18. Sports Illustrated Kids

Sports Illustrated Kids by Bob Der (managing editor) (Time Inc). Above: the Jan/Feb 2013 issue

Genre

Magazine

Review

In some ways Sports Illustrated Kids feels like Sports Illustrated with less text.  Like its parent magazine, SI for Kids, focuses broadly on the world of sports including football, basketball, baseball, tennis, track & field, soccer (or football to the rest of the world), hockey, etc.  The feature articles here are on NBA star Andre Igoudala and The Rockets' James Harden & Jeremy Lin -- players you would also expect to see highlighted in SI.  There are some features beyond the lack of text that make the magazine clearly for children.  There is a brief highlight on page 12 for 3 Sportskids of the month featuring three U.S. athletes: Abbie Gerczak, 13; Jacob Taylor, 14; and Cameron Lindley, 15.  This issue also features a number of quizzes and trivia questions about professional sports aimed at children: one on the Rockets, one on Pablo Sandoval, one about the Superbowl, a Nascar quiz, a general year-in-sports quiz, and a series of questions about the rules of various sports.  Another distinguishing feature can be found in the graphics.  They are decidedly more childish than SI: many feature athletes with comically oversized heads (see below).

Athletes with giant heads, also on the left Ryan Seacrest and the legs of Superman: all decidedly more kid friendly/appeal than a typical issue of Sports Illustrated.

Opinion

The magazine feels like a primer for reading Sports Illustrated.  The quizzes and spotlights on child athletes may be appealing.  And the glossy pictures and lack of text may make the magazine seem less threatening to reluctant or struggling readers.  Certainly, magazines such as this are great for children who are enamored with sports or are themselves athletes, and may encourage them to read.

Ideas

The magazine's focus is mostly upon professional sports -- it would perhaps be more interesting if it offered ideas for games children could play.  However, it could be used to spur reluctant or struggling readers to read.  The pictures are appealing and the text is clear.