special report

TURTLE Magazine for Preschool Kids
Readership: boys and girls ages 2-5
Parent Organization (Children’s Better Health Institute)
also publishes HUMPTY DUMPTY, JACK & JILL, CHILD LIFE, and others

Note: This Special Report first appeared on Janfields.com

SUBMISSION SPECIFICS
Like all the Children’s Better Health Institute magazines, TURTLE is not exactly hungry for submissions. These magazines buy all rights and often recycle material from very old issues, so they aren’t a bad market for newer children’s writers but they aren’t exactly a good one either. They have a lovely website, which can give you a great feel for the magazine -- its look and its contents -- if you’re having trouble finding a sample issue.

Writers’ guidelines, which include guidelines for all of the Children’s Better Health Institute magazines are available here.

Turtle pays up to 22 cents a word for fiction and nonfiction up to 350 words. They also pay a flat rate of $25 for a poem.

Send Submissions to:
Terry Harshman, editor
TURTLE
Children’s Better Health Institute
1100 Waterway Blvd.
P.O. Box 567
Indianapolis, IN 46206

WHAT THEY WANT:

TURTLE is especially interested in stories for bedtime or naptime. They also use simple science activities, simple recipes, and health-related pieces. Like all the CBHI magazines, TURTLE champions good health practices -- so no sugar in recipes and avoid high fat foods or red meat as well. Don’t have characters indulging in unhealthy activities or foods. From their guidelines: "Although our emphasis is on health, we certainly use material with more general themes. We would especially like to see more holiday stories, articles, and activities. Please send seasonal material at least eight months in advance."

ANALYSIS OF SPECIFIC ISSUE

TURTLE
March/April 2004 Vol. 26, No. 2

Includes the Magazine’s Purpose Statement which reads, in part: "We are committed to improving the health and well-being of children".Our publications are designed to educate and entertain readers and to promote good health and fitness among all children."

Contents:

"A is for Apple" by Ginny Winter. Poem about what a nice treat an apple can be -- 28 words, 6 lines. Rhymes: hooray with a day, treat with sweet, and lunchtime with munchtime. Rhyme scheme is AABCCB.

"A Good Teacher" by Valeri Gorbachev. This is a picture story and a regular feature in TURTLE. In it a bossy wolf gets a pinch from a crab to teach him some manners. 37 words.

"Boating" by Mark A. Hicks. A hidden picture puzzle.

"Who Scampers" by Louis Magila. A picture puzzle/color by letter reveals a picture of a bunny.

"Ready, Set, Grow!" no byline. How potatoes and tomatoes are planted and how they grow.

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" by Ginny Winter. A retelling of the rhyme, makes Mary a vegetable gardener. TURTLE is quite fond of retold nursery rhymes and I have seen them often in the magazines. The accompanying illustration can be colored by the reader.

"Make Rainbow Colors" no byline for writer. Encourages children to drop food color in cups of water to see how colors mix.

"Growing Up" by Ginny Winter. A picture puzzle/match baby animals to their older forms.

"Look at Me" by Marian Sneider. A rebus story. In TURTLE rebus stories, abstract replacements are often made such as a picture of an eye to stand in place of "eye" and a picture of a C to stand in place of the word "see." This rebus rhymes and is a child’s observations of photos of himself on his Grandmother’s wall. 60 words.

"Turtle’s Favorite Books" A one-line review of a picture book with an accompanying illustration from the book.

"Busy Day" by Mark A. Hicks. A picture story to read and color about a turtle who is in bed but doesn’t think he needs to rest. But when he reviews all the things he did that day, he falls asleep.37 words.

"What Do You Look For?" by Geri Dreffein. Humorous story of a Grandmother and child out for a walk. The grandmother asks why they look before they cross the road -- because of planes, trains, boats? Her granddaughter fills in why we need to look before we cross. 240 words.

"Whack!" by Robeta L. Fairall. A connect-the-dots picture of a T-ball player.

"Ask Doctor Cory" -- questions and answers for parents and teachers.

"Rain" by Andria W. Rosenbaum. 24 words. Lots of sound words -- it rains, the sun comes out and the rain goes away. Rhyme scheme AABA, CDED. Rhymes drip, drop with kerplop and rooftop. And rhymes grow and go.

Each issue also has children’s drawings with their photos.

This page last updated on 01 September 2008