Review: Discovery Girls Magazine & Giveaway

Recently, Booking Daughter and I discovered the most wonderful magazine which is geared towards pre-teen girls called DISCOVERY GIRLS. When the April/May issues and the Survival Guide arrived in our mailbox, Booking Daughter immediately gobbled them up... and then she asked for more. She wasn't even sure she could wait another two months for the next issues. I have to admit that I had a similar reaction. This magazine is fantastic and exactly the type of thing that I want my daughter to read.

Here's a little bit about DISCOVERY GIRLS straight from their website:

Discovery Girls is a destination where tween girls can express themselves, share ideas, connect with other girls and discover helpful tips for handling life’s ups and downs.

Discovery Girls articles and features are written by girls, for girls--which means our content touches on topics that really matter to tweens. Our goal is to help girls grow and develop, forming a positive sense of self through solutions that build confidence, resilience and independence.

• Created by girls, for girls ages 8-12
• Features real girls, dealing with real-life situations
• Provides a community where girls can interact, share ideas, and realize they’re not alone
• Includes fun, age-appropriate articles, quizzes and tools to help girls thrive
• Empowers girls to celebrate who they are and strive to realize their potential

I actually received two different copies of the April/May 2011 edition. One of the regular magazine which is geared towards eight and up. The other one looks almost exactly the same, but it is called the Middle-School Edition and is geared towards eleven year olds and up. Both magazine had almost exactly the same content, but the Middle-School Edition included a few articles that were for a more mature audience.

Just to give you an idea about some of the content in these magazines, I thought I'd share with you some of the article titles. There are advice columns like Ask Ali, I Wish I'd Known..., and Your Body. In addition, there are some fun sections about Embarrassing Moments and Worst Day; and there are even lots of quizzes that girls can take. There are also sections on crafts and book reviews -- two of my favorites!

In the April/May issue, there was a section on different hair styles for different types of hair. Booking Daughter immediately started trying out the various hairstyles for each day of the week. All of the ideas were simple and very cute (except for the French braid) and she looked adorable!

As a mother, I truly can't rave enough about this magazine. It focuses on those things that I feel are important to my daughter at this difficult age. It covers everything I can think of that matters to a tween girl from body changes, to friendship problems, to school issues, to fashion. And it also offers sound advice for dealing with many of those tween problems that occur on a regular basis including embarrassing and sticky situations.

I also love that the "models" in the magazine are real girls -- ones that my daughter can relate to. They look like her, have similar interests to her, etc. In a nutshell, DISCOVERY GIRLS focuses on real issues for real tweens. And... this is the big one... it encourages positive self-esteem -- a concept that can never be said too many times to pre-teen girls.

In addition to reading both editions of the magazines, I had the chance to check-out the all-new Collector's Edition Survival Guide. This special "Best of" edition includes loads of advice for girls... and from girls. It also includes the "best" quizzes, embarrassing moments, sticky situations, etc. from the past ten years.

I also had the opportunity to check out one of the Fab Girls books called FAB GIRLS GUIDE TO FRIENDSHIP HARDSHIP. This cute little book offers all sorts of advice on friendship for girls eight and older. It discusses many of the very, very relevant topics such as Mean Girls and Frenemies, To Clique or Not to Clique, and Stop Playing the Popularity Game. I also appreciated that it covered the important themes of how to get all the good friends that you want and how to be the best friend you can be. Like the DISCOVERY GIRL magazine, there are sections with advice as well as many quizzes; and I thought the entire format of the book was very easy to read and follow.

Besides the magazine, books and special editions, there is also a fun website devoted to DISCOVERY GIRLS. I have a feeling that Booking Daughter will be spending a lot of time on this site over the summer. The content on the website is very similar to the magazine -- you can find many of the same features. But you can also enter contests, get free downloads, and play games. There is even a DG blog!

If you have a tween girl in your life, then I highly recommend getting them a subscription to DISCOVERY GIRLS magazine. It is just an amazing publication that focuses on the positive aspects of today's young girls. Plus it loads of fun. I have been telling every mom I know that they have to get this magazine for their daughters and friends! It's that good!!!

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of DISCOVERY GIRLS, I have a huge Discovery Girls Prize Pack to share with one lucky reader courtesy of DISCOVERY GIRLS magazine. You could win the following:

1 Year Subscription to the magazine - 6 issues ($20 value)

1 Set of the Fab Girls Guides ($40 value) - Friendship Hardship, Sticky Situations, Getting Through Tough Times, and Getting Your Questions Answered

1 Copy of the Collector's Edition Survival Guide with 2 free gifts ($10 value)

To enter, just fill out the form below before July11th at 11:59 p.m. ET. I will randomly select and notify the winner the following day. This giveaway is open to those of you in the U.S. and Canada only. Good luck!