''Kidz Magazine'' (1995–2007) was a
Boulder County
Boulder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado of the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 330,758. The most populous municipality in the county and the county seat is Boulder.
Boulder County comprises th ...
based publication that was started in 1995 by entrepreneur and father of six, Scott Smith.
[Brokaw, Annie. "For Kids, By Kids." The Daily Camera. April 8. 2006: C01] Smith developed the idea for the magazine with Glenn Meyers, another father and Spanish instructor at the
University of Colorado-Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a Public university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the flagship universit ...
, as they stood outside their children's school discussing ways to further inspire kids towards reading and writing.
[Taylor, Barbara. "A New Kidz Magazine Pays Budding Writers." The Daily Camera. October 14. 1996: A1] Their belief was that kids would be more interested in reading things that were written by their
peers than content created for them by adults. In addition, they believed that kids would be more inspired to write if they knew it was an audience of peers who would end up reading the material.
"I thought they might enjoy what each other wrote better, and indeed they do," said Smith.
Content
''Kidz Magazine'' collected submissions from school children in the form of poems,
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
,
puzzle
A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...
s, drawings,
invention
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an id ...
ideas, and
joke
A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...
s. Those authors and artists who were published in the magazine were paid $25 for puzzles and jokes, $50 for various forms of art and writing, and $100 to both the child and their school for
cover art
Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...
. In addition, published contributors received a
certificate
Certificate may refer to:
* Birth certificate
* Marriage certificate
* Death certificate
* Gift certificate
* Certificate of authenticity, a document or seal certifying the authenticity of something
* Certificate of deposit, or CD, a financial pr ...
of