The team at beijingkids chose a reading-themed issue for many reasons. As writers, we naturally love books; as parents, we know books challenge our children educationally and spark their creativity; as expats, we love finding out about different cultures and locations near and far.
Books let us explore the world from the comfort of the warm sheets in our bed or propped on the couch under a soft blanket with loved ones tucked in our arms. Books let us escape suffocating, thick summer air or the cold bite of a winter night. Reading age-appropriate books over the summer is an inexpensive way to help students beat summer fallback, a common issue among grade-schoolers with empty summer plans. The world of literature seems as vast and wide as the world’s oceans, with every year producing new authors and experimental genres. For your children and teens, there is bound to be a book to set their love of reading ablaze.
“Read Around the World” as my last issue as Managing Editor is incredibly fitting, as I’m stepping down from the role to focus on my family and my own book and blog projects. I’ll still be around in Beijing for good times at clothing auctions, day trips to my favorite Beijing spots, coffee breaks, and events here and there. For the foreseeable future, Beijing is my home, and the community’s students, parents, teachers, and schools have my support. Be on the lookout for the July issue, where new dad and Managing Editor, Kipp Whittaker, will make his debut with a long-overdue Maternity issue. Don’t be surprised to see my name on articles and blogs too, as I can’t imagine completely leaving the beijingkids team while here.
Former Managing Editor Jessica Pan said working at beijingkids made a huge impact on her life. “I met my husband while working as editor; he did some work for the magazine one summer.” For her, the company colleagues were her family. “It’s an amazing group that I’m so honored to be a part of. I really loved that job.” Her favorite issue was the Mother’s Day issue. “We interviewed all kinds of different mothers living in Beijing: single mothers, mothers who have adopted, grandmothers, first-time mothers, mothers with four kids… I really liked interviewing and hearing the stories of the women and families who have found themselves in Beijing.” Pan is now a freelance journalist in London, contributing to ELLE, Refinery29, Jezebel, VICE, and The Daily Telegraph, and her memoir Graduates in Wonderland was published by Penguin in 2014.
Download the digital copy here.