Started in 1946, Highlights for Children is targeted at little kids, offering them entertainment and education. It features various comics, stories, articles and activities.
Notable sections:
- Aloysius and X, stories about a wolf who constantly got into trouble. These ran from 1951 until 1993.
- Ask Arizona, (May 2005-present) a letter section where the eponymous character gives readers advice by going on a tangent about when she encountered something similar.
- The Bear Family, a comic (1946–89, 1998–2012) about a family of bears
- Goofus and Gallant (1948-present), which has its own page
- Headwork, a page of questions for parents to ask their children
- The Timbertoes (1946-present), a comic about a family made of wood
- What's Wrong?: The back cover always includes intentional goofs for the children to spot.
- Your Own Pages, drawings and poems submitted by readers
It also includes hidden-picture puzzles, joke and riddle sections, factual articles, craft pages and other features that have come and gone over time.
Tropes present:
- Anti-Role Model: Goofus.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Many features have been retired over time as their creators died or retired.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- In early years, Goofus and Gallant were more elflike.
- The magazine got more and more colorful over time. Until the mid-1970s, the covers were rather drab and used only one color.
- Monochrome to Color: The Timbertoes comic featured switched to color in spring 2003 with a story about a rainy day (shown in black and white) giving way to a rainbow (turning everything colored in the process).
- Print Long-Runners: From 1946 to the present.
- Spin-Off: High Five, targeted at children age 5 and below.
