Vacationland

Back when I was a kid in elementary school, I always looked forward to Fridays. Sure, there were spelling tests and once free from school there was a whole weekend to explore, but one of my favorite parts of Friday was when the teacher handed out a new edition of Weekly Reader.

The reading comprehension based educational materials from Weekly Reader have been produced for well over a hundred years now. When I was a kid I didn’t know I was learning, it was simply interesting articles about extreme sports, new movies and some clever puzzles to solve. I hope it is still as intriguing to students today as it was to me back then.

Going back even further, the summer edition of Weekly Reader from 1971 gave children a peak at what was coming from a little Disney project in central Florida. The cover shows a child constructing his own castle and encouraging his dog to help out as opening day was only two months away. The interior article featured three construction images and a brief description to whet the appetite of vacation hungry students.

The real joy of this issue, however, comes from the perfectly gorgeous map of the park, monorails and Contemporary Resort. The attraction names weren’t released with the publication, listing instead Car Ride, Tree House and Resort Hotel, but the spirit of what the Magic Kingdom was and would become is definitely captured in this artwork.