National Geographic Little Kids

Questions with Editor Melina Bellows

1. What do you consider the single most important achievement your magazine has accomplished in today's marketplace?

Cutting through the clutter and providing the quality parent-child experience you'd expect from National Geographic. As "The magazine for young explorers," NG Little Kids achieves our goal to excite young children to explore their world, enticing them with award-winning photography, colorful art and page after page of interactivity.

2. Looking back, what was the most important hurdle you were able to overcome?

Proving that National Geographic could be kid-friendly.

3. What was the biggest pleasant surprise?

NGLK has exceeded the paid circulation goal by more than 58,000.

4. Imagine you have a magic wand and you can strike the magazine and make it human? Describe that human being.

Jane Goodall, Jacques Cousteau and a National Geographic photographer, all rolled into a curious five year old who already has a Harvard degree in ecology and sustainability.

5. The number of new magazine launches has been on a steady increase. What advice do you offer to someone wanting to start a new magazine?

Identify your audience, determine your focus, stay true to your roots, maintain high quality, talk to your potential readers and deliver what they want, not what you want to give them.