in its pages. Cricket introduces all genres: fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, science, nature,
history, poetry, and translations of original stories from foreign languages. The Cricket
League, with children’s competitions in poetry, essays, drawing, and photography, was
inspired by the St Nicholas League. Children’s letters and League contributions are
published in Spider and Cricket.
There are several relatively new magazines just for girls: Hopscotch, the Magazine for
Young Girls (6–12) is a general-interest magazine. New Moon Magazine (8–14) is edited
by 8 to 14-year-olds and has a sixteen-page newsletter for parents. American Girl (7+)
features characters from the Pleasant Company doll collection. It is a general-interest
magazine with activities and children’s letters.
Several adult magazines in the USA have started publications of children’s magazines
in their particular fields. There is Sports Illustrated for Kids (8–13) with emphasis on all
kinds of sports. National Geographic World (8–14) has photo essays on geography,
nature, and social sciences, with children’s contributions and letters. Zillions (8–14),
published by the Consumer’s Union, is a junior consumer education magazine which
also publishes children’s letters. Field & Stream, Jr. (9– 12) passes on the hunting and
fishing traditions to boys and girls, and Outside Kids (8–14) informs about camping and
outdoor life. Crayola Kids Magazine (3–8) emphasises crafts, colouring, drawing, and
other creative activities. YSB, an acronym for Young Sisters and Brothers (11–18) is an
entertaining and informative periodical for African-American teens. Skipping Stones (7–
14) is a multicultural, multilingual environmentally aware quarterly.
There are several magazines that only publish children’s creative efforts. The best of
these are: Stone Soup (6–13), which publishes fiction, poetry, book reviews, and art by
children; Merlyn’s Pen: The National Magazine of Student Writing (12– 16); and Merlyn’s
Pen Senior Edition (15–18). The last two publish fiction written by teens in the USA, and
every contributor receives a response from an editor within ten weeks.
RussiaThe news about children’s magazines in Russia is not good; new magazines are short-
lived. The situation can be traced directly to the internal economic and political
instability of the country. Many publishing houses that previously led a carefree
existence because of state subsidies have gone bankrupt. There are very few publishers
that have survived or found foreign sponsors.
Murzilka (6–11), one of the oldest magazines in Russia, was founded in 1924. A general-
interest magazine with emphasis on literature, it publishes classical and contemporary
Russian and foreign literary works, history, science, sports articles, children’s
competitions, and letters. Kolobok (3–9) is a general-interest magazine with songs and
children’s contributions and letters. Druzhba [Friendship] (7–18) is a general-interest
magazine and has children’s contributions and letters. Kostyor [Bonfire] (9–13), another
general-interest magazine, includes children’s contributions and letters. Vesyoliye
Kartinki [Merry Pictures] (3–7) is a general-interest magazine with emphasis on Russian
and foreign contemporary authors and Russian folk-tales. Yuni Khudozhnik [Young
Artist] (10+) emphasizes art and photographs and publishes children’s letters. Yuni
Naturalist [Young Naturalist] (10–16) began publication in 1928 and was the first
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