''Sports Illustrated Kids'' (''SI Kids'', trademarked ''Sports Illustrated KIDS'', sometimes ''Sports Illustrated for Kids'') is a bi-monthly spin-off of the weekly American sports magazine ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''. ''SI Kids'' was launched in January 1989 and includes sports coverage with less vocabulary and more emphasis on humor. The magazine's secondary purpose is to market sports to children. ''Sports Illustrated Kids'' was created by Mark Mulvoy, the

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

of ''Sports Illustrated'', targeted at a younger audience. He continued to oversee the publication until his retirement in 1996. The first issue featured Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame member and former

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

guard

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

on the cover.

''Sports Illustrated Teen''

''Sports Illustrated Teen'' (''SI Teen'', trademarked ''Sports Illustrated TEEN'', sometimes ''Sports Illustrated TEEN Edition'') was a bound multiple-page insert within regular monthly issues of ''SI Kids'', written for the older readers of the children's magazine. Its contents featured more statistics, predictions, and in-depth looks at both team-based and

extreme sports Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extre ...

. ''Sports Illustrated Teen'' first appeared in the January 2004 issue, being published until it was cancelled in the March 2010 issue and was replaced with a selected article from ''Sports Illustrated''.

Partnership with Topps

In March 2006, the

Topps The Topps Company, Inc. is an American company that manufactures trading cards and other collectibles. Formerly based in New York City, Topps is best known as a leading producer of Baseball card, baseball and other sports and Non-sports tradi ...

company and ''Sports Illustrated Kids'' announced a marketing alliance to increase the overall awareness of trading card collecting among kids. The magazine advertises the inclusion of sports cards within every issue.

Magazine contents

Monthly features include comics, humorous captions of athletics photos, child reporters, and player interviews. The magazine's recurring

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

is Buzz Beamer, a buzz-cut blond-haired Caucasian boy always in dark glasses. He stars in most of the comics in which he plays a variety of sports and also appeared in several flash cartoons on the official website. Buzz is created and drawn by award-winning cartoonist Bill Hinds. Other works have been published under the magazine title including video games, a television show, and books (such as a sports

pop-up book A pop-up book is any book with three-dimensional space, three-dimensional pages, often with elements that ''pop up'' as a page is turned. The terminology serves as an umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvel ...

). The December edition of the magazine features the SportsKid of the Year. Each issue features a poster that can be torn out of the issue.

Cover history

Most covers by athlete, 1989–2011 Spot Preview Editions 1989–2011 Special Editions 1989–2011

Awards and recognition

*Won the "Distinguished Achievement for Excellence in Educational Publishing" award 11 times *Won the "Parents' Choice Magazine Award" 7 times

References

External links

*
''Sports Illustrated Kids'' Teacher's web site

Topps and ''SI Kids'' announce a partnership
{{Children's programming on CBS in the 1990s Children's magazines published in the United States Monthly magazines published in the United States Sports magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1989 Magazines formerly owned by Meredith Corporation Magazines published in New York City Kids