Max, Mia, and Toby’s Adventures around the World is a book by the same people who brought us the popular Little Passports subscription box. While I love a good travel-themed subscription box for kids, this book is not one. What it is, though, is a fun interactive book that gives your kids a taste of the Little Passports product to help decide if it’s something for your family.
Read more about how you can easily try Little Passports at home.
I like to think that I was one of the first people to learn about the Little Passports subscription service back when they first started. I was immediately obsessed.
Little Passports checks all the little boxes of things I love.
- Travel.
- Encouraging kids to learn more about the world.
- Fun stuff delivered monthly.
My only issue? I didn’t have a kid.
And then I had a kid.
Fast forward a few months.
I moved to Germany. Pregnant. A few months later, I had my first son.
He was too young to enjoy a Little Passports subscription as a newborn, but the moment he seemed aware enough I tried to figure out how to get the subscription to Germany.
Can I ship it directly to Germany? Nope, not really worth the extra shipping fee and customs hassle (because customs is REALLY a hassle). And I’m pretty sure they didn’t offer that option.
Can I ship it to my parents and have them bring it when they visit? Maybe… but, their valuable suitcase space is needed for all the things I need from Target, and, um, maybe their own clothes.
So I waited.
And then we moved to the U.S.
Last year we moved back to the U.S. We lived in an apartment for a while. Hello moving stress. Hello reacclimation to life stateside. And HELLO intense nostalgia for the travel life we weren’t doing because we were settling in.
I couldn’t invite Little Passports into our life just yet, I would be jealous of Sam & Sofia’s adventures.
Now? Get ready for Little Passports
Now that we’re settled and travel has reentered our routine, I’m ready for Little Passports. Yay!
But, wait. What’s this? I checked out the site I noticed they had a book.
A travel book.
For kids.
In essence, a kids’ travel book.
Seeing as that’s what my website is called, I figured I should get my hands on it.
Max, Mia, and Toby’s Adventures around the World – a Review
Max, Mia, and Toby visit each of the seven continents. At each stop, they “send” something to the reader in an envelope. Each envelope represented something about the place they visited, but each was different. They were interactive for kids and appropriate for the place they visited.
I don’t want to give too much away of what was in the envelopes. Discovering it with them is part of the fun.
The Little Passports website says the books are good for ages 3+. I agree. My daughter is 3 and she was immediately drawn in by the colorful drawings. My 5-year-old son loved the activities. I caught him looking through the book several times since we received it.
They liked revisiting places they’ve visited before. I loved introducing them to new places.
Obviously, a children’s book with a premise of world travel is only going to have an overview of the countries. This is not, nor is it meant to be, an in-depth analysis of any one city or country. And definitely not the whole world. It succeeds at getting little kids interested in the world. Which is the point, right?
Click here for more information about Max, Mia, and Toby’s Adventures around the World.
Subscribing to Little Passports
Another accomplishment for Max, Mia, and Toby’s book is that it makes kids want more. Now that I’ve seen how my kids interact with the Little Passports’ product, I’m definitely ready to subscribe.
Since my kids are 3 and 5 and I don’t want them fighting over contents, I’m ordering two subscriptions. My 3 year old will get the Early Explorers subscription. I think she’ll love learning about the world themes that subscription provides. My five year old will be receiving the World Edition. He already has so much interest in different countries, sites, and activities that I know he’ll love it. There’s also an option for older kids wanting to know more about the United States.
For a quick overview of the types of subscriptions, check below. Click on the subscription name for more details including sample kits and prices.
Subscription | Age Range | Monthly topics | |
---|---|---|---|
Early Explorers | Ages 3-5 | a world theme like music or art | |
World Explorers | Ages 6-10 | discover a new country each month | |
USA Edition | Ages 7-12 | learn about a new state | |
Science Expedition | Ages 9+ | solve a mystery using science |
I’m going to try these out for a few months, post updates on my Facebook feed, and review it here sometime at the end of the summer. In the meantime, let me know if you’ve tried the Little Passports subscription in the comments. (Update: you can read my review of the World Explorers box here.)
Please note: There are affiliate links in this post. I received the Max, Mia, and Toby’s Adventures around the World Souvenir book in exchange for my review. This didn’t influence how I felt about the book, the words and opinions are my own. I will be receiving a free 3-month subscription of Little Passports as part of the affiliate program, however, I am purchasing the other subscription separately. Again, my thoughts about the product are real and my review will be my own words and opinion. Thank you!
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What a fun book! Having the envelopes with special things for the kids to look at makes it all the more interactive and fun.
Fun is the perfect word to describe it. It is so much fun and the activities inside the envelopes are so thoughtful.
I cannot wait till my little one is old enough to get this for her! I have even thought about ordering them now and saving them till later… Thanks for the great review!
I had the same dilemna. I waited. I can’t imagine getting them and not opening them up and playing right away.
These are so neat. We are always traveling and it gets the kids excited and helps them to appreciate other cultures, but also to anticipate and welcome the differences.
Exactly!
I’ve heard of this before but I am glad I saw this post as a reminder. My 6-year-old stepdaughter would probably love this. And I’d love for my baby girl to do this as well when she’s a little older!!!
Let me know if you get it. If not, I’ll be back in a few months with a review.
I love this. I’m a firm believer in traveling with children, broadening their horizons and having then experience new things.
Me, too! 🙂
I do not have kids but this looks like a wonderful gift idea! It’s always hard for me to think of gifts for my friend’s kids and this looks like is going to solve a lot of my problems, haha 🙂
xx, Kusum
I think the book would make a perfect gift for a family with young kids.
I have been thinking about getting this subscription box to incorporate into our homeschool. I think I will definitely be doing it this fall. Looks like so much fun!
There are a lot of awesome resources available for how families are using it for homeschool.
These sound like fun. I’m looking forward to learning about the USA edition for 7-12 year olds. 7-12 seems like a big gap.
Good point. I think there are a lot of activities that can be multi-level to appeal to different ages. So, how a 7 year old would approach it is different than how a 12 year old would? I don’t know.
Oh I have a few friends who are mommies and they will definitely love this. Thank you for the review!
Thank you for telling them about it!
Sounds like fun! I never heard of it before, must be a new product? I will look into it and maybe introduce them to by kids : )
I think they started little passports in 2009 or 2010. Not sure when the book came out, though.
This is so great! I would love this for my son. But we have a little time to wait. Thanks for sharing!
I understand. I had time to wait too!
Cool. Thanks for the review! My mother in law wanted to get my 5 year old this (she’s a flight attendant and also super into travel) but I thought it would be a waste of money. Your post is making me rethink my initial decision.
You could always just do a month to see how you like it.
This sounds like an awesome book series! I wish I could get it now but my son’s too little
This looks so fun! I can’t wait until my daughter is old enough to appreciate things like this in the mail (wait, I CAN wait….) Thanks for reviewing and recommending.