Children and Childhood

We invited teenagers to write miniature memoirs about meaningful moments in their lives. Read the 17 winning stories, selected from over 14,000 submissions.

A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz celebrates popular children’s books and stories from cultures around the world. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be…

If it feels as if you’ve already explored every last nook and cranny of your cramped lockdown life know this: Right under your nose, there’s a hidden world operating entirely out of view.That world is geocaching, a no-contact game of hide-and-seek between hundreds of thousands of strangers. Players hide caches — waterproof containers, usually small…

This essay, by Emerson Riter, age 15, from The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., is one of the Top 11 winners of The Learning Network’s Ninth Annual Student Editorial Contest, for which we received 16,664 entries.We are publishing the work of all the winners and runners-up over the next week, and you can find…

Because Claudette fell asleep on the train and missed the last stop on Market Street, she was late for the arrival of the witches at their meeting place. Her sisters wouldn’t wonder where she was, but they’d be annoyed. The snowy day was also slowing her down, but she finally made it to the secret…

Richard Robinson, who took over his father’s magazine company, Scholastic, and transformed it into a behemoth in the children’s book industry with the “Harry Potter” and “Hunger Games” series and titles like “The Magic School Bus” and “Goosebumps,” died on Saturday in Chilmark, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard. He was 84.His son Maurice said the cause…

Without adequate protections in place, he said, he would have taken a leave of absence.“We have some real reservations” amid the Delta surge, he said — both for himself, as a teacher, and for their child. “So much is in flux everyday.”For children and their parents, vaccine mandates for students are very different from mask…

After a year with a marked increase in discrimination and harassment aimed at Asian-Americans across the country, the past few months have been particularly shocking, in both the frequency and violence of attacks. A powerful way to fight racism is education. Conversations about prejudice with your children starting at a young age go a long…

Have you ever smelled something that reminded you of a meal your grandparent cooked when you were younger? Or seen the cover of a book that you used to read and suddenly missed being a little kid? Heard a song that reminded you of a lullaby someone would sing to you? These moments can give…