Expanding Opportunities for Kids
Kids who love the popular "Ask Arizona" and "Dear Highlights" features in Highlights® can find more of their favorites on HighlightsKids.com.
These are just two of the many features for kids on the magazine's free Web site, which was designed to further enhance the Highlights reader's experience.
"On the Web site, The Arizona Zone features an archive of previously published Ask Arizona stories and invites kids to share their thoughts about them," says Highlights Senior Editor Judy Burke. For those who don't know, Arizona is a fictional kid who answers fictional letters with stories from her own life.
"Kids also get the opportunity to comment on the Ask Arizona story that appears in the current issue of the magazine, although that story does not appear on the Web site," Burke adds. The editors hope that reading the comments from kids who've read the story will motivate the kids who haven't to open the new issue and read the story.
"The Arizona Zone is still brand-new, and we're pleased with the feedback we've received from kids so far," Burke says. In a recent month, The Arizona Zone had about 4,000 visits per page, and 400 kids shared their thoughts about the stories.
Readers also can get answers to their own questions and those of other kids through the Dear Highlights area on HighlightsKids.com, just as they do in the magazine.
"The Dear Highlights area on HighlightsKids.com features an archive of kids' questions along with responses from the Highlights editors," Burke says. "It lets fans of this feature explore a wider variety of topics than we have room to offer in the magazine."
In addition, kids may e-mail their own questions to the Highlights editors from this
section. That has markedly increased the number of Dear Highlights questions the editors get from kids each month.
Reader-Mail Coordinator Patty Courtright says the editors receive about 400 questions monthly from the Dear Highlights feature on HighlightsKids.com. The editors get about 90 Dear Highlights questions each month by email from kids who see the Highlights e-mail address, Letters@Highlights.com, published in the magazine. Approximately 175 letters with Dear Highlights questions arrive by postal mail each month.
"I think many kids send Dear Highlights questions by e-mail because it's a medium that they're comfortable with," Burke says. "I'm glad we’re able to offer them another way to reach out."