The idea for knowonder!™ was born while I lived in Chelmsford, England. Chelmsford is a beautiful small town, just a bit north and 30 miles east of London. My family had the wonderful opportunity of living there for nearly a year as I worked for another US company.

During that time, our two oldest children attended Barnes Farm Primary School. Each day they went to the school, they had the opportunity to choose any book they wanted and take it home with them. They didn’t have to check the book out; it was just an on-your-honor system of letting the children take home a new story every day.

I have never seen anything that promoted reading as well as that simple system. My children couldn’t wait to read the new story every day, and their reading skills increased dramatically. Our four year old, especially, was reading well beyond the traditional kindergarten reading level.

Around the same time, I began telling my children “imagicnation” stories at bedtime. I would tell them, “Close your eyes and see the pictures in your head - that’s the magic inside your imagination!”

Honestly, it began simply in an effort to get the kids to close their eyes and go to sleep! But I was surprised as I watched them, night after night, actively using their imaginations (with eyes closed) to see the pictures of the stories I was telling.

Also during the same time, I met the owner of a specialty magazine in the UK and became fascinated with their business model. I’m a very entrepreneurial person, and I was up for hours that night wondering what kind of magazine I would do, if I were to do one.

To make a long story short, I connected the three dots and the idea for knowonder! was born! It has taken a year and a half to turn the idea into reality, but every effort along the way has been worth it. We, the knowonder! team, are honored to be a part of such an important, life-changing work.

As you come to know the wonder of your child’s imagination through the magazine, we hope you will share your stories with us! Here’s to the future of knowonder! magazine, and more importantly, our children!