Is Your Girl a Discovery Girl? A Review and #GIVEAWAY! CLOSED!

Have you heard of Discovery Girls Magazine?  It is a magazine geared towards young girls from ages 8 to (about) 14.  Although my oldest daughter is only 6 1/2 and haven't hit this core audience yet, I was curious to take a look since I realize that before I know it, she will be considered a tween.  Gasp!

Discovery Girls was started ten years ago by a mom that wanted a magazine for her daughter that wasn't readily available.  One that would address the common struggles her young daughter was facing in an age appropriate way.  One that would feature real girls in real life situations with real life answers.  One that wouldn't be "boy crazy" but instead understand the delicate balance between little girl and growing up girl that this age is at.  Hence, Discovery Girls was born.

As part of my review I received two magazines.  The standard edition for ages 8 and up and the middle school edition for ages 11 and up.  First off, I LOVE that they have two magazines.  Although these ages aren't very far apart, they can be light and day in the sense of what these two age groups are interested or focused on.  Still, the two magazines are very similar.  The only main difference is that in the middle school edition they talk about celebrities, your body changing and the road ahead ... after Discovery Girls.

My daughter enjoyed looking at the regular edition.  She enjoyed reading (and laughing with) the embarrassing moments section and I appreciated how the voices throughout the magazine are not condescending.  There is a real good mix of reader submitted content and adult written articles and all are well written.

A couple things really stood out to me: 1. There are no blaring ads on every page!  The ads are there but they are very subtle and are very well placed.  2.  The girls on the cover are every day girls.  No fashion models here!  They pick girls from a particular state and have a photo shoot with them in their home state.  Very cool.

The second item I was given to review was one of their Fab Girls Guide books.  I received Fab Girls Guide to Getting Through Tough Times.  This series of books are each a compilation of reader submitted essays pertaining to the topic at hand.  I really enjoyed reading this book and I feel every mom should have it on hand for those "just in case" moments.  In this book, the "tough times" are as "routine" as your friend doesn't like you anymore to being robbed at gunpoint and everything in between.  What is most important about this book (and the magazine itself) is that it truly helps the girl reading it to see that they are not alone.  To give a young girl the gift of security and peace of mind is truly a gift from the heart and Discovery Girls strives to do just that.

So now that you have read my GLOWING review of Discovery Girls, you are probably wondering how you can get your own.  Well, you have a couple of ways to do just that!

BUY IT! You can become a subscriber of Discovery Girls Magazine for 1 year (6 issues) for $19.95 or 2 years (12 issues) for $29.95.

WIN IT! A Discovery Girls Prize Package (worth $70!) which includes:

• complimentary one year subscription ($20 value!)
• one complete set of the Fab Girls series books ($40 value!)
• special collector's edition of the past 10 years of Discovery Girls ($10 value!) avail. June 28th!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit Discovery Girls' website and have a look around.  What do you like about this magazine and/or its online features?  Please Leave Your E-mail Address with this comment!

EXTRA ENTRIES: To be done only after answering the above question!

1. Like Discovery Girls on Facebook (leave your Facebook name).
2. Follow Discovery Girls on twitter (leave twitter name).
3. Follow Queen of the Snot Princesses on Google Friend Connect (side bar -- click Follow) (leave GFC name in comments).
4. Follow me on twitter and tweet: "Do you have a tween in your life? Enter to #win @DGMagazine Prize Package #Giveaway (worth $70!) http://bit.ly/lpOpQ5."  Be sure to leave your link in the comments.  You may tweet only ONCE.

This giveaway is offered to US and CANADA 18 + and will end on June 28th 11:59pm CST.  Winner will be chosen through random.org.   Winner will be notified via e-mail.  If they fail to respond within 48 hours, then a new winner will be picked.  Please leave your e-mail address with your comments so that I may contact you if you win.  I will not share your e-mail address with anyone, it is strictly for me to notify you of your winnings.  GOOD LUCK!

Full Disclosure:  I received the above items free of charge from Discovery Girls, but was in no way instructed to give a positive review.  My reaction is mine and mine alone.  You may find you like the magazine differently and that is okay by me.