In the past, policyholders of the Nationale Levensverzekeringbank N.V. (National Life Insurance Company) with young children (5-8 years) received the magazine Het kinder-kompas free of charge. The supporting colors red and brown on the cover gave the magazine an attractive look. The back of the magazine contained advertisements for insurance policies: for instance hospital or fire insurance, but also insurance for a girl’s trousseau or a boy’s studies.

The prose contents of Het kinder-kompas was made up of stories and verses. They were mostly of the fairy tale genre (with among others gnomes and dressed-up animals), but simple events in a child’s life were also on the menu (swimming, being ill, going to the zoo). In the first volumes, the young readers could take part in the adventures of the children next-door, Tobi and Cobi, as recorded by Marie Schmitz. The stories were often attuned to the seasons with their specific holidays, like Christmas and Easter. Moreover, Het kinder-kompas included comic strips (by Piet Broos), riddles and ideas for handicrafts. The instructions for these activities were mostly presented in the form of a story. In the later installments, a section called Ons eigen hoekje (Our own little nook) was set apart for submissions from the children themselves, such as drawings and riddles.

Regular contributors to the magazine included C. Wilkeshuis, Maps Valk, Mies Bouhuys, Leonard Roggeveen and Nora Schnitzler. Most illustrators also wrote texts.

Digitized: Trial issue (1936), vol. 1 (1937) – vol. 6 (1942) ; vol. 6 (July 1948) – vol. 7 (Dec 1949)

View copies of Het kinder-kompas >>
Back to the youth magazines overview >>