Feeding the enthusiasm and interests of young readers with magazines by Chris Routh

Feeding the enthusiasm and interests of young readers with magazines

Promoting and supporting reading for pleasure requires a wide range of reading options to suit all ages, abilities and interests. National Non-Fiction November provides an ideal opportunity to not only highlight and celebrate examples of great information books, but also to explore other text types for young enthusiasts and experts – including event programmes, brochures, instructions, guides, newspapers and magazines.

For young readers who are fascinated by facts, magazines can provide attractive, accessible, browsable reading material with regularly published issues which help to ensure the information is topical and up-to-date. Generalist magazines like The Week Junior or What on Earth can feed existing or spark new interests. Such beautifully produced magazines are engaging, entertaining and informative. A subscription for a magazine can make a great present – something to look forward to arriving in the post every month. Keep a look out for special offers which enable families to trial a magazine. See for example https://www.magazine.co.uk/magazines/the-week-junior-magazine or https://www.whatonearth.co.uk/subscribe/p/inews-6-231104 Or consider taking out a subscription for your school library where multiple children can enjoy reading the same issue.

Magazines can also feed more specialist interests. It may be that members of a family share an interest which can be explored together in a carefully chosen magazine. Shared reading (where readers take it in turns to read sections aloud) can support and motivate developing readers, provide opportunities for bonding over a shared passion and help to build specialist vocabulary and knowledge. Angling Times, for example, is a long established and reasonably priced fishing magazine, which offers helpful advice online about taking kids fishing for the first time: https://www.anglingtimes.co.uk/advice/tips/how-to-get-kids-fishing-for-the-first-time-zenia-drury-gregorek/ Some members’ subscription magazines intended primarily for an adult audience contain pages designed for young readers in the family. The National Trust Magazine, for example has a double page ‘Children’s Zone’. It also encourages youngsters to submit comments about the places they’ve visited and the most recent issue includes some ghost stories to share and news of a new six-part podcast for kids which launches in October: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/podcasts

If you want to feed your child or children’s passion for the natural world, consider National Geographic Little Kids or Nature and Science. Both of these high-quality magazines designed for young readers are also available in some high street newsagents so that they can be purchased as an occasional treat for a long journey or holiday reading.

There are of course too many magazines written specifically for children and teenagers to mention here. Tom Tolkien (School Reading List) has produced an excellent guide to print and online magazines and newspapers for young people which was recently updated in October 2024: https://schoolreadinglist.co.uk/resources/magazines-and-newspapers-for-children-and-teenagers/

Some of my personal recommendations include:

Okido: is a colourful arts and science magazine for young children, designed to introduce STEAM concepts and promote a scientific approach to thinking. Linked to the CBeebies programme.

Whizz, Pop, Bang: is designed to bring science to life for 6-12-year-olds written by expert science writers such a Isabel Thomas.

Aquila: is a monthly topic-based magazine designed for 8-14-year-olds. Visit the website to take a peek inside upcoming issues. https://www.aquila.co.uk/

Match has been created to cater for the footballing fandom of children and teenagers. Unlike many other sport focused magazines, the content here is designed specifically for a young audience.

Teen Breathe is a bi-monthly magazine for 8-14 covering topics including mindfulness, wellbeing, creativity and health, which would make an ideal addition to a school library.

White Dwarf is the ultimate Warhammer magazine and a must have if you run a school-based club or if your teenager is a dedicated fan of the game or modelling.

We’d love to hear about your own recommendations of magazines for home or school!

If you run a Book Group, try organizing a session for your members to bring along and talk about the magazine(s) they most enjoy reading and particularly if they relate to a personal hobby or pastime.