Spotlight on Issues 3 and 4 of "The Loop" - The quarterly children's magazine that thinks it's a newspaper!

The Loop Issue #4 and its eye-catching cover. Cat-Copter-Tastic!

We've been taking a look at a fantastic new children's magazine called "The Loop", a quarterly magazine that looks a bit like a newspaper - but is absolutely crammed from cover to cover with brilliant illustrations, activities, facts and stories. 

Devised and overseen by Claudia Boldt - the children's author and illustrator behind fabulous books like "Uugghh!"  - "The Loop" brings together fabulous illustrators, wonderful writers and most importantly child contributors to produce an interesting and engaging read aimed at 8-13 year olds (though it's also good for very inquisitive and curious little 5 year olds too!)

Leafing through issues 3 and 4 has been a real eye-opener - and we are enjoying seeing more and more magazines produced in a way that skips the usual advert and merchandise-filled format for something that's more akin to a decent broadsheet newspaper - but firmly with children in the driving seat. 

Devise your own museum displays and help label the others. 

Though Charlotte's a little young to wade through the text she enjoyed the illustrations and having the articles read to her (she loved the idea of Fencing after reading an interview with a young girl who is rapidly climbing the championship ranks in this challenging sport). 

Fantastic facts served up in brilliant graphical spreads like this. Awesome for inquiring minds!

We also loved the interview between a child and their grandma, with each taking it in turns to interview each other about what they liked to do as a child (or how they like to play now).

Issues of "The Loop" cost £4.50 which seems very reasonable given the amount of content and the longevity of the magazine. From the perspective of someone fairly arty, there were a million and one great ideas in here for artwork, make projects - even a recipe on how to cook and eat snails (which I'm seriously tempted to try, just to get rid of the plethora we seem to have happily munching their way through what's left of our veg in the garden!)

Take a look at "The Loop" website - there's plenty of content to whet your appetite there and The Shop gives you details on how to get hold of the magazine. We've really enjoyed taking a look at the two issues that Claudia sent us, so if you've got a busy curious little bee (or bees) at home, take a closer look at The Loop. 

(Kindly supplied to us for review by Claudia Boldt / The Loop Magazine)