Have you ever taken a look at New Moon Magazine? If you are the mother of daughters, especially age 8 to 12 (and beyond), this is a magazine worth buying, reading and talking about with the girls in your life.

As a teacher, I am always on the lookout for quality non-fiction for pre-adolescent girls that doesn’t contain articles about How to Flirt, What to Wear, What to Eat, and How to Pout, sandwiched between glossy ads for make-up and clothes picturing air brushed women and girls. So when I came upon New Moon in our school library and paged through it, I saw a beautiful magazine with girl art, articles, book and music reviews and more. Here is a sample of their monthly offerings:

“Go Girls: Girl activists, adventurers, and athletes
Global Village: Girls internationally teach readers about countries and cultures
Women’s Work: Features women in careers girls can aspire to
Herstory: Historical women with fascinating life stories
Fiction: A new story featuring girl characters in every issue
Body Language: Honest, accurate information about our bodies
The Last Word: Inspirational messages from accomplished girls and women
plus Ask a Girl, Dear Luna, book reviews, cartoons, and more! ”

I love the focus on empowering girls to see through gender stereotypes, to develop a multi-cultural perspective, and to read about successful girls and women.

Now if the magazine isn’t good enough, the hardworking girls and adults of New Moon (the editorial board contains girls who discuss and approve articles, themes and pictures) will be releasing their social networking site: New Moon Girls. This will be: “Safe. Educational. Advertising-Free. Girls ages 8 to 12 develop their full potential through self-discovery, creativity, and community in an environment designed to build self-esteem and promote positive body image in the important tween years. ”

If you worry about the safety of sites like My Space and Facebook for your pre-teen or teen, this might be a good way to allow your daughter some freedom of expression, in a safe and fun environment.

I know I will keep this in mind for my students, and for when my daughters are older (but that is a long way off, maybe social networking in this way will be a thing of the past by then!).