We are back from our travels but our adventures are far from being over for Emma.
In June, we were kindly offered the opportunity to review the Storytime children’s magazine and were sent several printed issues which we took with us to Greece.
I did not know if Emma would take to them since she has never shown a great interest in stories and myths before but I was so wrong!
The magazine offers a compact yet amazingly varied array of popular fairy and around the world tales, ancient myths and legends and fables along with short poems and rhymes and activities related to the magazine’s content.
If you think that is not enough, every month the magazine includes a short sample from a popular children’s book, we really enjoyed July’s The BFG and it really triggered Emma’s curiosity about the book and the new movie that had only been released. Emma is at the stage where her confidence as a reader is growing with almost new every page and book she reads and I believe it will not be long before she will be ready to tackle Roald Dahl’s book on her own and all thanks to the beautiful introduction to the book she had with Storytime!
Emma enjoyed the most reading the myths and legends section, especially since all the editions we had received had each a short Greek legend and it made her immediately connect with the country we were visiting and her Greek roots.
The Lost City of Atlantis tale lead to countless discussions with her daddy about Greek gods, the Mount Olympus, located so close to Thessaloniki, where we were located and hypotheses about the Bermuda triangle as the place where Atlantis could be located! To see Emma, who is only six, blossom in her inquisitiveness and interest in the past made us realise what a wealthy resource the magazine can be!
(I am also totally impressed, and I speak now with my teacher’s hat on, with their online teaching resources section and wish I was teaching currently so I can use all those amazing resources with a class!)
But the best adventure we had thanks to the magazine was the visit to the Temple of Poseidon in Sounio. Unlike other children who at 6 would have found a visit to a historical place boring, Emma insisted on a visit and got extremely excited upon arrival.
She begged her daddy to read all the info that was available and asked numerous questions about the temple, its design and structure.
I am so excited to have reached this stage with her when she can appreciate the beauty of a place and its rich history. I look forward to more Storytime magazines and all the adventures they will lead us to, be them imaginary or real!
Disclosure: we have received a year’s subscription with Storytime. This review is the true reflection of the quality of the magazine and we warmly recommend it to anyone with school aged children.
P.S. – the magazine has a special offer at the moment, of four issues at half price and only £8 for the lot. What a wonderful incentive to get reading with your little ones!
Mama's Haven 
This sounds fabulous! I do worry that traditional tales, myths and fairy stories will die out, only leaving Disney’s recounting of them, so it’s great they’re being brought to fresh new audiences.
Aww looks like a great magazine. I’m so pleased Emma enjoyed it.
Oh how fantastic that the magazine inspired such imagination and kept her engaged on a historical trip – perfect
Looks like great service! x
Sounds like a great magazine and what a great way to encourage interest in stories, my two keep returning to fairy tales and myths time and time again, and it is always great to find new ones. Love that it brought history to life for her, what gorgeous pictures at the temple!
Sounds like a great magazine and i think it’s brilliant you managed to incorporate the ‘myths and legends section into your holiday to Greece. xx
What an educational opportunity. This sounds so cool. I loved to go to historical places as a child. The magazine sounds fab.
What a fantastic sounding magazine, I must get a copy for my little girl. She loves things like this! x
I like the sound of this – good to have the proper tales still being told 🙂
I love the sound of this magazine. My daughter has been covering such topics at school over the past couple of years and really likes myths and legends.
It does look like a lovely magazine. I like the idea of having traditional tales told.
If my girls were younger they would love that magazine. I love it when they reach the age where they want to read everything and suddenly those ‘boring’ visits become exciting because there is so much to attempt to read an learn.
I love this. My eldest is really starting to enjoy reading for himself and we have begun reading longer favourites from my childhood. It is a real joy to read with him, so a subscription that comes to our home might be even more exciting.
Storytime sounds fantastic! That’s so amazing that she loved the visit because of what she learnt about the Greek Gods. Especially at such a young age! I love Greece and all of its history and legends! I can’t wait to teach my little one about them. The magazine sounds like a really perfect idea to keep giving them fresh and classic stories. x
I loved reading about Greek Mythology when I was younger, I love reading about it now. What a great magazine to keep kids engaged.
looks like a lovely magazine, glad she enjoyed it 🙂 x
Love the sound of this magazine, going to go and have a look at it now x
Sounds great what a lovely idea and such a good price too! x