''Muse'' is a children's magazine published by Cricket Media, the publishers of '' Cricket (magazine)''. Launched in January 1997, it is published in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, and has readers throughout the United States and around the world. From 1997 to today, ''Muse'' has been published by Carus Publishing, ''Cricket Media'' and been sponsored by '' Smithsonian''. Recommended for ages nine and above, it features articles about science, technology, and the arts. It is edited by Joseph Taylor. In years past, nine cartoon characters, known as the Muses, appeared in the margins throughout the magazine as well as in the Kokopelli & Company comic strip. After merging with its sister magazine ''Odyssey'' in September 2015, ''Muse'' added new content, changed its layout, and replaced the Muses with a comic titled "Parallel U" featuring different characters.

Magazine contents

''Muse'' is a science and arts magazine intended for kids 9 to 14 and up. It's 48 pages with no advertising and is published nine times each year. Issues regularly contain a comic strip ("Parallel U"), letters from readers (''Muse'' Mail), news items (''Muse'' News), a contest, a question-and-answer page featuring experts, a page about technology, a page about math, a hands-on activity, as well as feature articles on various topics. Issues are themed. In 2023, issue subjects included space exploration, tree secrets, and brainpower. Past issues have included articles about vegetarianism, pie throwing, extraterrestrial life,

naked mole-rat The naked mole-rat (''Heterocephalus glaber''), also known as the sand puppy, is a burrowing rodent native to the Horn of Africa and parts of Kenya, notably in Somali regions. It is closely related to the blesmols and is the only species in th ...

s, the origin of the Moon, pirates,

urban legends Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

, insects, mummies, tenrecs, New Zealand's exploding trousers, Rube Goldberg inventions, ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

'', and blind cavefish.

Muses

The Muses were drawn by cartoonist Larry Gonick. Among them, only

Urania Urania ( ; ; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy and astrology. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, her attributes being the globe and compass. T ...

was one of the original

Greek muses Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

; Kokopelli, a

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

, is a god in many Native American tribes. * Kokopelli: Muse of tunes and tricks, who often throws pies * Chad: Muse of Hardware * Aeiou: Muse of

Software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

* Bo: Muse of

Factoid A factoid is either a false statement presented as a fact, ''or'' a true but brief or trivial item of news or information. The term was coined in 1973 by American writer Norman Mailer to mean a piece of information that becomes accepted as a fa ...

s *

: Muse of

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

* Feather: Muse of Plants * Crraw: Muse of Bad Poetry * Pwt: Muse of Animals * Mimi: Muse of getting along with people In addition, Devil, Kokopelli's dog, and Angel, Mimi's cat, were occasionally featured, more so in older issues. As of September 2015, the Muses have been removed from the magazine, replaced with a new comic called "Parallel U" drawn by Caanan Grall.

Awards

*2019 Parents’ Choice Gold *2018 Parents’ Choice Gold *2017 Parents’ Choice Gold *2016 Parents' Choice Gold *2015 Parents' Choice Gold *2014 Parents' Choice Gold *2013 Parents' Choice Gold *2012 Parents' Choice Gold *2010 Parents' Choice Gold *2008 Parents' Choice Silver *2005 Parents' Choice GoldParents' Choice Award 2005 - Muse Magazine
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References

External links

Cricket Media
(Muse's official website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Muse (children's magazine) 1997 establishments in Illinois Advertising-free magazines Children's magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1997 Magazines published in Chicago Nine times annually magazines