June 2010

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Children’s Art Magazines

June 25, 2010 in Children's Magazines by Roberta | No comments

In celebration of arts week here at Wrapped in Foil, let’s take a look at some art, writing and music magazines for children.

Surprisingly, most of the art magazines I found were for adults teaching children, rather than for the children themselves. I’ve included the adult because they may be useful for mature, highly-interested children and young adults.

Art Magazines for Children

ARTaFacts Magazine offers elementary and secondary level issues. The two cover the same information in the free sample copies, but the secondary is in more depth.

Arts & Activities has a free sign up for digital issues. It is geared for adults/teachers with many ads. The activity ideas seem to be creative and professionally done. Definitely worth a look.

Although we listed these in the post on science magazines, Carus/Cricket Magazine Group offer arts magazines as well. Muse is a good example.

ChildArt is “designed and written for 8-12 year olds.” Although it is pricey, it does have a professional appearance.

Cloth Paper Scissors is one of my favorite art magazines, so I just had to include it here. It is for adults, but is so creative! Here is a kid-friendly article.

Another magazine geared for adults teaching art is School Arts. According to the free issue online, the activities/articles are separated into elementary, middle school and high school levels.

Scholastic Art is a classroom magazine for grades 7-12, with a teachers guide and other supporting materials. Teacher’s guides are also available for grades 4-6. Special rates apply if you order less than 10 copies. I have picked up Scholastic’s teacher magazines, and the art posters they supply are good ones.

Dare I add FamilyFun Magazine as a source of craft ideas?

Writing Magazines for Children

Stone Soup is written and illustrated by and for 8-13 year olds. The editors take writing and art contributions from children up to age 13. Check online for a sample copy.

Hutch: A Kids’ Literary and Art Magazine sponsored by The Blue Bunny Bookstore, in Dedham, MA. Submission guidelines are listed at the first link. The ordering link seems to be broken.

Music Magazines for Children

John Jacobson’s Music Express says it is designed for students and teacher in grades K-6. Anyone ever seen this one?

Music K-8 Magazine is published throughout the school year and can come with a CD.

Note: magazines seem to come and go quickly these days, so buyer beware. But that also means they could use our support.

Do you have any suggestions, comments or questions?

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Thursday Children’s Author Trivia Challenge

June 24, 2010 in Children's Author Trivia, Uncategorized by Roberta | 2 comments

trivia-logo

Are you ready for a fun challenge?

This summer I’m going to post some trivia questions about authors of children’s books on Thursdays. I will post the answers (if you haven’t already guessed them) and new questions next Thursday.

Question 1. (easy)  This author’s most famous work is about her own family life, with herself and her three sisters as characters. Can you name the author and the book?

Question 2. (moderately difficult) What children’s author found the books she had donated to her son’s school had been banned from the shelves?

Question 3. And finally, here’s a tricky one:  What author typed the manuscript for her most famous book on a typewriter with a faulty w, and had to fill all the w’s in by hand?

I would love to hear from everyone, children and adults. So, leave your guesses in the comments below. I’d also love to hear suggestions for making this more fun and/or ideas for questions (my e-mail is on the About page).

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Remarkable Women Writers Book Resonates

June 24, 2010 in Biography, Middle Grade Nonfiction, Nonfiction, Writing by Roberta | 1 comment

Do you know a child who wants to be a writer and/or has a writing talent that should be nurtured? Remarkable Women Writers by Heather Ball is a wonderful examination of the lives of ten women writers that may be just the powerful encouragement he or she needs. For readers, this book is an insightful look into how some of our favorite books came about. Finally, adult writers will find passages that resonate strongly with their own experiences.

remarkable-women-writers

Starting with a perennial favorite, Jane Austin, and ending with superstar J.K. Rowling, these biographies tell of personal struggles, doubts, and rejection letters. Mary Ann Evans, writing in the 1800′s, took the pen name of a man, George Eliot, in order to be taken seriously as a writer. (Have times changed so much? Read interviews by modern mystery writer J.A. Jance.) Funny, talented Judy Blume faced criticism and censorship. Yet these women did not give up and eventually found success.

You can’t help, but to learn from these stories. Heather Ball writes:

Sometimes, a writer’s ideas come from her own experiences. She writes about her family, friends, her home and how she feels about things that go on around her… Sometimes, a writer wants to protest an injustice or express a strong opinion… And then sometimes, a writer is compelled to write suddenly, as if she has received a gift.

Remarkable Women Writers is part of the Women’s Hall of Fame Series. I love the format of relatively short, easy-to-read biographies that are still filled with rich detail. Each chapter has appropriate black and white illustrations and photographs (depending on the era), and interesting sidebars to pull the reader in. There is a very useful list of sources in the back, organized by author, so that you can quickly delve more deeply into the lives of the writers who interest you.

