If you are looking for a gift for a teenager, boy or girl, a subscription to a magazine is a good idea to combine the useful with the pleasant. Reading magazines has many educational virtues, as long as you choose the right titles. If you're wondering which magazine to choose for a teenager, check out our selection! We have classified the best youth magazines by theme.
Magazines to follow the news
Giving a magazine subscription to a teenager is a good way to improve his or her media literacy and to help him or her distinguish between fake news and reliable information.
Aimed at 8-12 year olds, the title Le Journal des enfants develops openness to the world and critical thinking. This weekly magazine, offered by subscription only and not on newsstands, deciphers current events in simple words.
Starting at age 10, you can subscribe your teen to Mon Quotidien, the only daily newspaper for students in grades 4 through 5. The PlayBac Presse group, which publishes this title, also offers the daily L'Actu for ages 13-18 and L'Éco, a jargon-free business magazine for ages 15-20 (see link below).
If you're looking for a less frequent publication, Le Monde des ados is a must-read. This bi-monthly magazine is aimed at 10-15 year olds and covers a wide variety of topics likely to interest all young people and improve their general knowledge.
Magazines to improve your English
If you're wondering which magazine to subscribe your teen to, you've probably already started comparing offers, taking into account age range, publication frequency and of course subscription price...
But have you thought about looking at English-language magazines? Several teen titles are offered in the language of Shakespeare to help middle schoolers improve their vocabulary and command of this living language.
The PlayBac Presse group, which specializes in youth magazines, publishes My Little Weekly, the only newsweekly in English suitable for 10-13 year olds.
The Vocable magazine, which is published on a biweekly basis every other Thursday, is a staple of the genre for middle and high school students.
And if you're looking for a monthly magazine for 12-15 year olds, I recommend I Love English from Bayard Jeunesse. For ages 15 and up, go for the I Love English World version with more advanced articles.
Magazines to live your passions
The last good reason to give a subscription to a teenager is simply to please them by targeting a magazine that matches their interests.
Contrary to what parents sometimes imagine, magazines and comics are just as valid a medium as books for getting kids and teens to love reading.
It is not necessary to choose an 'educational' title specifically designed to improve English or general knowledge for this subscription to be beneficial to the reader.
So, if you're wondering which magazine to choose for a teenager, you can start by asking them what they like...
Depending on their answer, you can then subscribe them to :
- a science magazine for teens like Science et Vie Junior, Epsiloon or Comment ça marche
- Sporteen, a sports magazine for teens
- Virgule, a literary magazine for teens
- Do it yourself (DIY) family magazine La tribu des idées
- We Demain, a 100% teen magazine about ecology.