The Mini Page is a
syndicated newspaper supplement for children, created by Betty Debnam in 1969 and authored by her and two other writers.
History
The Mini Page began in August 1969 and appears weekly in hundreds of newspapers in the United States as an offering of
Andrews McMeel Syndication
Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other ...
.
Its regular features include short articles, puzzles, jokes, and recipes. Andrews McMeel has also published several Mini Page spinoff books covering subjects such as the U.S. military, science, the states, history, geography and the environment.
The supplement was conceived as a cross between the ''
Weekly Reader
''Weekly Reader'' was a weekly educational classroom magazine designed for children. It began in 1928 as ''My Weekly Reader''. Editions covered curriculum themes in the younger grade levels and news-based, current events and curriculum themed-i ...
'' and a newspaper
comics section, with an underlying mission of encouraging family-centered reading and
literacy
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
.
It was the first supplement of its kind when it debuted in August 1969 in the
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southe ...
''
News & Observer
''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the ''Charlotte Observer''). The paper has bee ...
''.
The Mini Page's first issue had a "Back to School" theme and included a mini-profile of
Los Angeles Rams quarterback
Roman Gabriel and a "Faces in the News" section asking readers to identify a picture of
Spiro Agnew
Spiro Theodore Agnew (November 9, 1918 – September 17, 1996) was the 39th vice president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1973. He is the second vice president to resign the position, the other being John ...
.
When Debnam created the Mini Page, she had been an
elementary school teacher for twelve years and had never drawn before.
Initially, she handled all tasks involved in the Mini Page's production, including researching, producing, laying out and editing all the content.
She was also responsible for selling advertising, which is no longer included in the supplement. Debnam sold The Mini Page to Andrews McMeel in 2007 but continues to consult on the feature.
Awards
In 1999, as the Mini Page celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, Debnam was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame and received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Newspaper Association of America. Debnam was inducted into the
Association of Educational Publishers
The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) was a U.S. non-profit organization for educational publishers. It was active in public awareness campaigns on effective educational resources, as well as aiding communication between educational o ...
' hall of fame in 2001, and the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2013. She won a 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award from the AEP for ''The Mini Page Guide to the Constitution'', a nine-part series that was released as a book by
Andrews McMeel after appearing in newspapers.
Betty Debnam
Debnam credits her inspiration for the Mini Page to her family, especially her grandmother, who ran a small weekly newspaper in
Snow Hill, North Carolina
Snow Hill is a town in Greene County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,595 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Greene County and is part of the Greenville Metropolitan Area. Snow Hill hosts numerous tennis tournaments ...
.
Her grandfather was a school superintendent and edited the newspaper; her father was a newspaper reporter in
Norfolk, Virginia.
Debnam was married to Richard Hunt, a former
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
reporter and military adviser to
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing Mi ...
and died on November 1, 2020.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Universal Press SyndicateThe Mini Page Archive (1969-2007) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library
Current Mini Page (includes outdated information but updated weekly)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mini Page, The
American children's literature
Newspaper supplements