Honest History is a quarterly children's magazine featuring exciting tales from the past, accompanied by beautiful illustrations and fun activities.

Each issue features a theme about a person, place or event in history, told through stories that are fun and engaging to read. Honest History is an educational resource that encourages kids to have fun while learning and sparks independent thinking and creativity.

We searched long and hard for an educational resource for kids that made history fun and viewed learning as an adventure, not a chore. We wanted to find a magazine that told inspiring stories from around the world backed up by facts. And we wanted something that looked great and was made to last. 

Everything we found glossed over important details in stories and felt dull and unimaginative. We knew that if we felt this way, children would be even less likely to read these publications. 

So, we created Honest History as a place for kids to explore the past and re-discover stories of people, just like us, who changed the world.

Honest History is a beautifully-designed magazine with stories that spark curiosity and imagination in children. We've made it our mission to find stories that are lesser-known in modern classrooms and teach lessons that can be applied to our everyday lives. 

We commission original artwork for every issue, spending as much time as it takes to find the perfect illustrator to bring the story to life. 

In our experience, history contains answers and also sparks new questions — our goal is to bring true tales from around the world into the imagination of children (and their parents, too).

We always encourage children to look out at the world around them and do their own research to discover the why behind every story. 

Although Honest History is a magazine, we wanted to create a publication that felt and looked as dazzling as the content inside. Each issue is printed on high-quality paper with a soft-touch cover that we'd like to describe, but has to be experienced. Suffice it to say, this is a magazine you won't be tossing in the trash after one read. 

In each issue, you will find: 

• Feature stories about the issue's main theme, accompanied by gorgeous illustrations that will engage your young historian.
• Accompanying stories that go deeper into the topic, like "What was life like for a pirate?" from Issue Two.
• Fun activities that relate to the stories and provide a 'hands-on' approach to learning more about the topic. For example, learn how to bend water in Issue Three.
• Questions to encourage creative thinking and get young historians to think more about each story and how it can apply to their everyday lives. 

Our previous issues: 

• Issue One: The Swan King
  • Features the story of King Ludwig II and his castle, Neuschwanstein - the model on which Disney based Cinderella's Castle. Illustrated by Sarah Walsh.
• Issue Two: A Pirate's Tale
  • Learn about the fierce Chinese pirate Cheng I Sao who commanded the world's largest pirate army and also happened to be woman. Illustrated by Brooke Smart. 
• Issue Three: War of the Currents
  • The tale of Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison and their incredible inventions that changed the modern world, including Alternating and Direct Current. Illustrated by Cynthia Cliff. 

Honest History is written for children between the ages of 6-12, but we have many readers that are younger and older and several parents who love reading the magazine to their young children. 

We launched in Fall 2018 with the incredible support of our readers from around the world. Before we started the long journey of creating Honest History, we knew it would be challenging to enter the world of print publication in an era of digital consumption. However, we firmly believed (and still do) that parents and children want a physical item that can be read away from the distractions of our smartphones and tablets. After launching, this belief was affirmed through the feedback of our subscribers who told us how much their kids loved the magazine and constantly asked when the next issue would be released. 

We are getting close to the point of being able to sustain and grow Honest History from the support of our readers, but are at a critical stage where additional funding is needed to spread awareness of Honest History and grow our readership rates. 

This is where you fit in. Unlike many crowdfunding campaigns, we are not "pre-revenue" or still in the idea stage. We have three issues under our belt and so many more on the horizon. 

This means that for every dollar pledged to our campaign, you will be investing in a magazine that is already loved by many and ensuring that many more will know about it soon. And for our current readers and subscribers, we have many bonus rewards that we think your young historian will love in addition to the magazine. 

The funds from this campaign will be used for producing our fourth issue of Honest History and for marketing and advertising to reach more parents who may not be aware of the magazine yet. 

STRETCH GOALS

 

We've been busy putting together rewards for your support with this campaign. We also have a couple stretch goals that would allow us to fully accelerate the growth of the magazine and each one has some extra special rewards. 

Stretch Goal One: $30,000

If we hit our first stretch goal, we will include a special limited-edition 8.5x11" print of an illustration from Issue Four for each backer of the campaign. 

Stretch Goal Two: $50,000

If we accomplish our second stretch goal, we will create a custom pop-up in Issue Four of Honest History that will be shipped to each backer of the campaign. The pop-up will be an interactive feature that kids can customize.