What, no Goofus and Gallant?

That's the feature I remember most from Highlights magazine back in the day--sanctimonious Gallant and his probably-a-lot-more-fun pal Goofus.

The new, younger-kid edition of Highlights, called Highlights High Five, may not have any dopey morality tales (and who knows--today's G&G are probably more subtle than they were a generation ago), but it does have a ton of fun features for kids ages 2-6.

Since both my children fall into that age group, we reviewed three issues of the magazine, courtesy of the Parent Bloggers Network. I'm hard-pressed to say what the kids liked best. The Hidden Pictures pages appealed to my older child, who will be 6 in a month. My nearly 3-year-old loved the comic strip Adventures of Spot (sample plot: It rains. Spot plays in the mud. Spot hates baths!). Both enjoyed one-off short stories, poems, and songs, like the bunny version of the hokey pokey: "Put your cotton tail in, put your cotton tail out..."

Each issue contains a story with some Spanish words and phrases, too, which reinforces what my daughter is learning in kindergarten. Some of the features have links to the bigger-kid version of Highlights. Spot the dog belongs to the Timbertoes family in a Highlights comic strip, for example. For my kids, this didn't matter because they've never seen Highlights, but it might be an appealing feature for younger siblings of Highlights readers. Visit the High Five site for more sample content. The site also has a parents guide, which is a nice touch, but I found the advice to be pretty obvious--stuff I'd do almost instinctively anyway.

Each issue contains a simple craft project, and the one we tried was both kid- and parent-friendly--the paper-chain caterpillar pictured above. It was truly age-appropriate, required only the simplest of materials (paper, scissors, a glue stick), and allowed for creative license--I mean, just check out the nutty face on our friend up there. This activity kept both children happily occupied for nearly an hour. Then they spent another half-hour playing with their new creations! If that's not worth the price of a subscription (just under $30 for 12 issues; there is no advertising in the magazine) I don't know what is.

I explained to my daughter that we would get a new issue of High Five every month and she was duly impressed. It will magically show up in our mailbox again and again? Cool! I know we're going to enjoy this high-quality, interactive, educational, fun magazine all year long.

See another Full Mommy's take on High Five here, and check out PBN's Blast from the Past blog blast tomorrow, 3/7, for a chance to win your own subscription. High five!