- with a focus on science experiments, computers, games, and puzzles. Chalk Talk (5–
- and Rain Coast are published in British Columbia.
United StatesThe longest-lived of all USA children’s periodicals, The Youth’s Companion, was
published from 1827 to 1929. Many other American children’s magazines were
published in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but the most esteemed and
most loved of all was St Nicholas, published by Scribner’s Monthly from 1873– 1940, and
edited by Mary Mapes Dodge from 1873–1905. She was committed to publishing only
the best in literature and illustration for children. Among the contributors to St Nicholas
were Rudyard Kipling, Louisa May Alcott, Frank R. Stockton, Mark Twain, Howard Pyle,
Palmer Cox, and many other luminaries.
Today several hundreds of magazines are published in the USA. Many are short-lived,
and several new ones appear every year. A few endure. The oldest is Boys’ Life, which
was founded in 1911 by the Boy Scouts of America. It is still published today for 7 to 17-
year-old Cub or Boy Scouts, and its mission is to bring good reading to all boys and to
support the principles of Scouting. It publishes children’s contributions and letters.
The publishers Scholastic produce a long line of classroom periodicals for all age
groups.
Highlights for Children (2–12) was founded in 1946. It is an educational general-
interest magazine and publishes original children’s contributions and letters.
The Children’s Better Health Institute publishes six general-interest magazines for
ages 2 to pre-teen: Turtle, Humpty Dumpty, Children’s Playmate, Jack and Jill, Child Life,
Children’s Digest, and US Kids. Several of these titles were founded by other publishers
but were taken over by the Children’s Better Health Institute and now emphasise
education about good health. The Children’s Television Workshop publishes Sesame
Street (2–6), Kid City (6–10), and 3–2-1 Contact (8–14). Sesame Street, 3–2-1 Contact, and
Ghostwriter (7–10) are prepared in conjunction with television programmes for children.
The Sesame Street television characters appear regularly in the magazine.
Cobblestone Publishing publishes Cobblestone, Faces, Calliope (all 9–15), and Odyssey
(8–14). Cobblestone focuses on American history. Faces, the Magazine About People,
publishes biographies and articles on anthropology. Calliope includes articles on world
history and Western and Eastern civilisations. Odyssey is about space and astronomy.
It publishes children’s contributions and letters.
The National Wildlife Foundation publishes two magazines: Ranger Rick (6– 12),
founded in 1967, and Your Big Backyard (3–5). Both magazines want to inspire a greater
understanding and appreciation of the natural world.
Carus Publishing Company publishes four magazines. Babybug (6 months-2 years) is
a board-book magazine for babies. Ladybug (2–6) develops young children’s imagination
and creates in them a love for reading. Spider (6–9) offers excellent illustrations and
quality literature for beginning readers, and Cricket (9– 14), now over twenty years old,
publishes the best literature from the USA and from all over the world. Original stories
and poems by Isaac B.Singer, William Saroyan, Rosemary Sutcliff, James Herriot,
Richard Wilbur, John and Roy Fuller, Joan Aiken, and Lloyd Alexander have appeared
446 TYPES AND GENRES