Humpty Dumpty (magazine)

Last updated
Humpty Dumpty
CategoriesChildren's magazine
FrequencyBimonthly
First issueOctober 1952 (1952-October)
Company Saturday Evening Post Society
Country United States
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana
ISSN 0273-7590

Humpty Dumpty is a bimonthly American magazine for children 2 to 6 years old that takes its title from the nursery rhyme of the same name. The magazine features short stories, poems, nonfiction articles, games, comics, recipes, crafts, and more. Having been continuously produced for more than 65 years, it is one of the oldest American magazines for kids. [1]

Contents

History

Humpty Dumpty Magazine (then called Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine) was launched by George J. Hecht and Parents magazine in October 1952. Originally, it was a sister publication to Children's Digest , aimed at a younger audience than the latter publication. The first editor of Humpty Dumpty was Harold Schwartz. Another early editor was the children's book author Alvin Tresselt. [2] In January 1980, both Humpty Dumpty and Children’s Digest came under the ownership of the nonprofit Saturday Evening Post Society. When Children's Digest was merged with Jack and Jill in 2009, Humpty Dumpty was continued.

Features

The magazine holds an annual themed cover contest in which readers submit their artwork. [3] The winning entry is featured on the front cover, with second-, third-place, and Readers’ Choice winners’ art showcased inside the same issue.

Notable contributors

Criticisms

A 1986 study of several magazines for the very young, including Humpty Dumpty, concluded that only National Geographic World "solely and completely provided young children with entertainment and interesting information which offered many opportunities for extended discussion". [6] A 1980 study was similarly dismissive of Humpty Dumpty and other children's magazines. [7]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jabberwocky</span> 1855 and 1871 nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll

"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass, the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The book tells of Alice's adventures within the back-to-front world of the Looking-Glass world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humpty Dumpty</span> Nursery rhyme character

Humpty Dumpty is a character in an English nursery rhyme, probably originally a riddle and one of the best known in the English-speaking world. He is typically portrayed as an anthropomorphic egg, though he is not explicitly described as such. The first recorded versions of the rhyme date from late eighteenth-century England and the tune from 1870 in James William Elliott's National Nursery Rhymes and Nursery Songs. Its origins are obscure, and several theories have been advanced to suggest original meanings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gardner Fox</span> American comics writer

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics. Fox was also a science fiction author and wrote many novels and short stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Art Spiegelman</span> American cartoonist (born 1948)

Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman, professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel Maus. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines Arcade and Raw has been influential, and from 1992 he spent a decade as contributing artist for The New Yorker. He is married to designer and editor Françoise Mouly and is the father of writer Nadja Spiegelman. In September 2022, the National Book Foundation announced that he would receive the Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

<i>The Comics Journal</i> American magazine

The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing reviews of the products of the mainstream comics industry, the magazine promotes the view that comics are a fine art, meriting broader cultural respect, and thus should be evaluated with higher critical standards.

TwoMorrows Publishing is a publisher of magazines about comic books, founded in 1994 by John and Pam Morrow out of their small advertising agency in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Its products also include books and DVDs.

<i>Maniac Magee</i> 1990 novel by Jerry Spinelli

Maniac Magee is a novel written by American author Jerry Spinelli and published in 1990. Exploring themes of racism and inequality, it follows the story of an orphan boy looking for a home in the fictional town of Two Mills. Two Mills is harshly segregated between the East and West, blacks and whites. He becomes a local legend for feats of athleticism and helpfulness, and his ignorance of sharp racial boundaries in the town. It is popular in middle school curricula, and has been used in social studies on the premises of reaction to racial identity and reading. A TV movie was released on February 23, 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheldon Mayer</span> American comic creator

Sheldon Mayer was an American comics artist, writer, and editor. One of the earliest employees of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Publications, Mayer produced almost all of his comics work for the company that would become known as DC Comics.

<i>Childrens Digest</i> Childrens magazine

Children's Digest was a monthly children's magazine published in the United States from October 1950 to May/June 2009, after which it was merged with Jack and Jill. The magazine was advertised as "selected reading to delight, instruct, and entertain," offering "the cream of new stories for boys and girls, reprints of the best-loved classics."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Goodman (publisher)</span> Publisher; founder of Marvel Comics

Martin Goodman was an American publisher of pulp magazines, digest sized magazines, paperback books, men's adventure magazines, and comic books, who founded the comics magazine company Timely Comics in 1939. Timely Comics would go on to become Marvel Comics, one of the United States' two largest comic book publishers along with rival DC Comics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lane Smith (illustrator)</span> American illustrator and writer of childrens books

Lane Smith is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter, both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green, which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012, and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man, which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.

<i>Jack and Jill</i> (magazine) American bimonthly magazine

Jack and Jill is an American bimonthly magazine for children 6 to 12 years old that takes its title from the nursery rhyme of the same name. It features stories and educational activities.

Frederick B. Guardineer was an American illustrator and comic book writer-artist best known for his work in the 1930s and 1940s during what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books, and for his 1950s art on the Western comic-book series The Durango Kid.

<i>Parents</i> (magazine) American parenting magazine

Parents was an American monthly magazine founded in 1926 that featured scientific information on child development geared to help parents in raising their children. Subscribers were notified of the magazine’s dissolution via a postcard mailing in March 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Santat</span> American childrens illustrator and writer (born 1975)

Dan Santat is an American author and illustrator known for his children's book The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, which won the 2015 Caldecott Medal for distinguished illustration. He also wrote The Guild of Geniuses and created the Disney Channel animated series The Replacements. He was awarded the 2023 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for A First Time for Everything.

Deborah Mary Niland is a New Zealand–born Australian artist, known as a writer and illustrator of children's books. Some of her most popular books include Annie's Chair, When The Wind Changed, Mulga Bill's Bicycle, and Chatterbox. In 2006 she won The Children's Book of the Year – Early Childhood, with her book Annie's Chair.

George Joseph Hecht was the founder and publisher of Parents magazine and owner of FAO Schwarz. He is often credited with creating the parenting advice industry through his many publications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Burstein (editor)</span>

Mark Burstein is an author, book editor and expert on the works of Lewis Carroll. He is a lifelong Carrollian and has been a key figure in the Lewis Carroll Society of North America (LCSNA).

<i>Kazoo</i> (magazine) American magazine

Kazoo is a print magazine for children, based in Brooklyn, New York City. It was the first children's magazine to be awarded the General Excellence—"Special Interest" award by the National Magazine Awards in 2019.

References

  1. "About Us - U.S. Kids". www.USKidsMags.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  2. "Goodreads.com".
  3. "U.S. Kids Magazine Cover Contest". www.USKidsMags.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018.
  4. Krantz, SG (2011). "Memories of Martin Gardner" (PDF). Notices of the AMS.
  5. "COLLECTOR'S CORNER, Round 3 An Occasional Item of Interest to Gardner Collectors".
  6. Scofield, Merry Ellen (1986-09-30). "An Evaluation of Magazines for the Very Young".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Phillips, Mark (1980). "Children's Magazines: Mostly Bottle Feeding". Serials Review . 6 (4): 5–6. doi:10.1080/00987913.1980.10763215 (inactive 2024-09-18).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2024 (link)