The Children's Magazine in Britain Today

Abstract

THE children's magazine was practically dead a few years ago, in fact during the war there was scarcely one worth buying, and there was a real need for something in this class. While books will always have first place, educationists and all interested in children's reading will agree that good periodical literature is a useful adjunct. On account of its regular appearance it encourages the habit of continuous reading among children who are sometimes lured away by out‐door activities in the summer, and by cinema clubs and other distractions in the winter. A good magazine, too, introduces children to a variety of subjects and types of story, thus widening their reading interests before their minds become set. It may be a vehicle for presenting current affairs in a form more suitable than in the daily papers, as has been the policy of The Children's Newspaper for nearly thirty years. A recent issue covered a variety of news calculated to interest boys and girls—a boy's journey by canoe across South America, the erection of a statue to Robin Hood (who probably comes first amongst boyhood's heroes), science news, a report on the United Nations meeting at Lake Success and an editorial on the subject, an explanation of inflation, wages and prices, a photograph of a model of the new House of Commons, articles on Jeremy Bentham, astronomy, the new constitution of Malaya, as well as other features, jokes, and snippets of information. This is good value and would doubtless enliven a current affairs lesson at school, but, as a magazine for general reading and entertainment, it is rather too serious. It is the kind of periodical that parents and well‐meaning friends think their children ought to read, but do they really read it from cover to cover, or do they only pick out the lighter bits ? As a news‐sheet of information it is excellent, but the production and layout would need to be more attractive to make it a favourite.

Citation

GREEN, M.M. (1948), "The Children's Magazine in Britain Today", Library Review, Vol. 11 No. 8, pp. 464-467. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb012129