[Review] Bayard Presse’s Box Collection books for Kids

“Why is the sky blue?”

“Where do babies come from?”

“Do animals get married?” 

“Why aren’t there dinosaurs anymore?” 

A quick Google Search should reveal some of the innocuous, yet pointed questions a kid could ask their parents — most of them can be brushed off with a white lie. 

But eventually, hard truths slip their way through the cracks and there’s no escaping hard-hitting conundrums like, “Pa, can we visit ah ma in heaven tomorrow? I miss her so much.” 

It isn’t so much about shielding them from the truth, but rather, children’s limited understanding of the real world that pose a hurdle. As a result, parents skirt around difficult topics such as loss and death to avoid tantrums and spare their feelings.

However, there are proponents that think that children should be exposed to crucial life issues at a young age to prepare them for what’s coming in real life, while also aiding in personality development and mental growth through leisure reading. 

Bayard Presse, one of the largest publishers of educational children’s magazines, is one such advocate which aims to help young kids discover the world through specially curated stories, and have been doing so for the past 150 years.

How?

By imbuing real topics that help children comprehend complex human emotions such as grief, loss, suspense, sadness, anger and jealousy, in their wide range of magazines. 

The publication’s Box Collection, for instance, includes monthly issues of StoryBox (ages 3-8), AdventureBox (ages 6-10), AdventureBox Max! (ages 9-14) and DiscoveryBox (ages 7-14).

Children can expect to be greeted with engaging and light-hearted materials that not only come in bite-sized portions, but also invites them to reflect on their values and broaden their world views.  

Asher and I went through a selection of their magazines from StoryBox, AdventureBox, AdventureBox Max! and DiscoveryBox to discover the joy of reading with Bayard Presse.

They were fun and engaging to read, with a mix of fun facts, comics, quizzes and other engagement activities to make reading more interactive and inquisitive.

The AdventureBox magazine is well-loved by children aged 6 to 10. To cultivate children who are more accepting of others, the magazines would introduce lesser-known conditions such as dyspraxia (a disorder that affects movement and coordination) and dysgraphia (a condition that impairs writing ability and fine motor skills).

Every year, Bayard magazines get recognised and awarded by Parents’ Choice Foundation  for the quality of its content. To meet the demands of its 5 million subscribers from 5 continents, Bayard continues to consult specialists in various fields, including child psychiatrists, scientists, historians, botanists, palaeontologists and doctors — a commitment to make difficult subjects understandable for children. 

More details on the subscription for the Box Collection is available via their official website, with a one-issue sample available for just S$2 for new subscribers.