A GOOD READ: Anorak Magazine

EVEN THOUGH Anorak magazine, published four times a year, is aimed at kids aged five to nine, this writer’s 3-year-old is equally enamoured of the new mag as his older friends. Anorak has been devised, says its editor Cathy Olmedillas, formerly of The Face and Sleazenation - who works in conjunction with art director Supermundane and an unofficial team of up to 70 children - to fill the gap left by the demise of annuals like Jackie, Beano and Bimbo.

The paperback tome is sweet, quirky, engaging, and positive in outlook with story strips, colouring-in pages, debates about snot, and essays about fear. Despite the Ed’s editorial history, there’s not a hint of irony when she says, “Anorak is all about inspiring children with fun stories to read and games to play. It was launched because of our shared passion for illustrations and words, looking to bring together the wealth of talented graphic designers and writers in this country. It gives children a platform to express their creativity as they review books, favorite places to go, films and music. We simply want to inspire them and fire up their imaginations! And to give them the opportunity to express themselves.”

The winter issue’s front cover was designed to be coloured in, for example. The main draw, however, (particularly for adults) is the inspiring graphic art throughout the magazine: cutting-edge artists like Simon Peplow and Al Murphy create comic-style cartoons with titles like: “Tower Block Ben” (about a boy who lives in an inner city tower block), about “Louis the Knee” about a knee who talks.

“Just like the Yellow Submarine or Sesame Street did in the 70s, we like to tell stories using varied but thoroughly modern aesthetic approaches,” says Olmedillas. “The world of kids’ cartoons is often too homogenized for our liking and for their minds!”

*Buy Anorak direct from www.anorak-magazine.co.uk or from Borders in the UK. In Europe from www.littlefashiongallery.com in the US from Barnes and Noble.