Muse

Muse is an exceptional magazine. Though it is aimed at "tweens", gifted readers from about age 7 up can appreciate it. Parents may wish to pre-read or discuss controversial pieces with their children. There are plenty of interesting articles on a variety of topics. Recent issues have covered stone disks in the Yap islands, gamers making real money from selling virtual goods, racial prejudice, genetics, and snowflakes.

Muse magazine does not contain any advertising, other than subscription offers from the publisher. It's quite refreshing. Some of my family's other magazines (Sports Illustrated Kids, for example) are filled with ads for junk food and toys.

A full page in Muse is always devoted to Larry Gonick's "Kokopelli & Company", a cartoon featuring the magazine's quirky cartoon mascots. These tiny creatures also cavort on pages throughout the magazine. Bo's Page is another regular feature. Here, readers may learn about a scientific experiment to discover how ants find their way home, or why gorillas eat wood, and vote as to whether humans will survive to the year 2100. The Q & A section has answers to queries submitted by readers. Examples questions are "would time travel actually be possible?" and "what happens when you blow a (soap) bubble in winter?" . Robert Coontz and Rosanne Spector provide clear, and often humorous, answers. Ivars Peterson is the Muse math guru. His "Math Page" offers suduko challenges and other math puzzles as well as articles such as "The Simpsons and Math". Every issue of Muse offers a contest of some sort, tucked into the corner of a two page spread honoring winners of the previous issue's contest. Kids are invited to become living art in a tableau vivant, or to design imaginary money.

I highly recommend Muse for both boys and girls.

I'm 13 years old, and I've been getting Muse for a long time. I've never gotten a better magazine. Muse explains everything from nano-technology to sword fighting with good humor, and good information in a way that never gets boring.
Muse is a great magazine because it shows you the world. There are many "themed" magazines, but they always have a broad topic. For example, one of the topics was wierd inventions. There were articles on Micheal Goldberg, contests around the world that featured such wierd inventions, and many other things. These articles were brought to life by the Muses, who will debate with each other and really help explain the articles.
As a member of a journalism class, I can testify as to how hard it is to explain an article to a wide audience in a way that all the audience members can relate to. Muse does a terrific job of enlightening us children in a way that we can all understand. Kudos, Muse. If you're unsure, go to www.musefanpage.com (their site, not mine) and learn about this wonderful gift. I love, my 10-year-old brother loves it, even my parents and my teachers love it. Get it today.

If I listed the topics Muse covers, you'd never imagine
that anyone would be excited about it. It's just
so well done, though. My kids read it instantly,
cover to cover, and they even push it to their friend's
parents.

Even more oddly, most of it is good for adults, too.
At least, for adults who haven't had all the curiosity
and silliness beaten out of them. And, it's even right!
(I used an article in a University course I teach.)

It has a little of the flavour of Buckaroo Banzai,
of Dark Star (the Movie), of Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guides,
a touch of (but only a touch) of Horrible Histories...
There isn't anything quite like it. I hope they can
keep it up.

I am just turning 11 years old, and have already found out more than literacy, arithmacy, and spelling. I have learned about Goldberg machines, swords, moon hoaxes (?), ancient mummies, cats, dogs, and why we get hiccups. I have learned how directors create movie monsters, how some beleive the world will someday come to an end, and about the theories of "Snowball Earth." And these are only 10 of the literely 100's of things I've learned. This is all thanks to Muse Magazine. It is Muse that teaches hundreds, thousands, possibly millions of things to children all over the world. Things from the possibility of having the same birthday as another kid in an average 25 student class, to how the modern fork made it's way to the table. And through all this learning, the reader may laugh at the crazy antics of the 9 Muse characters. They don't even think about the learning going on, and if they did compare it to their history class, taught by the monotone voice of unenthusiastic Mr. Boring, then they'd refuse to go to school, and demand a new Muse every day. This is a world to escape to for them, a place for learning and laughs, things very important to loving parents.

Out of all the magazines I have ever recieved, this is my favorite. The writers and editors have a immense sense of humor and are knowledgable about what they write about. This magazine is creative, funny, and very informative. The articles are very thorough in facts and the writers go to great lengths to write them. Although some people may think that this magazine is for kids; adults enjoy this magazine too! I know, my parents read my magazine almost right after I'm done! They love it! Recently, there was an article about tombs or whatever you call them near Paris. I showed the article to my French teacher and she even learned something new! This magazine should have 10 stars instead of 5!
-Kricket

Where to start? Muse always has great articles about science or sometimes an interesting story from history. One of the main things about them that stands out to me, is that they don't go down to the level of just plain pop-culture. They also don't take themselves too seriously, and this results in the magazine being very fresh, and incredibly funny!!!!! The arrival of Muse in my house always makes my week, and I promise, YOU WANT THIS MAGAZINE!!!!!!!!!!!

I've gotten Muse for a fair few years now and I've been hooked ever since my first issue. Muse rules! If you are sick and tired of corny (ahem, ahem) fashion and celebrity magazines and love science, history, art, language arts, culture, jokes, pies, and everything else that makes life worth living, you absolutely have to give Muse a try. Muse was the beginning point of an epiphany in my life. I will never, ever get tired of Muse. Take my word for it! Give Muse a try!

I purchased a subscription for my 7-year old niece who loves it! She actually shares and reads each issue to her younger brothers.

This magazine is the greatest thing that happen to the world since... maybe... sliced bread! It's about everything neat, everything wierd and scientific, yet it's not hard to understand. Even if you hate science, i still recommend this magazine to you. It's about the odd and awesome things in life. Some times it has unheard of awesome history in it, some times it doesn't. I've been getting it since i was maybe ten?and it's now like 4 years later, this is not just a childrens magazine, it's for everyone! You can learn so much important stuff in one magazine, then flip the page and it's all cool little trivial facts. I definatly recommend this to everyone that breathes. (Even maybe if they don't breathe)

Muse magazine is in a class by itself. It has NO advertisements, no articles about how to make yourself prettier or any other boring stuff that shallow teens care about. We musers love the focus on science and math, and they've replaced the original mythological muses with 9 of their own. These little cartoons litter the margins with their witty comments, making the rare tedious article funny. Receiving this magazine is your ticket into the close-knit community of Musers, kids who have openness and learning at the heart of all their doings.
Get muse!