Wild Animal Baby is a combination Highlights and Ranger Rick for babies and toddlers. Instead of a glossy, easy-to-tear magazine format, it’s in a thin board book-type format with durable pages that can withstand light chew and wear. (If you don’t catch your baby gnawing on it within seconds, though, you can lose a page corner; trust me.)

Published by the National Wildlife Federation, Animal Baby is filled with stories about—you guessed it—animals. The cover of each issue is a cartoon image of the featured animal inside—a giraffe, for example, or a sea otter—and is always a baby version of the creature.

The first few pages of each issue are about the cover animal and his mama, including physical descriptions, fun facts, eating habits, sleeping patterns, and fun activities that the animal might do. These are all particular items of interest with young crowds. Your child could have lots of fun comparing the life of a koala to his own life.

There are also animal matching games, identification activities, and an alphabet and counting lesson featuring another animal (“C is for caribou. Count the caribou.”). All of these do not necessarily include the primary featured animal, giving your child a wide glimpse into wildlife. There are also finger play activities and songs to help build an interactive element that both you and your child will enjoy, literally bringing the nature described to life.

The “I Can!” section features a child performing an activity an animal can do—such as jump or swim. This is another way the series helps children to identify with animals as fellow living creatures as well as to understand animal activities. Color lessons are also included, as well as “I Spy” games that will remind you of the hidden pictures from Highlights when you were a child. That said, these hidden pictures are much easier to identify for younger children, priming them to find harder objects in the future.

Each book ends with a short story about children and animal encounters. Showing the kids alongside the animals in their natural habitat helps provide insights into how humans and animals can peacefully coexist and respect one another. A baby skunk in overalls is also featured on random pages in each book, presenting another hidden picture for your child to find.

Wild Animal Baby is fun to read, easy to implement into any program or activity and well worth the buy. It’s also great for a gift to a relative or classroom.