The biographies would be appropriate for approximately age nine and up. If you are a reader and/or a writer, this book definitely has something for you.

Paperback: 100 pages
Publisher: SECOND STORY PRESS (2006)
ISBN-10: 1897187084
ISBN-13: 978-1897187081
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches

I wish to thank the publisher for being willing to provide a copy of this older book.

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Dynamic Women Dancers

June 21, 2010 in Biography, Middle Grade Nonfiction, Nonfiction, Nonfiction Monday Review by Roberta | 5 comments

For a little change a pace, we’re going to be celebrating the arts this week at Wrapped in Foil.

Let’s start by taking a look at an important, enjoyable and uplifting book, Dynamic Women Dancers by Anne Dublin, part of The Women’s Hall of Fame Series. Women-dancers

The cover of this book really catches your eye, the bright pink toe shoes set the stage for what is to come. Inside you find the biographies of ten world-class dancers who have made a real difference in other people’s lives. Author Anne Dublin has chosen a nice diversity of women, from many different parts of the world and with many different styles of dance.

Each chapter covers one dancer, starting with ballerina Anna Pavlova, who was born in 1881. The chapters are arranged chronologically based on the dancer’s year of birth. Next we learn about Anna Sokolow (born in 1910), Carmen Amaya (born in 1913), and others, through Geeta Chandran, born in 1962. Many of the women faced severe challenges, often due to the times and circumstances they grew up in, making these stories of history as well as dance.

Because of Dublin’s own background in dance – she has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the University of Wisconsin – she can eloquently express the struggles and triumphs of each dancer in a way that makes us relate. She also knows the vocabulary of dance, and includes definitions of the “Forms of Dance,” as well as a glossary, in the back. Her lists of “Sources & Resources” for each dancer are quite impressive.

The text is illustrated with black and white photographs. Using black and white photographs helps ties together images from various eras and sources into a coherent whole. The text is also sprinkled with tantalizing sidebars that draw the reader in and reinforce learning.

This book is listed as young adult at Amazon, but for ages 9-13 in the promotional materials. I would say that any child interested in dance from age nine up couldn’t help but be inspired by this book.

Reading level: Young Adult (Amazon)
Paperback: 128 pages
Publisher: Second Story Press (May 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1897187564
ISBN-13: 978-1897187562

Dynamic Women Dancers really made me to want to see these women dancing, moving. Through the wonder of YouTube, I was able to find videos of three of the dancers. I hope you enjoy them.

Anna Pavlova is still amazing to watch, even after all the years.

Carmen Amaya came to be synonymous with flamenco, a traditional dance from the south of Spain.

Geeta Chandran’s expressive gestures and facial expressions are mesmerizing.

nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. For more information, stop by Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday page. This week’s post is at Simply Science.

Review copy provided by publisher.

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Children’s Science Magazines

June 8, 2010 in Children's Magazines, Nonfiction, Reading, Science by Roberta | 2 comments

I had a question from a parent the other day about children’s magazines. She wanted to find something appropriate for her tween son. I thought a list of magazine links would be useful for not only parents looking for magazines, but also writers looking for places to submit articles.ask

Today let’s start with science-related magazines.

1. The big name in children’s magazines is Carus Publishing/Cricket.

Is it even possible to get through childhood without getting at least one of their magazines? For science, try Ask (arts and sciences for 6-9 yo), Muse (a mix of topics, including science for 9-14 yo), and Odyssey, (science for ages 9-12).

muse

Links to submission guidelines for writers:
Ask with themes for upcoming issues and updates
Muse
Odyssey although the link is apparently dated (the themes are from 2009)

2.  Kids Discover (7-12 yo) The entire issue is on a single theme, such as “Atoms” or “Ancient Greece.” This magazine is very visual in its design, with many color photos and illustrations.

Didn’t find information for writers at the website.

3. National Geographic Kids

This magazine does have a lot of ads, which turned off our family. No information for writers.

4. Scholastic Offers ScienceWorld Magazine for grades 6-10 and Super Science grades 3-6

General submissions information for writers.

5. Science Weekly (grades K-6) is geared for schools, but does offer individual subscriptions

Couldn’t find a link to submissions guidelines, but I believe they use freelance writers to develop entire issues. Try a recent Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market for details.  Samples are available online.

6. YES Magazine (10-15 yo)
The Science Magazine for Adventurous Minds
(from Canada) Sample Pages
and for younger children – Know (6-9 yo)
YES writer’s guidelines

If you are interested in science, Science News for Kids has a strong magazine format although it is online.

Because magazines can come and go quickly, please let me know if you have and additions to (or subtractions from) this list.

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