Young at Art, a magazine exclusively for children, is an innovative concept especially given the fact that there is hardly any other children's magazine in the market today. The magazine is theme based with each and every issue having something new to offer. "It is very comprehensive in the sense that it has everything which a child would want", said Manju Kothari, editor of the magazine, whose thrill at the success of the magazine was evident. The magazine began fairly recently in 1999.

" It was initially a bimonthly magazine, but today it is a 12 page monthly magazine which is sent to over five thousand schools all over the country and they used to be all complimentary. Having seen the recent increase in demand for the magazine, we have begun subscriptions" says Kothari. Young at Art which is owned by Pidilite Industries, was initially meant for promoting the range of art materials by the name of Acron, but then the magazine took off on its own.

What is most unique about the magazine is the fact that the stories and articles which are published are all complemented with some kind of art and craft item each of which is relevant to the respective themes. Attempting to make things interesting for the children the magazine has various fascinating subjects such as magic, dreams and many more exciting things to offer. The editorial has highly energetic and dedicated individuals working for the magazine who "share a common love and passion for children that goads us to work on innovative concepts for the kids who gets bored very easily", adds Rupa Kothari.

In one of its recent issues the magazine has succeeded in getting some of the most reputed writers in the field of children's literature including Ruskin Bond, Badri Narayan, Bubla Basu, and Deepak Dalal, among others to write for them . Young at Art from time to time has organized story reading sessions at Crosswords, the most happening bookstore in the city and also at the British Council. This has increased its popularity among children. In the words of Kothari, Young at Art is truly, "the comfort companion for the child ".

Those interested in subscribing to the magazine can write to :

Contact : Young at Art, Pidilite Industries Ltd., Regent Chambers,
7th Floor, Jamnalal Bajaj Marg,
Nariman Point, Mumbai -400021.

Email : yaa@vsnl.com

By : Sharmistha Chatterjee