I think Zoobooks is onto something. I know that my children love these magazines! They never grow tired of them. I have three sons who are all very interested in science and art (more than any other subjects!) and Zoobooks magazines lend themselves greatly in a combination study to incorporate both. As far as a science class, you would only supplement the magazine, of course. We prefer to use a good, creation science program(s) with our children, and we do. However, these are great because each magazine is dedicated to one particular class, group, or specific type of animal. They even have one on endangered species (so you get a whole plethora of animals to learn about).

When I saw my first Zoobook several years ago (I think I picked it up at a yard sale), I thought, "This is perfect. My sons can sit and listen to me read this aloud and it will generate some good discussion time." Boy did it! It happened to be on elephants. I myself learned - from that ONE Zoobook - more about elephants than I was ever taught in school! Asian elephants vs. African elephants, their habitats, the fact that they walk on their toes, their interesting tusks, how they swim, the appetite of an elephant, what their skeletons look like - all kinds of neat facts. My son Luke, who was about five or six at the time, was so impressed that he talked about it for days after. He let people know that African elephants have the large ears whereas the Asian elephants have the smaller ones. In fact, from that point on, whenever we have seen an elephant in a video or at the zoo, etc., the first thing we talk about is, "Hey! Look at his ears! He must be an African elephant!" If you want to learn (and memorize!) facts about animals, Zoobooks is perfect!

For art - even better! If your child loves to draw, sculpt, and paint, Zoobooks are a great resource. Animals are shown in every which position.

I must caution readers that Zoobooks (Wildlife Education, Ltd) is a secular publisher, and Christian parents may object to their presentation of evolutionary theory in certain topics. Some parents, like my husband and myself, use this as an opportunity to discuss evolutionary ideas and contrast them with the Biblical creation account. We definitely recommend them. Anything evolutionary within a few of the magazines is minor (they are not out to teach lessons in evolution). The main aspect of each magazine is a gazillion facts about that particular (sometimes peculiar!) animal and lots of colorful graphics for your child to study and copy in his artwork. Zoobooks - great name. Hmmm - I feel like I live in a zoo. My little natives are often restless and this is perfect for them!

Another thing I love about Zoobooks - when I called the company to see if they'd like to form a relationship with us, they had me on hold for a short time while they searched down the main guy I should talk to. While on hold, they did not have sappy music for me to listen to. Instead, they had a GREAT recording featuring all kinds of animal facts. I'll never forget - even from that ONE "hold time" with the company several months ago, I remember learning that the REASON flamingos are PINK is because of the SHRIMP they eat! Did you know that? To me, that is fascinating. My kids love learning facts like that! The company seems very dedicated to education, even when they have you on hold!

I passed a couple of the magazines on to Coie Igarashi, one of our reviewers on staff (age 13) to get a young teen's perspective on Zoobooks. There is a little of what she had to say, below. Meanwhile, I as the publisher will sign off for now by saying, "Go get a subscription! Your kids will be jazzed that you did!"
-- Product Review by: Gena Suarez, Publisher, The Old Schoolhouseâ„¢ Magazine

Zoobooks is a very enjoyable magazine for kids of all ages. I had read issues of Zoobooks when I was about eight years old and was not able to put them down. That was five years ago, and I still enjoy them! Each issue features different types of animals and contains amazing facts and great pictures.

Something I thought wonderful was how all Zoobooks Magazines include pictures of the featured animals' bone and muscle frames. This is great for those who like to draw detailed pictures. They also include information on how the animals find and eat their food, weight and size averages, and lots more! Zoobooks Magazines are awesome!

Zoobooks can bring extinct animals back to life with the bright and colorful pictures on every page. They also have activity pages with crossword puzzles and true and false questions, lending to possible unit studies.

In some of the issues, such as the one about dinosaurs, the text is based on an evolutional theory viewpoint. This is fine if you are learning to debate on the subject of creation, because you will be exposed to a commonly held theory out there and can contrast it to the truth of creation. This makes for a great study!

Zoobooks are wonderful, enjoyable magazines. You are sure to learn something new and amazing every time you open one up!



-- Product Review by: Coie Igarashi, age 13, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine