Cricket (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Cricket is an illustrated literary
magazine
for child
ren published in the United States
, founded in September 1973 by Marianne Carus, whose intent was to create "The New Yorker
for children." Marianne Carus still serves as the magazine's editor
-in-chief.
Each issue of Cricket is 64 pages. The magazine is published nine times a year (monthly, with some of the summer months combined) by the Carus Publishing Company
of Peru, Illinois
. Its target audience is children from 9 to 14 years old. Until March 1995, Cricket was published by the Open Court Publishing Company
of La Salle, Illinois
, now part of Carus.
Cricket publishes original stories
, poems
, folk tales
, articles and illustrations
by such notable artists as Trina Schart Hyman
, the magazine's art director from 1973 to 1979. Carus has solicited materials from well-known authors and illustrators, including Lloyd Alexander
, Isaac Bashevis Singer
, Hilary Knight
, William Saroyan
, Ursula K. Le Guin
, Eric Carle
, Wallace Tripp
, Charles Ghigna
and Paul O. Zelinsky
. Cricket also runs contests and publishes work by its readers. Hyman contributed to the magazine until her death in 2004.
One distinct feature of Cricket is the illustrated cast of recurring characters that appears in the margins of each issue, similar to a comic strip
. These characters include Cricket
, Ladybug
, and other friends, most of whom are also insect
s. The characters are involved in a storyline that runs throughout the issue, but also comment on the articles above them. They define difficult word
s, draw attention to unusual facts, and otherwise annotate
the magazine's content.
On the last page of each issue is the "Old Cricket Says" column, in which Old Cricket points out a bit of wisdom or a witticism, or introduces themes to be explored in the upcoming issues of Cricket. This recurring column has been ghostwritten by a number of authors and editors who worked for Cricket, but a preponderance of them were written by author Lloyd Alexander
until his death in 2007.
Cricket has spawned several spin-off magazines for different age groups, currently Babybug (up to 3 years old), Ladybug (2-6), Spider
(6-9) and Cicada (for teenagers).
In 2003, Cricket Books published Celebrate Cricket: 30 Years of Stories and Art (ISBN 0-8126-2695-8), a retrospective that republishes stories from the magazine and includes interview
s with some of the founders and contributors.
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
for child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren published in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, founded in September 1973 by Marianne Carus, whose intent was to create "The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
for children." Marianne Carus still serves as the magazine's editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
-in-chief.
Each issue of Cricket is 64 pages. The magazine is published nine times a year (monthly, with some of the summer months combined) by the Carus Publishing Company
Carus Publishing Company
The Carus Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago, Peru, Illinois, and Peterborough, New Hampshire. It owns the Open Court Publishing Company as well as the Cricket Magazine Group, and Cobblestone Publishing...
of Peru, Illinois
Peru, Illinois
Peru is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,295 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area...
. Its target audience is children from 9 to 14 years old. Until March 1995, Cricket was published by the Open Court Publishing Company
Open Court Publishing Company
The Open Court Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago and La Salle, Illinois. It is part of the Carus Publishing Company of Peru, Illinois.-History:...
of La Salle, Illinois
La Salle, Illinois
LaSalle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over one square mile, the city has grown to...
, now part of Carus.
Cricket publishes original stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, poems
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, folk tales
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, articles and illustrations
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
by such notable artists as Trina Schart Hyman
Trina Schart Hyman
Trina Schart Hyman was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends, and was the recipient of three Caldecott Honors and one Caldecott Medal....
, the magazine's art director from 1973 to 1979. Carus has solicited materials from well-known authors and illustrators, including Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Chudley Alexander was a widely influential American author of more than forty books, mostly fantasy novels for children and adolescents, as well as several adult books...
, Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer – July 24, 1991) was a Polish Jewish American author noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978...
, Hilary Knight
Hilary Knight
Hilary Knight is an American writer-artist who is the illustrator of more than 50 books and the author of nine books. He is best known as the illustrator of Kay Thompson's Eloise and others in the Eloise series....
, William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
, Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author. She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, notably in fantasy and science fiction...
, Eric Carle
Eric Carle
Eric Carle is a children's book author and illustrator who is most famous for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been translated into over 50 languages...
, Wallace Tripp
Wallace Tripp
Wallace Whitney Tripp is an American illustrator, anthologist and author. He is known for creating anthropomorphic animal characters of emotional complexity and for his great visual and verbal humor. He is one of several illustrators of the Amelia Bedelia series of children's stories...
, Charles Ghigna
Charles Ghigna
Charles Ghigna is an American children's author, poet, speaker and nationally syndicated feature writer....
and Paul O. Zelinsky
Paul O. Zelinsky
Paul O. Zelinsky is an American author and illustrator of children's books. He was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1998 for his Rapunzel. The best-selling movable book The Wheels on the Bus is his most popular work.-Early life:...
. Cricket also runs contests and publishes work by its readers. Hyman contributed to the magazine until her death in 2004.
One distinct feature of Cricket is the illustrated cast of recurring characters that appears in the margins of each issue, similar to a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
. These characters include Cricket
Cricket (insect)
Crickets, family Gryllidae , are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers, and more closely related to katydids or bush crickets . They have somewhat flattened bodies and long antennae. There are about 900 species of crickets...
, Ladybug
Coccinellidae
Coccinellidae is a family of beetles, known variously as ladybirds , or ladybugs . Scientists increasingly prefer the names ladybird beetles or lady beetles as these insects are not true bugs...
, and other friends, most of whom are also insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. The characters are involved in a storyline that runs throughout the issue, but also comment on the articles above them. They define difficult word
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
s, draw attention to unusual facts, and otherwise annotate
Annotation
An annotation is a note that is made while reading any form of text. This may be as simple as underlining or highlighting passages.Annotated bibliographies give descriptions about how each source is useful to an author in constructing a paper or argument...
the magazine's content.
On the last page of each issue is the "Old Cricket Says" column, in which Old Cricket points out a bit of wisdom or a witticism, or introduces themes to be explored in the upcoming issues of Cricket. This recurring column has been ghostwritten by a number of authors and editors who worked for Cricket, but a preponderance of them were written by author Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Alexander
Lloyd Chudley Alexander was a widely influential American author of more than forty books, mostly fantasy novels for children and adolescents, as well as several adult books...
until his death in 2007.
Cricket has spawned several spin-off magazines for different age groups, currently Babybug (up to 3 years old), Ladybug (2-6), Spider
Spider (magazine)
Spider is an illustrated literary magazine designed for children from 6 to 9 years old. Started in January 1994, the magazine is published in the United States by The Cricket Magazine Group, which is owned by the Carus Publishing Company. The magazine publishes original short stories, poems,...
(6-9) and Cicada (for teenagers).
In 2003, Cricket Books published Celebrate Cricket: 30 Years of Stories and Art (ISBN 0-8126-2695-8), a retrospective that republishes stories from the magazine and includes interview
Interview
An interview is a conversation between two people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee.- Interview as a Method for Qualitative Research:"Definition" -...
s with some of the founders and contributors.