I got a lovely surprise in the mail over the weekend. No, not the six new cookbooks I've ordered (the "Jessica's Biscuit" catalog was too compelling). It was my first copy of Russian Life, a bi-monthly gem of a magazine about all things Russian.

Maybe you know all about Russian Life; after all it's only been around for 50 years. But maybe you remember what it used to be--a bit too much one-sided cheering--and hadn’t thought to pick up a copy lately. If that's your only memory, or if you've never seen the magazine, you should give it a look now. It can be a great way to learn about the country you are adopting from, or to help your child learn about the country of his birth.

Take the current cover story, about efforts to save the beleaguered tigers along the Amur River in the Russian Far East. That's the region my older son is from, and I remember my driver saying he sometimes saw tigers on the road from Vladivostok to the airport. So for my son's school reading assignment Sunday night, he and I read about the tigers. There's also an interesting piece about the annual celebration at the southernmost Russian colonial settlement in America--California's Fort Ross--penned by the magazine's publisher, Paul E. Richardson.

Richardson, who has a master's in political science and a Russian Area Studies certificate from Indiana University, Bloomington, bought Russian Life 15 years ago. He set about re-making the magazine into a well-reported, family-friendly look at life in Russia today, warts and all. "Prior to us, the magazine's purpose was propagandistic," Richardson concedes. "We are not out there to bang the drum for Russia. We try to tell a balanced story." The story on the Amur tigers, for example, notes that the region has implemented nature preserves and an anti-poaching team to safeguard the tigers--neither of which prevented a former governor of Primorye krai from giving a tiger skin to the president of Belarus. (The magazine's accompanying blog is a bit edgier, with an interesting post on President Vladimir Putin's new career plan.)

The folks at Russian Life have a host of other products you may find of use, like a cookbook, "A Taste of Russia", and a phrasebook, "Survival Russian". They are also releasing a paperback-sized supplement that sounds like it would be a good addition to my household's bookshelves. Chtenia (literally, "Readings") presents selections of Russian literature, past and present, organized around a theme, which for the debut issue is dogs.

A one-year subscription to Russian Life will set you back just $33; Chtenia will add another $30. Take a look at some of the articles on the Russian Life Web site and I think you will agree that that's a good price for a good education.