Illustoria

Illustoria A magazine for creative kids & their grownups

Stories, art, comics, interviews, DIY, activities a magazine for creative kids & their grownups

This Saturday, April 4th, we're celebrating the launch of Issue 29: SMELLY in not just one, but TWO cities! Both events ...
03/31/2026

This Saturday, April 4th, we're celebrating the launch of Issue 29: SMELLY in not just one, but TWO cities! Both events are free, family-friendly.

Unplug with an array of interactive sensory activities: drink aromatic tea, taste stinky cheese, make scented play dough, and more. In Portland, explore smell and memory with local poet Vandoren Wheeler! In Oakland, magazines and subscriptions will be for sale from our dear friends East Bay Booksellers.

PORTLAND, OR:
Where: Mother Foucault's Bookshop, 715 SE Grand Ave
When: 12-2 PM

OAKLAND, CA:
Where: Local Economy, 6028 College Ave, Oakland, CA 94618
When: 1-3 PM

Can't wait to see you there.

In Illustoria's latest issue themed SMELLY, contemplate the complexities of scent with our long-time guest writers Jessi...
03/30/2026

In Illustoria's latest issue themed SMELLY, contemplate the complexities of scent with our long-time guest writers Jessixa & Aaron Bagley and fantastic Argentinian illustrator PowerPaola.

P.S. right now until April 1st, McSweeney's is having a Spring Cleaning Sale 🧹 with 20% off all subscriptions! It's a perfect time to subscribe to the magazine and start with Issue 29: The Smelly Issue.

Subscribe: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/illustoria-subscription?taxon_id=1

GET A WHIFF 🌸💩 Illustoria 29: Smelly has officially arrived!!! Join us on a sensational tour of odors, aromas, whiffs, s...
03/24/2026

GET A WHIFF 🌸💩 Illustoria 29: Smelly has officially arrived!!! Join us on a sensational tour of odors, aromas, whiffs, scents, and maybe a stench or two. To celebrate, subscriptions are *JUST $33* until this time next week.

A tip of the 🐘🧢 elephant hat to Michael D. Kennedy for this eye-popping, pungent cover 😵😵😵

Inside this sensory issue:
🪻Read about the smells that transport our contributors back to childhood 🦤Meet the world's smelliest bird
🧟‍♀️Learn all about the co**se flower in an interview with biologist
🐩Discover expert smellers of the animal kingdom

PLUS all the activities, interviews, articles, and comics you know and love! Subscribe for $7 off (this week only) via link in bio and start off with this super smelly issue 🙃

*Special note for subscribers: If you haven't yet received your issue, please know that it IS en route! We are experiencing some supply-chain delays and sincerely appreciate your patience 🙏🏼*

For our Issue #26: Blue, we asked young writers to submit book reviews about BLUE books. We were WOWed by artwork and w...
02/12/2026

For our Issue #26: Blue, we asked young writers to submit book reviews about BLUE books. We were WOWed by artwork and writing by seven-year-old Naomi Chang from Malasia, who reviewed about "The Fragile World" by Alexandra Mîrzac.

"In The Fragile World, the Reds and Blues are always at odds inside a china cabinet. One night, the sneaky Blues come up with a plan to paint all the red porcelain blue, but their trick backfires, and chaos ensues! Before they know it, everything shatters into tiny pieces. Instead of staying angry, the Reds and Blues decide to work together to fix the mess, discovering that teamwork is powerful. This wonderful story shows how embracing our differences makes the world a better place!"-- Naomi.

Thanks Naomi for your thoughtful review, and to Jamie for submitting and sending us these great pics. We 💙 our readers! Check out "The Fragile World" today. And check out our latest call for kid art (previous post)!

CALL FOR 💌✨️FAN MAIL✨️💌! Deadline: Monday, March 2, 2026 at midnight. Open to artists aged 18 and younger. Dearest reade...
02/11/2026

CALL FOR 💌✨️FAN MAIL✨️💌! Deadline: Monday, March 2, 2026 at midnight. Open to artists aged 18 and younger.

Dearest readers — with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, we’re feeling extra grateful for our amazing community 💘. As we prepare our summer issue (theme: MAIL!), we’re inviting you to send us a little creative love note — and maybe even be featured in the magazine! 📫️

We want to know: what do you love about Illustoria? Is there a DIY project, a maze, an interview with an artist, or any other feature/article that you particularly enjoy? Tell us all about it — your fan mail might appear in print!!!

Options:
A) LETTER - Write us a letter (in handwriting!) about your favorite part of Illustoria (one paragraph or less, please!) ✍🏽
B) ART - Draw us a picture of your favorite magazine feature *OR* a drawing of yourself reading Illustoria 🎨
C) PHOTO - Send a photo of a project you made from the magazine *OR* you reading the magazine 📸

Email your work to: [email protected], email subject line: FAN MAIL.

IMPORTANT: Please include the artist’s name, age, city, and state. If emailing, submit your drawings/photos as a JPG attachment, if possible. This call is open to artists worldwide aged 18 or younger.⁠

✨️Bonus points✨️ if you MAIL your work to our headquarters:
Illustoria Magazine
CC: Claire Astrow
849 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA
94110

Deadline: Monday, March 2, 2026 at midnight.

We can’t wait to see what you submit!

