Channelling My Inner Scientist
One of the earliest magazines I remember reading was Owl Magazine, a Canadian general interest magazine for children aged 9 to 13. First published in 1976 as a science-themed magazine, it is still in publication today but no longer restricts its topics to science and the environment. Looking at Owl today, I still find this to be a good medium in terms of the informational/non-informational binary. Actually, it may be even better than before: it now has two spinoff magazines for younger children (Chickadee and Chirp), a series of educational books, and even a television show.
Adding to this fulfilling literary experience is the magazine's website, which provides a great interactive supplement to the publication [*]. In the site specific to the original Owl magazine, there is a section called "Shout Out" where kids can speak their mind on major issues, such as the effectiveness of the provincial film rating system. Meanwhile, the Chickadee site, for ages 6 to 9, is much more colourful and animated, and encourages the same sort of interaction. There is a similar setup in the page for Chirp, a magazine for ages 3 to 6.
Even though I did not have the internet by the time I was reading Owl, I did have that engaging feeling with this magazine as though I did. I do wish, however, that the science focus would not drift away too much, as I found it to be a highly educational read. Despite this, I still use the term "informational" for this medium rather than "educational" because it includes information that is non-academic but still very important. It is good to see that Owl still stands as a children's publication.
Rating: 8
Even though I did not have the internet by the time I was reading Owl, I did have that engaging feeling with this magazine as though I did. I do wish, however, that the science focus would not drift away too much, as I found it to be a highly educational read. Despite this, I still use the term "informational" for this medium rather than "educational" because it includes information that is non-academic but still very important. It is good to see that Owl still stands as a children's publication.
Rating: 8