The Tessy & Tab Fan Club

Tommy Loves Bedtime with Tessy & Tab

From Robin, Tommy's mom:

My son Tommy loves his Tessy & Tab books! He looks forward to them all day, and it makes bedtime a more enjoyable experience for both of us!

Plus, it's great because your books combine math and reading in a fun way.

Stay Cool at the Pool like Tessy & Tab...

From Jake and Jenna's mom, Sara:

Jake is a true fan and so we wanted to submit a picture doing what Tessy & Tab like to do: Stay Cool at the Pool!

Jake will be 4 in October.  He loves playing at the pool with his sister, Jenna (now 7 months). Jake can't wait to receive his mail every couple of weeks!  We certainly enjoy this magazine.  It has helped his reading skills develop in a remarkable way!  Thanks so much for such a quality magazine for kids!

She's clapping for the new Syllable activity...

From Marisa, Haley's mom:

I wanted to write to tell you that my daughter, Haley (4yrs), just loves the new syllable section! Her dad caught her pulling out all her back issues of Tessy & Tab and looking through to see which ones had syllable pages. She caught on to the "syllable clapping" concept incredibly quickly, and it's now one of her favorite things to do.  (That's what she's doing in the photo below.)

 

And I'm so happy to report that she's now able to read the Tessy & Tab issues herself (largely due to Tessy & Tab!), though she still prefers us to read them to her.

 

Thanks so much, and keep up the great work!

From a former English teacher...

From Kathleen, Reagan's mom:

Each day, no matter if we've just received our latest issue or if it's been over a week, Reagan joins us at the mail box and says, "Maybe my Tessy and Tab has arrived?"  She's really taken to this magazine much more so than the Highlights High Five magazine (the new version that's made for 2-5 year olds.)  She is 3 1/2 and LOVES to 'read'....and thanks to your booklet, is truly finding success in word identification!  As a former English teacher, I've enjoyed having something meaningful and useful to share with Reagan as we teach her to read and write!

Raising a reader on Tessy & Tab...

From Robin, Autumn's mom:

Autumn has been receiving Tessy and Tab since before she was able to read and it has remained among her favorites.  She just turned 5 in April and began reading on her own earlier in the year so it is an exciting time for her and Tessy and Tab magazines/books are wonderful.  We just put them right on the bookshelf and keep them all, so it adds to our at-home library and Autumn gets to read them again and again.  Recently, she pulled out one of the issues where Tessy and Tab make masks and decided to do it herself too.  It was fun.

Her favorite thing, lately, has been to recreate Tessy and Tab adventures with her own animals and figurines.  She usually begins with a story line from one of the issues and then weaves in her own details and ideas and ends up with quite an adventure and attentively playing for 20-30 minutes. 

To say that we enjoy Tessy and Tab and find them useful and valuable, especially now that Autumn is a beginning reader, is an understatement and the excitement goes well beyond Autumn enjoying getting her own mail.  We were delighted to send a gift subscription to one of our nieces for her birthday in February and hear that she's enjoying them too.

Oh, and I think we'll enjoy the questions more than the coloring page.  Autumn never wanted to color hers because she views them as books rather than magazines so I think it was a good and value added move that will benefit all the young minds who enjoy Tessy and Tab.

Still excited to get mail after 2 years!

From Caroline's mom, Tracy:

My daughter, Caroline, who recently turned 5, absolutely loves her Tessy and Tab books. We have been subscribing for approximately 2 years, and my daughter has grown so much in that time. In the beginning, we read the books to her and she colored the pages. Now, she can read almost the entire book on her own. I love how you repeat words from book to book (for instance, you leave the teacher's name constant). I was excited to hear that your new issue is about money -- my daughter just started getting an allowance about a month ago, so it's very timely for us. As always, she will be excitedly awaiting her next issue!

The "big girl" journey....

From Helena's mom, Shawna:

Tessy and Tab books have been a part of my daughter’s world since she was three. As I send her off to kindergarten this fall, I know that Tessy and Tab have been a part of her preparation for this “big girl” journey. We look forward to receiving Tessy and Tab as she learns to read this year. Thanks so much!

D-O-O-R, just like my Tessy & Tab

                  ***** Staff Favorite *****

From Adam's mom, Andra:

When I got the last Grown-Up Guide email, I told Adam that his new Tessy and Tab was on its way and that it was about puddles.  Everyday since he has asked "Can we check the mail to see if my Tessy and Tab is here?"  "They are playing in puddles with their boots and playing with boats in the water". 

It really is amazing how much he loves these books! He can already read one of the books all by himself (with a little help on the big words) and he's only 3.5!  I am truly amazed at what a great product these books are.  He is also recognizing words other places from his books.  The other day he was getting out of the car and there is the little child lock button on the inside of the car door and it was labeled "child door lock" and he pointed at the word door and said "D-O-O-R, just like in my Tessy and Tab book".  Sorry to have rambled on, I just wanted you to know how much he loves his books.

Really making a difference...

                  ***** Staff Favorite *****

From Bobby and Katie's mom, Theresa:

We just subscribed to the Tessy and Tab Reading Club and we LOVE it! We ordered the magazines for our kids, Bobby, age 5, and Katie, age 3 1/2. They already read lots of books and we visit the library often, but the reading club seemed like such a neat idea since the magazines came right to them every two weeks, so much better than the other monthly magazines they receive. They are so excited to get the next issue that we ended up ordering the starter pack after we ordered the annual subscription, just so that they would have several magazines to look at--since they actually fight over the magazines!

Bobby is in Kindergarten and likes books, but this magazine really has made a difference in a short time. He is reading them all by himself, with some help on new and big words, and he is super proud of himself (and we are too). Katie loves the stories, as well as the fun activities at the back of the magazine. She also enjoys having her big brother read the story to her.

