ILLUSTORIA #27: BUGS

This is a preorder. Illustoria #27: Bugs will be released in late July, with copies mailing prior to release. All subscriptions to Illustoria purchased by August 31, 2025, will include this issue.

Our bugs issue is devoted to these tiniest of heroes that keep our planet humming. Join along as we take a curious gaze and a magnifying lens to examine this miniature universe! Inside these pages (featuring a stunning cover by artist Jesús Cisneros), young readers will find: a comic about Dora the Cat becoming a beekeeper in an ongoing creative job series by YUK FUN, an interview with artist Peter Kuper—conducted by Illustoria’s youth advisors—on the making of his book Insectopolis, a tour of an ant farm by beloved comic artist Fuzzytown, and so much more.

Learn how to make delicious peanut butter snails with our in-house DogChef. Wow your friends by discovering how to draw a peacock jumping spider. Check out drawings of bugs as superheroes drawn by young artists from Montenegro, Romania, Hungary, and beyond. Read two fictional stories by eleven-year-old writers (from Minnesota and the Netherlands) about a scientific mishap that caused an insect to grow to an outrageous size. Create a buggy face mask out of found objects. Have your mind blown by numerous insect factoids curated by acclaimed illustrator Lauren Tamaki.

Find all this plus bug-themed brain teasers; book, music, and art-supply recommendations; bug avatars; puzzles; comics; and more! Keep your creative brain buzzing with this surprisingly epic volume.

Illustoria is a print magazine for creative kids and their grownups. We celebrate visual storytelling, makers, and DIY culture through stories, art, comics, interviews, crafts, and activities. Our high-quality triannual publication is geared toward readers ages 6–12 and the young at heart. Illustoria is the official publication of the International Alliance of Youth Writing Centers, publishing writing and art by young people alongside accomplished professionals.

Looking to bring a set of Illustoria magazine into your classroom? Use the code “illustorialibrary” for 15% off orders of ten copies or more while supplies last.

Praise for Illustoria magazine

“With a focus on storytelling through art and literature created by children and adults, each tri-annual issue of Illustoria will delight the young reader on your list.”
—The New York Times

“The best kids art & storytelling magazine out there.”
—Wendy MacNaughton, Draw Together

“[A] beautifully produced print magazine that invites young readers to revisit arresting pages again and again … Illustoria is a visual feast, with a focus on storytelling through art and literature. In addition to crafts and art projects, Illustoria presents stories through comics, and profiles illustrators, artists, and makers … [with] messages of compassion and inclusivity … bursting with creative ideas and inspiration.”
—“Our Favorite Gifts for 6- to 10-year-olds,” Wirecutter, The New York Times

“Each stunning issue is something you’ll proudly want to display on your bookshelf.”
— “20+ of the Coolest Magazines for Kids, from Toddlers to Tweens,” Mother

“This is the kind of magazine you keep on your bookshelves with your favorite books.”
—Cece Bell, author of El Deafo

“It’s a rewarding offering that I hope sticks around for many years down the line.”
—Julie Danielson, Kirkus Reviews, blogger of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

“[A] visually exciting magazine with a DIY attitude … offer[s] plentiful opportunities for engagement, while the quality artwork and inventive layouts are sure to inspire imaginative responses.”
—School Library Journal

“Cover to cover, its content and aesthetics are smart, modern and engaging. Illustoria is a magazine I would’ve loved to have growing up.”
—Michelle Sterling, Avery & Augustine

For back issues of Illustoria magazine, visit Illustoria.com.