Highlights for Children

Question: What publication is most likely to be found in the waiting room of a doctor or dentist? Answer: Highlights for Children. For over seven decades, this kid-friendly magazine has served to entertain, educate and even offer a little moral guidance to millions of youngsters around the country.

Near the end of WWII, an educator named Caroline Clark met a child psychologist named Garry Cleveland Myers. They both believed that children were best served by entertainment that also educated them.

This concept of “Fun with a Purpose” became the catalyst for a magazine they called Highlights for Children. They published their first issue in 1947 and they’ve been going strong ever since.

Back in the day, Highlights was jam-packed with stories, riddles, brain teasers, hidden object pictures, and a number of recurring comic strips, some of which offered insight on how one should behave.

Fondly remembered is a comic called “Goofus and Gallant,” which usually showed Goofus doing something the wrong way and Gallant demonstrating a better approach. Other strips included “The Bear Family” and “The Timbertoes”

Highlights for Children sold its billionth copy in 2006, evidence that the magazine is still going strong, over a half-century after its debut. And the next time you take your kids to the doctor, you just might see a copy laying on the table in the waiting room. Just another testament to this classic kid’s publication from yesteryear.

Do you remember reading Highlights for Children as a kid, maybe while waiting at the doctor or dentist’s office? Did you gravitate toward the comics like “Goofus and Galliant” or did you prefer the puzzles and games? I’d love to hear all of your recollections in our comments section below.