Ebony Jr!
The Rise, Fall, and Return of a Black Children's Magazine
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Scarecrow Press
Published:30th May '08
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
In 1945, John H. Johnson published the first issue of Ebony magazine, a monthly periodical aimed at African American readers. In 1973, the Johnson Publishing Company expanded its readership to include children by producing Ebony Jr!. Targeting Black children in the five to eleven age-range, the magazine featured stories, comics, puzzles, and cartoons. Its contents combined elements of Black culture, Black history, and elementary school curriculum. The publication remained in print until 1985 and was resurrected online in 2007. In Ebony Jr! The Rise, Fall and Return of a Black Children's Magazine, Laretta Henderson charts this unique publication's genesis, history, and impact. She analyzes the structure and literary context of Ebony Jr!, revealing how the political climate informed the composition of the magazine. Henderson also profiles the magazine's publisher, John H. Johnson, and examines how his corporate structure facilitated and informed Ebony Jr!'s content, success, and its initial demise. This culturally significant milestone in African American culture is given its due deference in this interdisciplinary examination of the environment in which Ebony Jr! was produced, assessing what the magazine's existence meant to a generation of young readers.
Laretta Henderson's Ebony Jr! The Rise, Fall and Return of a Black Children's Magazine is a welcome contribution to the literature exploring the history of African American children's literature. The volume is profoundly interdisciplinary. Henderson has managed to write a book that simultaneously presents a meticulously close reading of Ebony Jr! and a wide-reaching snapshot of black America during the magazine's lifespan. She carefully describes the multilayered social and literary contexts within which the publication must be examined. This book provides important context for scholars who are interested in the history of African American children's literature, African American cultural history, and childhood studies generally. It is wide-ranging, critical, celebratory, and important. -- Dianne Johnson * Children's Literature Association Quarterly *
In this groundbreaking examination of the African American children's magazine Ebony Jr! Henderson scrutinizes how the magazine fits into children's literature more broadly by looking at content, market, and the magazine's publisher, John H. Johnson....Henderson engages readers in a close study of the African American periodical in a way that no other author has....Henderson's book, with its assessment of Ebony Jr!'s place in American culture, history, and literature, will serve readers in communication and across the curriculum. Highly recommended. * CHOICE, February 2009 *
ISBN: 9780810861343
Dimensions: 240mm x 161mm x 21mm
Weight: 476g
234 pages