Audiomagazine for Inquiring Minds

What is deficit spending, anyway? What was the Gulf War about? How about a chat with Harriet Tubman, Leonardo da Vinci or Thomas Edison?

Move over “60 Minutes” and “20/20.” Here comes “Boomerang!,” a lively, bold, high-quality audiomagazine for inquiring minds ages 6 to 12. Parents may want to give a listen just to keep up.

Available through subscription, a 70-minute audiocassette issue of “Boomerang!” is sent out each month, filled with thoughtful, funny, sometimes complex and even controversial news stories--on such subjects as gun control, the homeless, animal rights--that have earned kudos for their clarity and even-handedness.

The story on animal rights, for example, offers no easy answers, allowing spokespersons for both animal rights and animal research to have their say. A poll is taken among child subscribers who give their opinions on the tape.

Reporters are ages 9 to 13, but the material is scrupulously crafted by adult educators and writers to a child’s level of understanding. Among the monthly features are “Money,” the economy explained through the experiences of a 9-year-old entrepreneur; “American Journey,” in which a young girl sends “audio postcards” about places she visits, and “Turning Point,” interviews with historical figures.

Another segment, “Schmave’s Elevator,” is humorous and at times moving storytelling with elevator operator “Dave Schmave.” Schmave’s alter ego is “Boomerang” creator David Strohm, who heads up Listen & Learn Co., the educational materials production company that publishes the tapes.

Strohm said the idea for the audiomagazine was born when he found himself pelted with questions by his then-8-year-old daughter, Jessica, about the dismantling of the Berlin Wall.

“There’s a lot of information kids are intrigued about that they don’t have access to,” Strohm said from his Northern California headquarters. Newspapers and magazines “are not written at a 9-year-old reading level” and “sometimes parents don’t think kids are interested in this material. I’ve been guilty of that myself.

“Storytelling is the absolute basis for what we do,” Strohm said. “Children don’t need television images to be involved. When you tell your child a story, you don’t have to hold pictures up for them to get it. If you write a good story and put it together with sound effects that pique their interest, they’ll sit down and listen.”

A historical segment on Leonardo da Vinci is a case in point. After an anecdote about Da Vinci as a boy, reporter Josie interviews the adult Da Vinci about his astounding range of interests, about the mystery of perspective, the possibility of flight, how the light changes the colors of the sea. Da Vinci “shows” listeners his notebooks, full of inventions and drawings. It’s a passionate celebration of learning and discovery.

“Leonardo da Vinci saw beauty everywhere he looked,” Josie concludes, “whether it was in the face of an old woman, the graceful feathers of a bird’s wing, or the gentle curve of a hillside. But it wasn’t enough to capture that beauty in a painting . . . He wanted to look underneath that beauty . . . not for fame or money, just because he was curious.”

“Dates and names don’t excite kids,” Strohm said. “It’s the people, the personalities that unlock the real feeling of history. Whatever important thing took place, there was always so much emotion behind it, something that led these people to do what they did.”

Asked if the writers’ own political or social biases get in the way, Strohm said, “We are producing a magazine for kids . . . if we err over some kind of politics, it’s kid politics, kids concerns. We do not back away from presenting viewpoints that a majority of kids feel (strongly about).”

Other regular features are jokes, book reviews, ecological tips, nature and science reports and accounts of a child’s “empowering experience or realization.”

“Boomerang!,” Listen & Learn Home Education, 13366 Pescadero Road, La Honda, Calif. 94020. 12-month subscription, $39.95. (800) 333-7858.