger one - who gets this particular series - loves to do the puzzles and hidden pictures. I have a feeling my youngest granddaughter (going on 3) will enjoy these just as much. She stands around watching her sisters read and can't wait to do the same.

My 5 year old daughter gets so excited when this magazine arrives for her. She wants to and does read the newly arrived issue from front to back. She is so enthusiatic about this magazine & likes that it is all hers! Mom loves it too. It really promotes independent reading although I still help her with some parts. She loves when I read the spanish story every month, she loves my spanish pronuciation, she says Again, Again. I love that they have poetry and short stories and even a recipe each month. My daughter always wants to make the recipe and she can follow it exactly with the help of the pictures. I can't wait for next months issue to arrive myself!

My 4 year old loves getting these in the mail each month. His favorite parts are the stories and the "That's Silly!" page (you must find the silly things in the picture). I only gave it 4 stars because I think the short stories are a little weak in content. My son, however, really enjoys them. I do like that one of the stories has some spanish vocabulary though.

I bought this as a gift for a friend's daughter and she loves this magazine so much! She's so excited when it arrives in the mail every month, and it's just the gift that keeps on giving. I recently renewed the magazine through amazon and there was no interruption in the subscription, so I'm very pleased with this purchase.

My boys are 3 and 5 and we started this subscription about 18 months ago so by now they are familiar with it and they just love it. It has great stories, fun pictures, poems, recipes, recurring characters, silly pictures, and easy to follow stories. I admit that I don't think the bilingual stories are necessary (from what I have read, the bilingual stuff only works if they hear someone speaking that language on a regular basis and use it frequently) for teaching kids how to speak Spanish but I guess if that's your thing, then bonus.