In this picture, you only see Bobby with the first two issues because he did not want to share "his" magazines with his sister. My husband and I love books and we read daily, but this magazine has done a lot to encourage our kids to love to read!

Sounding out words at 3 years old...

                  ***** Staff Favorite *****

From Haley's mom, Marisa:

My daughter, Haley, is 3 1/2 years old.  She has received Tessy & Tab for one year now, and I'm amazed that she's actually starting to read them to me!  Not only does she explain the pictures, she will actually try to sound out some words, and always sounds out the words on the "Find These Words" portion at the end.  Tessy & Tab has not only given her practice at reading skills, it has given her a desire to read.

And of course, she just loves to get mail of her very own, and the frequency (every two weeks) is perfect.  She thinks that Tessy and Tab actually send her mail personally.  Nothing can compare to the joy this magazine brings to her!

Not a big fan at first...

From Shantell:

My mother ordered Tessy and Tab for my 4yrs old daughter. When we first received the books she wasn't that excited about them. Now that we have received and read 13 books she wants us to read one every night before bed. She looks forward to receiving them in the mail. Now that she is 5yrs old, she tries to read them by herself first. I love the books because they help her count and learn new words.

Tessy & Tab Fairy Ring...

                  ***** Staff Favorite *****

From Gianna's mom, Corinne:

Tessy & Tab is the first mail with Gianna's name on it and she LOVES getting her own mail. When a new issue arrives, she often grabs all of her other issues and lines them up in a circle (see photo). She likes to see if she can remember the sequence in which they arrived. Gianna adores the characters, and the level is just perfect -- a reading challenge that is not too hard to overcome. I'm also impressed by her comprehension level as she will talk about Tessy or Tab in a parallel real life situation. 

Thanks so much for creating this wonderful series!

The rotation schedule...

From an anonymous fan:

I have a 4 yr old and a 3 yr old. They actually argue over whose turn it is to open the envelope. We have created a "rotation" schedule so as to avoid tears and tearing! I thought my older one would be done with the series, but she is learning how to read and it gives her great confidence to find the familiar back pages and tell her sister what they are asking you to do - find these, count, etc. The actual receiving of the magazine is as exciting as the stories.

After 3 years, he still loves Tessy and Tab...

From Jason's mom, Lisa:

My son, Jason, has been receiving the Tessy and Tab books for 3 years and loves them. I do too. I used to have to read them to him and now he is reading them to me! The characters are so appealing -- I think you should make videos, TV shows and more. Thanks for bringing a fun subscription based magazine to me!

Hanging out with Tessy & Tab...

                  ***** Staff Favorite *****

From his father, Jeff:

I just came across this photo of Hugh when he was 5 and was inspired to send it on to you. Hugh really loved Tessy and Tab. He would keep them in a little stash at the side of the bed and literally get them all around him and go through them one at a time. I know this photo may seem staged but it was very spontaneous. Tessy and Tab was instrumental in helping Hugh begin reading on his own.

Kamile is SO Proud...

From her mom, Greta:

I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING THE MAGAZINES IN THE MAIL FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW AND MY DAUGHTER KAMILE TOTALLY LOVES IT. IT IS LIKE HER OWN MAIL, SO SHE CHECKS THE MAILBOX EVERYDAY AND LOOKS FOR HER NAME ON THE ENVELOPES. YOU SHOULD SEE THE JOY IF THERE IS A TESSY AND TAB BOOK IN THAT MAIL -- IT MAKES HER DAY AND SHE GOES AND READS IT RIGHT AWAY.  SHE CAN`T REALLY READ YET BECAUSE SHE IS ONLY FIVE BUT IT HAS BEEN A REALLY GOOD EXPERIENCE FOR US. IT’S NICE TO HAVE OUR LITTLE TIME TOGETHER. THE BOOKS HAVE A LOT OF TEACHING STUFF IN IT, TOO. IT TAUGHT HER TO RECOGNIZE HER OWN NAME AND SHE IS VERY PROUD OF HERSELF. SHE SHOWS IT TO ALL OF HER FRIENDS AND SAYS "DO YOU SEE? IT HAS MY NAME ON IT, IT`S MY MAIL!"

THANKS A LOT. AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO RECEIVING THESE BOOKS IN THE FUTURE.

 

One of our past subscribers...

From Hannah's mom, Lisa:

I remember the first time Hannah read a word all by herself. We were sitting together in the back seat of our car driving down to the beach and we were looking at the new Tessy & Tab book she'd just received in the mail. Hannah always started looking at her magazines from the back. First she would take off her address label to find the password. Then she would look at the Find page and see the pictures she was going to look for and then she had to count each object on the count page to make sure they were all there.
And then we would read the book together. I would point and sound out the words and she would listen and repeat what I said while looking at EVERY detail of EVERY page.

Until one day when, sitting in the back of the car I pointed to a word and she read it out loud --  Drip! -- I thought I was going to faint. She was 4 and it wasn't long after that she was reading a whole Tessy & Tab book by herself.

Five years later all 39 of her lightly jam-stained, slightly crayon marked Tessy & Tab magazines sit in a box in my closet waiting for the next visit from our little 5-year-old cousin who will bring out the books for her big fourth grade TAG cousin to read to her.
Thank you Blue Lake!

Here is what Hannah had to say:

Hi. My name is Hannah and I am nine years old when I was four my favorite book was Pool Fun! I liked it because I liked to swim and I liked to see Tessy and Tab swim. The books are colorful and short enough for kids to read but they have a lot of detail and I like that. Now my favorite book is the airplane trip because I like airplanes. I still love reading my Tessy & Tab books.