Showing results for "The Letters" in School-Age Children

Motherhood is full of little highs: the smell of a newborn baby's head, the feeling of a small hand holding yours, the infectious sound of laughter, first words, first steps, the first day at school, endless tiny but significant hints of the person your child is to become. But motherhood is not without its lows either: tears and tantrums (your child's and your own), fears, self-doubt, sleepless nights, and that's not to mention the mum fails.

When Carolyn Hays’s child made clear to the family that they were all wrong, he was not a boy, but, in fact, a girl, the Hays shifted pronouns, adopted a nickname and encouraged her to dress as she felt comfortable. One ordinary day, a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on their door to investigate an anonymous complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child. It was this threat that instilled in them a deep-seated fear for their child’s safety in the Republican state they called home. And so, they uprooted their lives.

Every year, tens of thousands of children write to Highlights magazine, sharing their hopes and dreams, worries and concerns, as if they were writing to a trusted friend. From the beginning, the editors at Highlights have answered every child individually. Longtime editor in chief Christine French Cully has curated a collection of this remarkable correspondence (letters, emails, and poems) in Dear Highlights - revealing an intimate and inspiring 75-year conversation between America’s children and its leading children’s magazine.