When you’ve been around for over 50 years like CRICKET Magazine has, it’s hard to fathom how many lives you may impact along the way. We were thrilled to hear from CRICKET super fan Katie G., who has been reading the magazines since age 7– and even has an Old Cricket tattoo! We had to learn more about her journey with CRICKET, so we sat down for a fascinating conversation with her. Join us as we discuss favorite stories, memorable characters, family reading traditions, and so much more!
You’ve been reading Cricket since 1988 — do you remember your very first issue or story that stuck with you as a child?
The first cover I remember was a blue one with angels all over it that had to have been a December issue and I think was by Tomie de Paola, but I don’t think it was my very first issue. I have vivid memories of a lot of covers – pirates by Hilary Knight, a Valentine’s Day cover including a girl in a Victorian-style dress, a many-tiered birthday cake with the buggies climbing all over it for an anniversary issue, an amazing map begging for stories to be written about it (which I think was the contest in the back of that one).
One of the stories that has stuck with me the most over the years and dates back to the first few years I read CRICKET was “The Ordinary Princess” by M. M. Kaye, which was serialized over more than a year of issues shortly after I started receiving the magazine. I eagerly waited for the next installment every month and adored every one. I had Post-It notes on the issues so that I could flip to that story instantly and re-read it, whole or just favorite parts, whenever I wanted. I have continued to count that as one of my favorite stories even now and have used it as inspiration quite often. It exists as a novel, but I have always preferred reading it in those CRICKET Magazine issues because of the gorgeous borders, which do not appear in any novel version I have ever seen.
How did Cricket shape your love of storytelling and influence the work you do today with OverDrive?
I was entranced by the stories in CRICKET growing up, and they taught me that amazing stories can be found anywhere you look. I read stories from cultures all over the world, stories from history, stories from science, stories on every topic I could imagine, and many I never had imagined before. Reading those issues of CRICKET, I learned that stories are everywhere and everything is a story worth telling. They teach us about our world and ourselves. If you want to understand someone, listen to their stories. I am never happier than when I am immersed in stories and how people feel about them– and that is what I get to do every day in my job.
My favorite part of my work for OverDrive is that I get to talk to authors and illustrators about their stories, inspirations, and passions. I get the stories behind the stories and I get to share them with others. Not only do I hear about the art and science of storytelling through words and images and both, but also the why of all of it. I get to hear directly from the people who craft books about why they wanted to tell them, where they got the ideas, and what stories they love enough to want them to be shared with the world. Stories make us who we are, so hearing storytellers talk about why and how they do what they do is something I never get tired of.
Your tattoo is so meaningful, can you share a bit more about why you combined Dyrnwyn and Old Cricket, and what that imagery represents to you personally?
I read a lot and always have. The Chronicles of Prydain are my favorite books and the lessons and values I learned from them are core to who I am and how I think, so a tattoo from the story felt like the most natural thing for me. The flaming sword, Dyrnwyn, is the central symbol in the story that shows the hero’s character growth, so it felt like a natural choice for an image representing the story.
But I also wanted to honor the storyteller, Lloyd Alexander, because the worldview that I so adored in Prydain threaded through everything he wrote. And despite reading all of his books, the place where I felt the most like I was getting to spend the most time with him was in the Old Cricket Says columns in the back of every issue of Cricket. His appreciation for every story and respect for the complexities of the world came through beautifully. Even before I knew that he was the voice behind many of those Old Cricket columns, they were one of the parts of the magazine that I most looked forward to each month.
When I decided to get the tattoo of Dyrnwyn, I knew I needed to include Old Cricket writing it into being to honor Alexander and the influence he had on me through both his fantastic novels and his thoughtful and endlessly fascinating Old Cricket columns. Through them, he taught me to respect and value everyone’s life and stories, to see them as intertwined always, and to never stop asking questions.
What was it like introducing your niece to the world of Cricket? Do you have a favorite moment reading together or watching her discover a story?
My niece, Jones, loves reading and has since she was a baby. I started her on BABYBUG very early, hoping she would love them as much as I always loved CRICKET. Boy did that work better than I ever could have imagined! She used to take issues of BABYBUG to bed with her! I knew that I wanted to help her come to love stories and how important they are from the very beginning and so I knew that she needed to read Cricket’s family of magazines.
She’s growing up and has moved on to LADYBUG and I am so pleased that she loves these magazines as much as I always have. I rarely get to read to her myself because I live far away from where she does, but I love that I get to send her a new collection of stories each month. I hope that she continues to grow up seeing that the world is full of beautiful and complex stories, just like I did, thanks in large part to the amazing magazines she loves to get in the mail each month. And I love getting pictures and messages showing how much she loves getting them!
What advice would you give to other grown-up readers hoping to pass on their love of stories to the next generation?
The best way I know of to pass on a love of stories is to model it. Tell kids the stories you know and love, and then listen to them tell you their stories. Fill their lives with stories from all kinds of people and places. Fiction, nonfiction, history, science, sports, fairy tales, images of possible futures, everything. Ask them to tell you their stories– both the ones they experience and the ones they imagine. Teach them to ask questions, and answer them even if you have to help them research what you don’t know. Share your love of stories and share why you love them. We are born loving stories, so show them that they never have to grow out of it.
And just for fun: if you could bring back one classic story or feature from Cricket, what would it be and why?
This is such an interesting question and I can’t stop thinking about it now! Most of my favorite features are still there– Old Cricket Says, Cricket Country, Favorite First Lines… not to mention the amazing mix of poetry and stories. But I will admit that I do miss some of the characters who have disappeared over time.
I’d love occasional visits from some of those buggie friends who haven’t been around in a while – Crystal, the little cricket with curly antennae, Mimi the spider, the ant aunts, even some of the rarer characters like Elvis the prehistoric praying mantis, Silvery the mermaid, and H. A. Rey the traveling flea. I’d love to see some of the faces who I haven’t seen in a long time. I feel like they make the world bigger and richer. They helped me imagine the Buggies’ world as a big, dramatic (but always familiar-feeling) place where anything could happen.
