Cricket

My mom set up a subscription to Cricket for me back in 1976 when I was in elementary school. I always loved reading and wasn't happy with the same old "See Spot Run" books. Mom saw that I was getting bored with the same old stuff and decided to give the magazine a try.

I got the first few issues and didn't really do anything with them. But once a rainy day came around, I decided to pick them up and give them a try. After that, I was hooked on the stories, the artwork, the games, and the contests the magazine runs each month. Each issue had its own theme and I always found the quality to be top notch. I found out Cricket had only came to be a few years earlier and went to the library with my dad to dig up some back issues.

I was introduced to such writers as Shel Silverstein, Lloyd Alexander, Walter De La Mare, Clifton Fadiman, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg and William Shakespeare. I find myself coming back to Cricket time and again. I still have my original issues and hope to share them with my kids once they're older. They truly have a timeless quality.

I highly reccommend this magazine to parents whose children have expressed an interest in reading.

I received a gift subscription to this magazine from my aunt when I was 8 years old and kept every single issue I got in the mail until I turned 18 and my mother refused to keep paying for it (it is rather expensive). I have reread the hundreds of issues I have over and over and savored every possible detail. Because of this magazine, I became a happy appreciator of quality children's literature. Cricket doesn't talk down to children but respects their natural intelligence and curiosity. Fiction stories coexist with nonfiction, poems mingle with crosswords, beautiful illustrations appear next to photographs.



There have been numerous times when I (now 23) have spouted out random facts to my friends, only to admit (with a slightly pink face) that it was from an article in Cricket magazine that I read when I was 11. But this is a good example of the staying power of this magazine. It made me an English major. It made me a literature lover. It made me order my own subscription, in spite of being out of its targeted age range.



If you have a 7-8 year old that is starting to spend more time with books than with toys, or if you'd like your 7-8 year old to spend more time with books than with toys, consider ordering Cricket.

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I was introduced to Cricket magazine through one of my teachers in early elementary school, and soon afterward my parents began a subscription for me. From then all the way up through middle school I devoured each issue cover-to-cover the moment it arrived. At first I found it a welcome challenge compared to the overly simple and mundane classroom books of the "Mac the cat sat on a mat" variety. Even after I had surpassed the magazine in my reading ability, I continued to enjoy it for the content of the stories. Even my mother loved to read it.

The magazine provides a great collection of well-selected stories that open up an entire world for the young reader, and each issue usually has a particular theme (i.e. the Middle Ages, horses, Chinese culture, food, etc.). Some of the stories are excerpted from longer pieces and some are short works in their own right. The magazine spans all genres of literature; includes both fiction, non-ficiton, and poetry; and addresses such important themes as culture, history, family and friends, growing up, and much more. Some pieces have serious and valuable morals, while others are just plain fun.

The magazine also offers book recommendations, a comic strip, a crossword puzzle, jokes, and contests for art, photography, fiction, and poetry. Moreover, each issue is beautifully illustrated. I believe the artwork in this magazine did much to inspire my own early artistic endeavors. I would highly recommend this magazine to parents and teachers alike. The stories are excellent material for young readers, and would also be great to read aloud to children. On the whole, this is a terrific blend of recreation and education! The makers of Cricket also offer other magazines for different age levels Spider, Ladybug, and Babybug for the younger ones, and Cicada for adolescents.

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The Fong family is now a multi-generation Cricket household. I loved it as a kid and now my daughters (ages 7, 5 & 2) are enjoying every issue as well. Cricket wins on many levels. As a parent the stories, poems, games and cartoons deliver good, wholesome entertainment you won't mind reading to your kids again, and again, and again.... We save every issue and re-read our favorites regularly.

The different age level magazines Carus offers (Cricket, Spider, Ladybug and Babybug) make them great "independent reading" material as well.

Finally, I don't know of a single kid who isn't thrilled to receive real "snail mail" once a month!

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This is not the Cricket magazine you grew up with. I remember getting Cricket for years starting the late 70s/early 80s. I think my dad first got me a subscription when I was nine, and I received them until I left for college! I saved every single issue. And, to this day, I keep a print of John Singer Sargent's "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" hanging in the house I first saw it on the cover of a Cricket and loved it ever since. I can remember being so happy when a new issue would come in the mail. When my oldest turned nine, I subscribed to the magazine eager for him to have the hours of enjoyment that I had gleaned from it so many years ago. The first few issues were pretty good. Not the fabulous magazine I remembered but then again, that's typical of childhood memories. Then one day, he came to me, holding his latest Cricket and said, "mom what's a le5bian?"

Well it was quite a shock. There was a short story all about a girl in high school, struggling with her feelings and attractions to other girls. Her desire to dress like a boy, etc. This is fine but not in a magazine for kids age 9-12 for petes sake! I hope that I can teach my kids to love and welcome people regardless of race, religion, and orientation. It sounds cliche...but it's true. I don't even mind the not-so-subtle liberal agenda of this magazine (lots of short "stories" about the evils of pollution and global warming what fun!). What I do mind is a magazine for "children" introducing subjects that are in my opinion, more appropriate for teenagers. So, unless you want to waste your time previewing Cricket magazine each time your read it...or you feel this subject matter is OK for your grade school/middle school kid, don't subscribe. There are plenty of excellent sources of literature and poetry that are free from political agendas (both right and left), that have been read for generations of kids without having to have things like alternative lifestyles explained to them first.

I did consider continuing the magazine and just previewing each issue. But ripping out inappropriate stories smacked too much of censorship. I didn't mind the story. I minded the story for a child. Just as I don't let my kids watch certain "R" rated movies...I don't let them read certain subject matter. All in good time though. Can't we just let them enjoy being children for a few short years, without burdening them with the concerns of adulthood???

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