Christine French Clark

A handsome volume filled with a varied category of many of the letters Highlights Magazine received from their young readers asking for advice. The letters all reflect a passion and seriousness on the part of their writers regarding school, friends, family, jobs and the world at large. These kids want to know how to navigate a an often bewildering and complex world of expectations, challenges, demands and issues. Some live in happy, supportive families, but many don't.

And the letters sent in return were based on guidance from professional child care experts; including doctors and teachers. They deliver smart, positive,nurturing, and encouraging messages to children of all ages. And cover school friendships, bullying, losing family members, divorce, racism, sexual identity, the anxiety caused by 9-1-1, the loneliness caused by the Pandemic, and even worse, i.e. parents' alcohol / drug addiction, and child abuse.

I felt the book covered a lot of ground and reflected current guidelines in child psychology.

But... it just made me wonder about all the children who experience serious issues and DON'T write in asking for advice.… (mehr)

This title contains a variety of materials within. Poems, short fiction stories, short nonfiction stories, a science section complete with diagrams, quizzes, a science experiment, and many other activities can all be found in this single issue. The reading level varies broadly, from a story for beginner readers where words are occasionally replaced with an image to an article for more advanced readers about a woman who does not let her disability stop her from competing in sports. The attempt to cover such a broad range hurts the appeal of the magazine. While a little for everyone can be found, material focused on a more specific age group would allow kids to enjoy the entire magazine, rather than just bits and pieces. With a broad age range in mind, I would recommend this title to families with young and middle grade children.… (mehr)