The Tessy & Tab Fan Club

Liam loves mail and numbers...

From Liam's dad, Steve:

As you can see, my son Liam (age 3) is so happy when a trip to the mailbox unveils a new Tessy & Tab.  In addition to the magazines, he LOVES the Moonjar bank and passbook from his Money Manager Kit.  (We’ve almost filled up the passbook already.)  It really keys into his love of numbers and has become a fun (and educational) part of our regular bedtime ritual.  He was really excited to save up and make his first purchase: an ice cream sundae.   Thanks so much and keep up the great work!

Harrison's Vocabulary Takes Off...

From Harrison's mom Nanette:
 

Harrison loves Tessy & Tab and was so happy to read about their trip on the airplane! He is so excited to learn and tells people we see all of the time about the pilot who flies the plane from the cockpit!  We are so impressed that he is expanding his vocabulary with the help of T&T and using such big words like "disembark".  Thank you for making learning fun.

 

Money Manager Really Works...

From Tony's mom, Naomi:

I have to share that it's been amazing to watch the Money Manager progress in our house with our son Tony (4 ½ years old). First the excitement of getting something new in the mail followed by the fun of putting together the Moonjar bank. We love the fantastic charts that outline the daily chores and those "family responsibilities". In fact, all of the reading material was very informative and easy for both Tony and I to understand.

Tony has COMPLETELY embraced this project -- he even wakes up in the morning (most mornings) and asks if I have clothes for him to put away!

Another huge benefit is the change in our shopping experience. Since my husband and I committed to no longer purchase any 'discretionary' items for Tony, he's been an angel when we're in a store. No more do we have the whining, crying and begging -- instead a simple "you haven't saved up enough money yet" suffices! Out the door we go with only the things purchased that were on the list.  AND, the other day at Kohl’s, he said "Momma, can I go to the toy section to just look and see if there's something I might want to save for?"  He looked around, asked me to add some things to his 'list' and we left - no tears!

Tony is just days away from having enough money saved up for his first purchase. We can't wait to count that cash and go to the store. Camera in hand, this momma is going to be proud to watch her little guy march up to the cashier and hand over his loot... and here is what happened:

First, Tony took his Moonjar bank to the machine that counts all your change in order to exchange it for cash:

Tony is proud to display the money he saved!

But, the real joy comes from purchasing a toy that he picked out and paid for himself!

Thank you Tessy & Tab for a WONDERFUL product!

P.S. I'm secretly hoping you will create a Money Manager kit for adults too!

Who's happy now?

From Corie, Carson's mom:

I thought you would like to see a picture of Carson with her Tessy & Tab tote bag.

She LOVES it!   

 

It's her new "go-to" bag! She likes how it fits her Tessy & Tab books perfectly.

Special request from a 3-year old...

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

From Eva's mom, Carmi:

First, I want to tell you that Eva (almost 4 now) loves getting mail and she LOVES her growing collection of magazines. I told her I would write to you with a request: she's noticed that her name on the address label doesn't end in an 'a'.  Well, it does end in an 'a', but not one she recognizes.  Is there any way you could use a different font for the addresses so that the lower case 'a' is the style that young kids recognize? I suppose this will be an even bigger issue for her little brother, Isaac!

By the way, we love the magazine -- you've done a great job with it. We tell everyone about it.

From Judy Johnston, CEO and Publisher of Tessy & Tab:

Thanks for writing! Your story confirms something we've felt to be true since we began publishing in 2002 - very young children really care about what their name looks like. It's the main reason that we brought all of our data management in-house and online. We found that data entry people in big fulfillment houses are not careful enough. Plus, we go the extra step to have the addresses printed in larger than typical letters so that it's easier for a young child to recognize their own name.

Two years ago we arranged to have a new "a" created for the typeface we use inside the magazine for exactly the reason you've outlined. We had not looked into the specifics of the font for our address labels but with Eva's concern as our motivation, we spoke with our vendor who prints the labels. They did a little research and found a font that uses the "one-story a" that Eva will recognize and the font change will be made on our next issue.

Please be sure and tell Eva "thank you" for bringing this to our attention -- you have helped us solve a problem that likely is noticed by lots of kids!

We checked back with Carmi after a couple of issues with the new address font were mailed:

Yes, Eva noticed the change immediately.  In fact, that was the first thing she said, "Look mom, they spelled my name right!"  Thank you so much for making the effort to make that change.  It was clearly very important to Eva.

I snapped a photo of Eva the last time Tessy & Tab arrived.  It's a little fuzzy but this is pretty much her expression EVERY time a Tessy & Tab arrives.

 

 

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!

Almost canceled her subscription...

From Connie's mom, Corina:

I had canceled our subscription, due to complete lack of interest by my daughter. You encouraged us to continue receiving the Tessy and Tab books to see if Connie would be drawn into the receiving of mail and eventually the reading. You were absolutely right! She loves them now, as does my star 5 year old reader! Elena, the 5 year old has started asking Connie (almost 4 years old) to read her a bedtime story now. Connie is always very pleased to comply. It is adorable. Connie has become very possessive of her collection and often won't let her older sister read or touch any. We love to hear and watch Connie tell the stories on the pages without even reading it to her first. She is just starting to pick out and recognize the letters as words and it is fun watching her be so curious and creative with the language and text. She is so proud of herself!!! Thank you.

 

Pumpkin Time...

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

From Evan's mother, Tiffany:

As you can see from this photo, Evan, age 4, loves to do what Tessy and Tab do in every issue. I'm always impressed how the issues are about things that he truly relates to. In fact, Evan's preschool has a sharing day and he ALWAYS brings his current issue of Tessy & Tab.

He is so proud to show his friends!

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.

 

A long-time fan...

From Charlie's mom, Nancy:

Charlie has been getting Tessy & Tab for years. He used to call them Tabby & Tess. To him they are comfort food. We travel a lot and they are light for "carry on". He always has a stack of them in the bookcase by his bed & we pull out which ever story is appropriate for the day...doctor, rain, picnic, etc.

At bedtime he always wants more than one book so he gets at least one T&T. As he has grown they have changed for him.... from his just looking and pointing, to me reading and describing the pictures, to him reading and both of us discussing the pictures, to him reading, describing and adding more adventures of his own to the stories!!

We have always used them for coloring books as well as what we print off the internet and now the LATEST: Charlie is 7 and now he likes to carefully cut out the pictures in the back and make stickers out of them. He gives them away to his friends and thinks it is sooooo cool. One day we sold fruit & lemonade and he gave everyone who stopped at the stand a T&T sticker!! =)