Earlier this month, in a post about the first annual MarkMaynard.com Ypsilantian of the Year award, I mentioned several people who had been nominated for the distinction. One of those was a 9 year old girl named Juna, who publishes a small newspaper called the Oakwood Seed. She was nominated by Rob Hess, the man behind Go Ice Cream, who found a copy stuffed in the mailbox of his home on Oakwood Street one afternoon. Here’s what he had to say about it. “It’s a newspaper of love and imagination,” said Hess. “The little photo-copied paper was illustrated with pictures of her bunny and her cat, along with pictures of a peace sign, a recycling symbol and an anarchy symbol. I love that we are the kind of town where kids are encouraged to do things like this. Finding and reading this little story from a kid I don’t know was one of my favorite things of the entire year.” Well, since posting that, I’ve received several notes from folks, asking if I knew where they might be able to pick up a copy. As I didn’t have an answer, I reached out to Juna’s parents, who were kind enough to scan the two issues that she’s already produced, and put them online. If you’re interested in checking them out, you’ll find them on Juna’s website.
When asked how the Oakwood Seed came about, Juna said, “I got the idea to start a paper while reading a book, and thought it would be fun.” The second issue, she said, came about because so many people seemed to like the first.
11 Comments
Interesting seeds.
There is nothing more heartwarming than children writing about animals. It restores my faith in mankind.
I’m jealous that I live outside of the Oakwood Seed’s distribution area. What an awesome thing!!
I’ve yet to see a copy, but I hear there’s a kid-produced paper in Ann Arbor as well. It’s called The Murray Avenue Times, and it’s produced by two kids on Murray Avenue.
Yeah! Go, Juna!
Wait? There’s more than one? I only have the first, it’s still sitting on my coffee table.
Don’t mess with that bunny, looks tough.
It’s just come to my attention that the Murray Avenue Times is produced by Rebekah Modrak’s daughter Lucy and her friend Linnea.
http://markmaynard.com/2014/05/art-food-sex-and-trauma-mark-maynard-shoots-the-shit-with-the-most-important-artists-of-our-day-episode-2-rebekah-modrak/
Reading those two issues renewed my hope for humankind’s future
I am offended by her bunny anarchist revisionism.
I’m almost moved to tears that the spirit of print zines is alive in another generation. Hurray, Juna!