This slick, compact, exceptional, publication challenges its young readers with smart, brain-nudging stories that require serious thinking and advanced-placement perception to understand. Subject matter doesn't matter much here because, whatever the topic, all of Muse's features dive into the deep end. It's sophisticated explorations venture from the science of dreaming in one recent issue to the colossal cities of the future in another.

Not brainiac enough? Read on. Try recent articles on gravitational wave discovery, origami cities, why chimpanzees love throwing rocks at trees, reasoning like a raven, tasting the number seven, and peeking into the sleep mode of computers.

Cricket Media is behind today's foremost and most far-reaching educational publications for kids. And Muse is by far its most blow-away magazine for inquisitive kids who embrace wondering about the world and look for ongoing educational challenges. Those youngsters, this magazine is gray-matter gold.