MOXIE MOM on Life & Kids
Magazine Folds
If you’re a subscriber to Wondertime magazine and you received your March issue yesterday like I did, you just received the last issue of your subscription. In fact, I don’t know how long the above link will last because the website will be disappearing, too. Yep. And I don’t know if you’ll get a refund. I’m guessing not.
Apparently even Disney, the owner, isn’t immune to the economic woes. You can read more here. In fact, print magazines are on the chopping block. Not all of them, but here’s a list that are either gone or going.
So, if you ask me how I’m doing, I’m fine, but I’m quietly mourning the loss of a good publication. For its focus on funny. For its beautiful photos. For its willingness to tackle tricky topics (read this article on the birds and the bees by Catherine Newman before it disppears, too. Too dang funny for words.).
Perhaps most pertinently, for its willingness to work with me, a writer. I had three articles in the works, one of them done and just waiting for a spring issue. Now those articles will never see the light of day, at least in the way they were envisioned.
But more than my own accomplishments, I’m sorry that so many good people were given the ax, and I can only imagine the shock when the magazine’s staff was given the word. I know it was sudden because it was sudden for me, too, working as I was to meet an upcoming deadline.
Tough times out there…
1 commentParent Reading
I’ve read a variety of parent publications over the years, most of them dentist office type magazines I leaf through and promptly forget. But there are a few I find myself recommending over and over to friends. One is a mainstream magazine I love for its new approach to mainstream topics (see below), and then a couple not-so-mainstream publications that cover the nitty gritty of parenting through personal essays. Stuff you don’t even want to tell your best friend. The latter two pubs don’t bother with topics such as how to (kindly) get your kids to eat vegetables. Mommy lit is a newish genre that can drive you batty or not, depending on who you are (I feel comfortable saying so because I write this stuff), and you might think these writers are panicky obsessives in need of a chill pill, but they also just might bring you back from the brink. Dads, in case you’re feeling left out, you’re represented too.
The mainstream first: Wondertime is a fun magazine that breaks the mold. Aimed at parents of younger children, its platform is “celebrate your child’s love of learning.” With humor. The magazine publishes personal essays—nothing too heavy but still real—with informational sidebars so you can learn a little more without actually reading a how-to article. They also publish such things as recipes, a child’s first, a “tell me why” page with things like “why we yawn,” as well as features. For new parents, this magazine has cool new baby information and beautiful photographs. Like most magazines, it also loves to hear from readers if you’re inclined that way. And if you need a belly laugh or an “aha” moment, check out Catherine Newman’s Wondertime blog. This lady can write!
That said, it looks like, according to this week’s blog, she’s changing her format to focus on food rather than parenting, but I guarantee it will be good even though I can’t say yet where she’s going, and I guarantee it will include her kids. Anyway, check out her past blogs, and if you really like her, I recommend her book, Waiting For Birdy, a sweet, funny, so-on-target book about the year she was pregnant with her second child. Anyone new to two children or in the throes contemplating a second will relate to this book. As for the magazine, you can find it at local bookstores and grocery stores alike, but I’m pretty sure it’s not at the library.
Brain, Child: This magazine is my all-time favorite for good writing that’s not sugar-coated. There’s very little advertising to distract, and the personal essays cut right to the bone. You’ll also find fiction and a debate on a tough topic, as well as a researched feature article. The content tends to lean to the left, so read with that caveat in mind, but many of the topics are universal: difficult pregnancy, adoption, a child’s problems in school. The topics seem to center around the early stages of parenting, but sometimes you’ll find essays about parenting teens, too. As for finding this magazine, well, The Newsstand was the only local business to carry it, so now you have to go on-line. You can read sample articles there before subscribing.
Literary Mama: This is a website, not a magazine, but otherwise is similar in content to Brain, Child. You’ll find nonfiction essays, fiction, a blog, and op-eds. On those nights when you’re up late with a baby or maybe just up late on the computer and you want a distraction, this is a great place to land. There’s also a hardcopy book that the editors put together of favorite essays from the site.
Happy reading.
leave a comment!