Issue 29 Smelly COVER REVEAL + FLASH SALE! 👃🏾🌹To celebrate the launch of our new sensory issue, we are offering a 🔥ONE-D...
02/06/2026

Issue 29 Smelly COVER REVEAL + FLASH SALE! 👃🏾🌹

To celebrate the launch of our new sensory issue, we are offering a 🔥ONE-DAY🔥 sale on subscriptions. Friday, February 6th only, get three issues of Illustoria for only $30! Grab your copy via link in bio.

Inside this pungent volume 💩 (featuring a whimsical cover by Michael D. Kennedy) you’ll find factoids about the smelliest fruit, creatures, and insects; biologist G. Eric Schaller sharing his adventures studying the world’s stinkiest bloom, the ☠️🌸Corpse Flower; a pair of snails 🐌🐌 going on a flower-smelling binge (courtesy of Aaron Piland and Weng Pixin); super-noses from the animal kingdom (drawn by you); and more! 🐘🐕️🐜

Spring is around the corner, and so are the glorious smells that come with it. It's the perfect time to subscribe, grab a year's worth of creative ideas: https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/illustoria-subscription?taxon_id=1

Announcing our next issue theme... SMELLY! 🌷🐘How much of our world do we understand though SMELL? In this issue, we’ll t...
02/05/2026

Announcing our next issue theme... SMELLY! 🌷🐘

How much of our world do we understand though SMELL? In this issue, we’ll take you on a sensational tour of odors, aromas, whiffs, scents, and maybe a stench or two.

We adore the Issue 29 Cover by Michael D. Kennedy, which perfectly captures our complicated emotional responses to smelling.

Stay tuned for the full cover reveal tomorrow.... 👀

OUR PARTY ROCKED! Huge thank you to everyone who came to the Issue 28: Desserts release party 🧁 Cupcakes were personaliz...
02/03/2026

OUR PARTY ROCKED! Huge thank you to everyone who came to the Issue 28: Desserts release party 🧁

Cupcakes were personalized, cakes were decorated, and a joyous time was had by all. It was ✨️SO SPECIAL✨️ to meet long-time Illustoria stans, as well as new friends who had never heard of us.

For many, it was their first visit to our headquarters, The International Library of Young Authors. The library is open to the public and consists solely of books by authors aged 18 or younger. Find us at 849 Valencia St in San Francisco, open hours Tuesday - Saturday, 12pm - 6pm. We highly encourage a visit!

Finally, special gratitude to Mission Minis for graciously donating cupcakes! Look out for more parties to come. And until then, keep it sweet! 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭🍬 🍭

Some sugary sweetness for your Friday 🍰🌼 We adore this comic written by Aaron Piland, illustrated by Weng Pixin. Find it...
01/23/2026

Some sugary sweetness for your Friday 🍰🌼 We adore this comic written by Aaron Piland, illustrated by Weng Pixin. Find it in our Desserts themed issue! Subscribe: store.mcsweeneys.net 🐌

Call for Kid Art! This is an opportunity for a talented young artist to have their work published in the next print issu...
01/18/2026

Call for Kid Art! This is an opportunity for a talented young artist to have their work published in the next print issue of the magazine.

Your task: Redesign the uniform for a postal delivery person. Is it high-tech? Does it have gidgets and gizmos? Does the style borrow from medieval fashion? Or perhaps the clothes take inspiration from the groovy outfits of the 1960s mods? Does your postal worker wear rollerblades for maximum speed? Or maybe they have a hovercraft mail bag for efficiency! You get to decide.

Draw your ideal outfit and email your work to [email protected] with the subject line “COOL NEW UNIFORM” for a chance to have it featured! Deadline: Monday, January 26, 2026.

The chosen artwork will be published in our special 30th issue dedicated to MAIL, which will come out in July 2027.

IMPORTANT: Please include the artist’s name, age, city, and state. Submit your image as a JPG attachment, if possible. This call is open to artists worldwide who are 14 years old or younger.

​P.S. If you submitted artwork for our previous call for submissions, THANK YOU! We are a tiny team, and we are doing our best to write back to all of you incredible artists as fast as we can. Thank you so much for your continued patience and for submitting!

-
Image Descriptions:
1. Photograph of the postwomen uniform, 1929-1941 (c) Royal Mail Group, courtesy of The Postal Museum.
2. Screenshot from the film 1982 French film "Diva"
3. Postal workers on scooters in the 1910s. Underwood Archives/Getty Images.

Bay Area friends! Join us for our Issue 28: DESSERTS Release Party! 🍰Where: The International Library of Young Authors, ...
01/17/2026

Bay Area friends! Join us for our Issue 28: DESSERTS Release Party! 🍰

Where: The International Library of Young Authors, 849 Valencia, San Francisco, CA, 94110 (Illustoria HQ!)
When: Saturday, January 31, 2026, 11 am - 1 pm
Tickets: FREE and perfect for all-ages!
RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/illustoria-issue-28-dessert-release-party-tickets-1980739917413?aff=instagram

There will be dessert-themed crafts and activities led by our extraordinarily talented resident illustrator and lead librarian, Jade Howe, Illustoria issues and subscriptions for sale, and free cupcakes generously donated by our awesome neighbors, Mission Minis. 🧁

If you haven’t visited the International Library yet, you’re in for a treat. The space is completely dedicated to writing by authors aged 18 and younger and is a tranquil, whimsical place to hang out. If you're a fan of giant swings, typewriters, and secret rooms, this is the library for you! 🍪

We hope you’ll join us to celebrate this scrumptious edition and share in each other's company on this fun Saturday. 🍫

Address

Oakland, CA

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Illustoria posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Illustoria:

Shortcuts

Share

Category