Press for children and preadolescents as an educational phenomenon in Spain

Abstract

This article analyses the current demand for child and preadolescent press in Spain in order to identify the sector’s features and its objectives, using a quantitative and qualitative analyses. It focuses on the press containing an educational aim, and which avoids commercial headlines. Two centuries of publications have been revised, in recognition of the large quantity of material that has been made available to the public over that time. As an informal educational tool, the target audience is heterogeneous, between the ages of 2 and 18. The socializing power of the press is reinforced by promoting reading, progressive learning related to social behaviour and its ability to awaken curiosity and the imagination.