Our Favorite Magazines for Kids

Strategist senior editor Winnie Yang’s almost-10-year-old daughter, Andie — as well as Trolio’s 10-year-old daughter, Eliza, and my first-grader, Augie — all loveThe Week, Junior, a current-events weekly. Even my preschooler likes flipping through it with his brother. Yang’s daughter especially looks forward to getting it each week; she “runs up to me to show me things in it while she’s reading it,” Yang says.

Kazoois geared toward girls ages 5 to 12 and covers science, art, comics, games, crafts, recipes, stories, and more, featuring expert contributors like Misty Copeland, Tammy Duckworth, and Shonda Rhimes. The quarterly magazine is based in Brooklyn and printed in Burlington, Vermont; it’s also entirely ad-free. The latest issue is the “Drawing” issue and includes advice from Alison Bechdel. Yang’s daughter readKazoountil she was about 8 years old and liked that she could interact with it and “edit the pictures.” Trolio’s 10-year-old also enjoys it, particularly for its craft-project ideas — “over the summer she spent an entire afternoon building a working gumball machine out of cardboard, based on some instructions she found inKazoo,” Trolio says.

Here’s another magazine for the art-inclined child, this one published byMcSweeney’sand also recommended by Yang. “Illustoria, true to its name, focuses primarily on creativity through drawings, illustrations, and comics with a smattering of other things — stories, interviews and profiles, DIY projects, recipes — that kind of take a backseat to the visuals,” says Yang. “It’s one of the most beautiful periodicals for kids out there, though it’s possiblytoonice looking, since Andie has not drawn on, colored, or cut up any of its pages like she has withKazoo.” Trolio is gifting anIllustoriasubscription to 10-year-old Eliza this Christmas.

For tweens and teens,Anywayis a nice option that Yang’s and Trolio’s daughters both enjoy. The magazine covers topics like school and street style, teen Olympic athletes, explainers about pimples (with an accompanying skin-care guide), braces, the importance of sleep, thrifting, astrology, recipes, profiles of teens around the world, and more. “It’s pretty positive in tone and diverse in representation and topics,” says Yang. Trolio’s daughter countsAnywayamong her favorites and has introduced many of her friends to it, as well. “One of the best things about it that she really seems to relate to,” Trolio adds, “is that, because it contains stories about kids her own age, I think it is really helping her understand her own place world a little more.”

Yang’s and Trolio’s girls have each read a few issues ofHonest History, a history quarterly for ages 6 through 12. (You can subscribe for a year to receive each new issue as it publishes, or opt to receive a bundle of three issues of your choosing arrive every three months.) More booklike than a magazine, each themed issue is filled with longer stories and can be a little dense, which Trolio’s daughter notes is not her preference at bedtime when she wants to read something a little snackier. The latest issue, “Under the Microscope,” is all about the history of medicine and includes a Q&A with Nobel laureate Dr. Jennifer Doudna on CRISPR technology. Past issues have covered theFrench Revolution;robots, AI, and technology; and thehistory of Korea.

LEGOmagazine is free and comes five times a year, but it’s basically a catalogue. Still, “nothing can top it in our house,” saysNew YorkMagazine deputy editor Alexis Swerdloff, whose kids are 7 and almost 4 years old. Yang’s daughter loves it too.

A subscription to thekid imprintofNational Geographicis an obvious slam dunk for nature lovers and the generally curious. Yang is considering subscribing soon.

The National Wildlife Federation publishes three different versions ofRanger Rick:Ranger Rick Cubfor kids up to age 4;Ranger Rick Jr.for ages 4 to 7; andRanger Rickfor ages 7 and up. Strategist senior editor Liza Corsillo is thinking aboutCubfor her 3-year-old son.

Yang is also curious aboutOyla, a monthly science magazine that has an imprint for ages 8 and up as well as one for for ages 12 and up. Every 100-page issue features stories about nature and space, games and brain teasers, easy experiments, and beautiful illustrations.

Strategist writer Kitty Guo remembers lovingStone Soupas a little kid. Made by kids for kids, it’s been around since 1973 and features art and writing from children from over 40 different countries.

Mishouis another recommendation from Guo and features artwork from readers 15 and under. It’s published by Dizzy Books and is currently accepting submissions for its sixth issue on the theme of “edible storytelling.” The fifth issue, which isall about food, includes guest contributors like Angela Dimayuga and the Bread & Puppet Theater in Vermont.

Mildewisn’t aimed at kids, per se, butGuo recommends it for a tween or teenwho is into thrifting. “They have lots of fun features from all over the world, like photo series on flea markets in India, a guide to secondhand shopping in Tokyo, astrological signs as thrift-store paperbacks, plus personal essays and interviews with prolific thrifters,” Guo says, noting that the design is fun and really colorful. “I grew up devouringAmerican Girlmagazine andTeen Vogueand I’m really sad that options for physical media for this current generation seems to be lacking,” Guo adds, “so I’m really pushing the agenda of getting kids to read independent magazines.”

Trolio is also thinking about subscribing her daughters toAquila, a U.K.-based publication that bills itself as a magazine full of “big ideas for inquisitive kids.” There are 12 issues a year that cover awide range of topics, fromtheTitanicto Greek myths to the human brain.

And finally, once you’ve cultivated their appreciation for the printed periodical, you might want to start hoarding yourNew Yorkerback issues for them to read down the line. “I have this dream of when Andie (and my 2.5-year-old, Apollo) are in high school that I’ll bookmarkNew Yorkerarticles for them and we’ll discuss them over dinner,” says Yang, who got the idea from the father of a student she tutored many years ago. Tuber, a native New Yorker who currently lives in Los Angeles, is also stealing this move. “I did just re-up myNew Yorkersubscription, and even though my daughter is not reading them, I feel like it’s very important for her to at least see them around the house so she knows her ancestral roots,” Tuber says.