children’s magazines

Children’s magazines are those periodicals that target children ages 6 months to 13 years old, a diverse group of magazines that ranges from board books with rounded corners to high-gloss periodicals that mimic more mainstream magazines. Some children’s magazines are widely circulated, such as Boys’ Life and Highlights. In recent years, the children’s magazine market has grown. Since 1993, more than 150 new children’s magazines have been launched.

Children’s magazines target several age groups and cover diverse subject areas. For instance, Babybug is a nontraditional magazine that targets the youngest readers (6 months to 2 years). A board book with rounded corners and no staples, it features bright, simple pictures with rhymes and simple sentences. Despite its unusual format, Babybug and other serial publications that target children are included in the children’s magazine industry. Whereas adult magazines are categorized by gender, race, and subject area, the magazine industry does not segment children’s magazines in this way. Children’s magazines cover such topics as wildlife and natural history (e.g., Ranger Rick and National Geographic for Kids). Furthermore, some children’s serial publications are versions of mainstream magazines targeted to adults, such as Sports Illustrated for Kids, which was launched in 1989.

One study of children’s use of magazines has found that about 11% of children ages 5 to 7 and 15% of children ages 8 to 10 reported reading magazines the previous day. Overall, magazine reading remains constant as children age. Children’s magazines have often been used to try to encourage young children to become lifetime readers and learners.

By most accounts, children’s magazines date back to the 1700s. At the beginning, they were largely pedantic in nature and were created to help children learn about themselves and the world around them. One of the oldest children’s magazines still in publication is Jack and Jill, which was first published in 1948. It focuses on children’s health and nutrition. Highlights, first published in 1946, targets children from 2 to 12 years old and contains a wide array of content, with an emphasis on puzzles and games.

The magazine industry today hardly resembles the educational, nonglossy formats that were prevalent when Jack and Jill and Highlights were first published, having experienced fairly dramatic changes in both design and marketing content. With the inclusion of advertising, most children’s magazines today have the look and feel of more mainstream magazines. These changes are due to increased competition from a larger number of magazines and from other media outlets, such as television and the Internet.

Mass media scholars have largely ignored children’s magazines, but a few scholars have focused on the potential messages that children may receive from this content. Although most research focuses on the potential lack of educational content in newer serials, some take a media effects perspective. For example, Susan Lynn and her colleagues analyzed the gender portrayals in advertisements in Sports Illustrated for Kids. They found that male characters outnumbered female characters and were more often shown in dominant roles, whereas girls were shown in limited athletic and gender-stereotyped roles.

Other scholars have been concerned with children’s magazines as marketing media. Overall, such investigations arise from concern about the potential effects of marketing on children (e.g., encouraging unhealthy eating or consumerism). Some children’s magazines are linked to a specific children’s toy (e.g., many magazines connected to the Barbie doll) or corporation (e.g., Nickelodeon Magazine), and some scholars argue that they are little more than public relations materials. For most magazines, however, the marketing is limited to advertisements. Earlier children’s publications, such as Jack and Jill and Highlights, may not have included much advertising, but now many children’s magazines do.

The original version of this article was published by SAGE Publications in the SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society.