Children’s Magazines Online: National Geographic Kids

If a Google search of “kids magazines” is any indicator, it appears that the children’s magazine industry is robust. Several, like American Girl, are specifically written for preteen girls. Others, like Sports Illustrated Kids, appeal to boys with male athletes receiving the most recognition in their magazine and online presence. A large amount of the magazines I found were about animals and the natural world.

National Geographic publishing two magazines for children: National Geographic Kids, for ages 6-14, and National Geographic Little Kids, for ages 5 and younger. These magazines are available in print for a subscription fee. However, each magazine has a counterpart online. National Geographic Kids can be found here: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/.

What is it?

The online magazine offers a plethora of information on nature in various formats. From craft projects (with full instructions)  to videos of animals, sound clips of roars, photos of kids around the world, and even games, there is something for every child. It is easy to be mesmerized by the colorful photos and interactive features of the website.

So, lots of pictures…what makes it special?

A pleasant find on the website was a blog, under the Community tab, and can be found here: http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/. Blog posts include book reviews under DogEared, planetary issues under GreenScene and other themed posts following children traveling around world. Other posts included timely issues of interest to kids such as the winner of the Westminster Dog Show. However, the posts did not flow in strict reverse chronological order. It may be they recycle posts.

Safety first…

The blog is monitored to ensure its kid friendliness. They do not allow links in comments thereby maintaining the enclosed feeling of the website. The only advertising on the website is for the subscription of the print magazine and other aspects of the online magazine. All of the links I tried kept me within the National Geographic website which is a bonus for parents concerned about their kids’ surfing the web.

then team work.

Overall, this was a visually stunning and well done online magazine for kids. The magazine made reading interactive — not just something one does alone or solitary. It encourages kids to engage with the information on the website and with each other by voting in polls, leaving comments, uploading their photos and downloading consumables. This magazine, as most are, is about having fun with information. Reading National Geographic Kids is not homework. It will whet the appetite and encourage reading as an enjoyable activity. I know I’ll be coming back to check out craft ideas for storytimes as well as offering it to kids who ask for craft ideas while I’m at the reference desk. It’s free and it’s awesome. ‘Nuff said.

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Digitization in Children’s Publishing: The International Children’s Digital Library

Photo by SpecialKRB 

There are several initiatives to capture children’s book in digital format as well as a burgeoning industry to create digital books for kids. While kids do not appear to be reading as much on digital devices as adults the amount of kids reading ebooks is increasing. Cynthia Houston proclaims that “children’s books in digital format are essential if children’s literature is going to remain a popular form of informational and leisure reading for present and future Digital Natives” (39).

Free kids books online!

The International Children’s Digital Library is a prime example of a digital children’s literature library. Its open access policy is maintained to promote books from many cultures and languages so that children have access to their cultural heritage no matter where in the world they may move to or visit. The ICDL’s collection development goal is to provide access to 10,000 books in 100 languages to anyone with access to the Internet. Currently, the ICDL reports their collection contains 4,549 books in 61 languages.

How it works

The ICDL’s interface is fairly kid friendly. Most of the search options use pictures and icons for linking children to their book choice. There is the option to change the language of the website entirely to facilitate non English or non native English speakers in finding a book. The simple search includes searching for books by country, language, cover color, themes, book lengths, reader age and more. The advanced search is less graphically oriented and will aid more sophisticated searchers such as teachers and librarians.

It appears most of the books are not born digitally but are digitized. The digital presentation is true to the experience of opening a book with the option of viewing the full spread, double page or viewing one page at a time. Pages are turned forward by clicking on the text and forward or backwards with navigation arrows. The presentation is simple but straightforward making it possible for kids to navigate the website on their own. While many of the books are older there are many contemporary books as well.

Why it’s cool

The ICDL is selective with books added to the library as they are consciously building a collection of culturally sensitive books. While many books are old the ICDL’s commitment to respecting diversity, to “support the understanding of similarities and differences among and within countries, peoples, and cultures” and to “promote tolerance and acceptance” may alleviate some worries of stereotypical racial representations associated with older books in particular.

The ICDL is one of the few digital libraries dedicated to children’s literature, serving children users and doing so at no cost to the user. While ICDL books cannot be downloaded as they require a live Internet connection, the library provides a great place for kids to access books in their native languages and to explore other cultures through books.

Sources: 

Articles:

Houston, Cynthia. “Digital Books For Digital Natives.” Children & Libraries: The Journal Of The
Association For Library Service To Children 9.3 (2011): 39-42.

“Representative Collections Of Digital Children’s Literature.” Children & Libraries: The Journal Of
The Association For Library Service To Children 9.3 (2011): 42-45.

The International Children’s Digital Library (ICDL):
User Group: Children, teachers, librarians, caregivers

Home Page: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/index.shtml

Mission: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/about/mission.shtml

Back Ground and History: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/about/background.shtml

Fast Facts: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/about/fastfacts.shtml

Collection Development Policy: http://en.childrenslibrary.org/about/collection.shtml

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