Categories Children's magazine First issue 1938 (1938-month) Based in Indianapolis, Indiana | Frequency Bimonthly Country United States | |
Company Saturday Evening Post Society | ||
Jack and Jill is an American bimonthly magazine for children 7 to 12 years old that takes its title from the nursery rhyme of the same name. It features stories and educational activities.
Contents
The magazine features nonfiction articles, short stories, poems, games, comics, recipes, crafts, and more. Having been continuously produced for nearly 75 years, it is one of the oldest American magazines for kids.
Mission
As part of the Children’s Better Health Institute—a division of the Saturday Evening Post Society Inc., a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization—Jack and Jill’s mission is to promote the healthy physical, educational, creative, social, and emotional growth of children in a format that is engaging, stimulating, and entertaining for children ages 7 to 12.
History
Jack and Jill magazine was launched by Curtis Publishing Company in 1938. It was the first addition to the Curtis line of magazines since it purchased Country Gentleman in 1911. The first editor of Jack and Jill was Ada Campbell Rose daughter-in-law of Philip Sheridan Rose, the editor of Country Gentleman. It was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's circulation grew to half a million before newsstand sales (but not subscriptions) were suspended during World War II due to paper shortages. Newsstand sales returned in 1948. Ada Campbell Rose continued as editor until 1959. The magazine began to accept outside advertising in 1962. Today the magazine is one of three children's magazines published by the U.S. Kids unit of Saturday Evening Post Society. In 2009, Jack and Jill merged with Children's Digest, another kids magazine from the same publisher.
Corey Michael Dalton edits Jack and Jill under the direction of Steven Slon. Jack and Jill is one of three children’s publications in the U.S. Kids family of magazines, which are published by the Children’s Better Health Institute, a division of the nonprofit The Saturday Evening Post Society. Its two sister publications under the U.S. Kids banner are Humpty Dumpty Magazine (for children ages 5 to 7) and Turtle Magazine for Preschool Kids. The headquarters of Jack and Jill is in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Features
Notable contributors
American author Pearl S. Buck, winner of the 1932 Pulitzer Prize and the 1938 Nobel Prize in Literature for her novel The Good Earth, contributed “One Bright Day,” a two-part story that appeared in the August and September 1950 issues.
Cartoonist Ted Key contributed the two-page feature Diz and Liz from 1961 to 1972.
Charles Ghigna (“Father Goose”), renowned poet and children’s book author of 100 award-winning books and a Pulitzer Prize nominee for Returning to Earth, sits on Jack and Jill’s editorial advisory board and has had his work published in the magazine.
Dr. Howard J. Bennett, author of several children’s health books and a column for The Washington Post, writes “Life Is Gross,” a recurring feature in Jack and Jill that presents strange science facts in a true/false format.
Renowned comic book writer Justin Gray contributed scripts for Jack and Jill’s comics pages for several years.
Acclaimed children’s author David A. Adler has written a new Cam Jansen short story specifically for Jack and Jill, which will appear in the Sep/Oct 2012 issue.
New York Times bestselling author Ben H. Winters, author of The Secret Life of Ms. Finkleman, The Mystery of the Missing Everything, and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters, has written an original short story for Jack and Jill, which will be published in the Nov/Dec 2012 issue.