Cricket Launches in 1973
Cricket magazine launched in January, 1973, with a full-color cover illustration by Art Director Trina Schart Hyman. The Cricket logo was designed by illustrator Jan Adkins.
During the summer of 1972, Marianne Carus sent a pilot issue to her Editorial Advisory Board for critique and consideration of ongoing features such as an editorial page, letters from children, and children's writing.
The pilot offered 96 pages of reprinted material and four original works, including an illustration of greeting from Snoopy by Charles Schulz, a friend of Cricket Senior Editor Clifton Fadiman. Board members Isaac Bashevis Singer and Lloyd Alexander contributed to the pilot issue and provided enthusiastic support. Alexander also illustrated his autobiographical story, "A Hungry Reader".
References
Carus, Marianne. 2003. Celebrate Cricket: 30 years of stories and art. Chicago: Cricket Books.
Cricket Media records, 1960-2022, Southern Illinois University Special Collections Research Center
Cricket: the magazine for children. January, 1973. La Salle, Ill: Open Court Pub. Co.