My girls can’t walk past a news stand without demanding a magazine. I tend to buy them as a treat for when they manage to make it round the supermarket without having a huge tantrum. They often flick through it while in the trolley and then have something to do when I am putting the shopping away and it always seems preferable to buying sweeties. Most of the magazines they choose are a big disappointment. They only want it for the toy, which is then thrown away after five minutes. The content of the magazines is often much too old and there just isn’t enough for them to do to keep them occupied.
Which is why Blossom Magazine is so refreshing. I had a long conversation with the editor, Andrea Turton and it is clear that they know the market really well. There was definitely a gap in the market for something for little girls. Although there are a wealth of titles for preschoolers my twins will ignore all the Tree Fu Tom and Thomas the Tank engine magazines and go straight for the princesses and sparkly magazines meant for older girls. They won’t often choose Cbeebies magazine which was my eldest’s favourite from the age of three. The twins are very girly girls and the pretty cover of Blossom Magazine really appeals to them.
Once they are lured inside the pages of Blossom Magazine offer a solid educational content which teachers like me will heartily approve of. The magazine has a second title “For girls who love to learn” and this is true throughout the magazine. The activities are rooted in the National Curriculum but are presented in such a fun way children won’t even know they are learning. I also love the message that girls can be whatever they want. The magazine features different jobs which the girls can aspire to, recently they have shown, vets, footballers and architects. It definitely helps girls have an idea about what they can be when they grow up and not just want to be princesses.
I was really interested in seeing how the magazine is put together. We met the illustrator of much of the magazine, Ian Cunliffe. I really love how this magazine has a set of characters who appear every time. It makes it seem like a running story. Of course Rose loves that there is a character called Rose. Ian’s drawings are delightful and really capture the innocence of childhood.
Ian asked what we wanted him to draw and I requested a drawing of Daisy, the Blossom girl who looks most like Molly, ice skating. I love his sketch and when I get the printer to work I’m going to print it off so Molly can have it to colour in.
The big attraction for the twins when choosing a magazine is the prize on top. This month is came with a brilliant fairy princess to decorate. AJust one tip – if you have more than one girl you will need to get them a copy each as mine were all desperate to do this activity.
The gift came with everything you needed to decorate the princess. It was a lovely little set and kept the girls entertained for about half an hour. It made cost of the magazine really worth while.
The twins really enjoyed playing with the princess and she looks lovely sitting in their room.
This month it is definitely worth getting as there is a great competition to celebrate World Book Day where children can write their own story and win the chance of seeing it published in the magazine. They can also win Janey Louise Jones, the author of the fabulous Princess Poppy book series to come into their school. Whether they win or not I think this activity is a brilliant way to get children writing.
While at the Blossom offices we had a really great question and answer session with Janey Louise Jones, Ian Cunliffe and the editors of Blossom and Cbeebies magazine about writing and publishing. I have so much to write about it that I’m going to do another post so make sure you come back next week!
Princess Poppy is a great book to go along with Blossom Magazine. Both give such a positive message to little girls. They can be girly if they want but they are so much more than that. They are learners who can like football or write their own stories.
Anyway Blossom has helped the twins decide what they want to be when they grow up. They both want to be dress designers. It’s also helped me decide what I want to be when I grow up – I’d love to work in the Blossom offices.
Disclaimer: We were given a subscription to Blossom Magazine.