About Owl

Owl

OWL is a Canadian children's magazine founded in 1976 and based in Toronto, Ontario, published by Owlkids and owned by Bayard Canada. Aimed at children ages 8 to 12, it was designed to make young readers "think beyond the printed page." Originally a science and nature magazine — OWL stands for "Outdoors and Wild Life" — it has grown into a general-interest children's title covering weird news from around the world, how-to articles, science stories, advice, and comics. Published ten times a year with a circulation of about 47,350 (2017), it is one of Canada's best-known children's magazines. It carries the ISSN 0382-6627.

Overview

OWL was founded in 1976 by Young Naturalist Foundation members Annabel Slaight and Mary-Anne Brinkmann. Its founding premise was that children are natural scientists — curious, observant, and eager to experiment — and the magazine set out to feed that curiosity with content that was informative, interactive, and fun. Regular features include weird news from around the world, how-to articles, science stories, a reader-driven advice column, and comics including The Spruce Street Squad and Max Finder Mystery. Memorable past features include Dr. Zed — written by Canadian scientist Gordon Penrose and continued in the sister magazine Chickadee — and the comic strip The Mighty Mites, which ran until 2002.

The magazine is part of a family of Owlkids titles: Chickadee, founded in 1979 as a spin-off of OWL for younger readers (ages 6 to 9), and Chirp, founded in 1997 for the youngest readers. In 1997, OWL — along with Chickadee and Chirp — was purchased by Bayard Canada, which also owns French-language children's magazines including Les Débrouillards and Les Explorateurs. Bayard Canada is a ministry of the Augustinians of the Assumption (Assumptionists), a Catholic religious order for whom children's publishing is a worldwide specialty.

History

The Young Naturalist Foundation launched OWL in 1976 from its Toronto offices at 59 Front Street East, publishing monthly from September to June. The magazine was an immediate success: its blend of science, nature, puzzles, and humour filled a gap in Canadian children's publishing, and within a few years its popularity prompted the launch of Chickadee in 1979 for younger readers. A French version, Hibou, followed in 1980, and Coulicou — the French adaptation of Chickadee — in 1984.

The founding editors and contributors understood that children learn by doing. Founding Chickadee editor Janis Nostbakken's mix of puzzles, activities, and stories — with recurring characters such as Henry the Pig and Daisy, the transforming heroine of the "Daisy Dreamer" comics — set the template for the family's interactive style, and OWL applied the same philosophy at a more advanced level for its 8-to-12 audience: experiments to try at home, questions to investigate, and comics that rewarded close reading.

The magazine's success extended to television: OWL/TV, a half-hour show based on the magazine, aired from 1985 to 1994, first on CBC and later on CTV, bringing the magazine's science-and-nature focus to the screen. Related OWL media included books and videos produced by OWL Communications, the foundation's commercial arm — an early example of a children's magazine brand extending across media platforms.

In 1997, Bayard Canada purchased OWL, Chickadee, and Chirp, bringing the titles under the ownership of the international Bayard publishing group. Under Bayard's Owlkids imprint, the magazines continued to publish through the transformation of the children's media landscape — the rise of the internet, the decline of print advertising, and the competition for children's attention from digital platforms. In June 2011, OWL celebrated its 35th birthday with events, contests, giveaways, a special collector's edition featuring contributions from authors including Cary Fagan, Carol Matas, Arthur Slade, and Kenneth Oppel, and guest editor Annabel Slaight, the magazine's co-founder. Group publisher Jennifer Canham called OWL "a veritable Canadian institution" that had "touched the lives of millions of Canadians," noting that many parents were rediscovering the magazine by introducing it to their own children. Special events included a free party for kids hosted by OWL editor Craig Battle in Langley, British Columbia, and a free magazine giveaway at Toronto's CN Tower.

Content

OWL publishes a mix designed for 8-to-12-year-olds: science and nature stories, weird and wonderful news from around the world, hands-on how-to articles and experiments, puzzles and activities, a reader-driven advice column, and comics. The magazine's interactive philosophy — "think beyond the printed page" — means readers are encouraged to try experiments, answer questions, and engage actively with each issue rather than passively consuming it.

While science and nature remain at its heart, the magazine has broadened over the years to encompass technology, the environment, animals, space, sports, arts, and kid culture — like its sister Chickadee, it has become a general-purpose children's magazine while retaining its scientific soul. The comics pages, advice columns, and reader-contributed content give young readers a sense of ownership over the magazine. The reader-driven advice column, in particular, gives the magazine a personal connection with its audience: children write in with their questions and problems, and the magazine answers — a dialogue that has been part of its formula for decades.

Coverage & Audience

OWL is a national magazine read by children ages 8 to 12 across Canada, with circulation of about 47,350 (2017 figures). Its audience includes the young readers themselves, their parents — many of whom grew up reading OWL — and educators who use the magazine in classrooms. Published ten times a year, it reaches readers by subscription and on newsstands, and its French counterpart Hibou serves francophone young readers.

The magazine's longevity — nearly five decades — means it has now introduced science and curiosity to multiple generations of Canadian children. Its 35th-anniversary celebrations in 2011, with parties in Langley, British Columbia, and a magazine giveaway at Toronto's CN Tower, underscored its status as a shared childhood memory for millions of Canadians. The Owlkids family's three English titles map the whole span of childhood: Chirp for the youngest readers, Chickadee (ages 6 to 9, circulation about 58,805 in 2017) for the middle years, and OWL for the 8-to-12s — with the French-language Les Débrouillards and Les Explorateurs extending the same philosophy to francophone families.

Ownership

OWL is published by Owlkids and owned by Bayard Canada, the Canadian arm of the international Bayard publishing group and a ministry of the Augustinians of the Assumption. It was founded by the Young Naturalist Foundation in 1976; Bayard Canada acquired it along with Chickadee and Chirp in 1997. The Owlkids family also publishes the French-language titles Les Débrouillards and Les Explorateurs. Bayard's ownership places the magazine inside a global children's publishing operation — one of the order's specialties worldwide — while the Owlkids imprint keeps its editorial identity distinctly Canadian.

Digital Presence

The magazine's home online is owlkids.com, where readers can find subscription information, magazine content, and activities. Its history — from the Young Naturalist Foundation's 1976 founding through the Bayard acquisition, the OWL/TV years, and the 35th-anniversary celebrations — is documented in its Wikipedia entry, in The Globe and Mail's 2011 feature on the magazine's survival in a challenged magazine world, and in Masthead Online's coverage of its 35th birthday. The ISSN 0382-6627 has identified the title in periodical directories since the beginning.

Digital Expansion

For its 40th anniversary in 2016, OWL launched OWLconnected.com, a current-affairs website built to give readers aged 9 to 13 daily, age-appropriate news on science, technology, the environment, sports, entertainment and the offbeat. Editor Kendra Brown said the site was designed to satisfy readers' appetite for up-to-date content. It was followed by OWLconnected eMAG, a bi-weekly digital magazine published 26 times a year and free to OWL subscribers, each issue carrying news of the week, an illustrated infographic, sports and entertainment coverage and an interactive quiz.