You Don't Have To Be A Budding Ranger Rick To Enjoy This

I am reviewing Ranger Rick published by National Wildlife Federation. I am using 2 issues – January and March of 2002 but will focus on the March issue.

About Ranger Rick:

~Ranger Rick is an educational magazine geared for children over 7. The National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) also publishes “Your Big Backyard” for children 3-7 and “Animal Baby” for those 1-3 years of age. You can find these at the following site: http://www.nwf.org/kids/

~In general, this is a great website and I would bookmark it for my children if they were young. Ranger Rick is in many classrooms in which I substitute teach. I found myself 3 days in a row teaching the same 3rd graders and this, along with Highlights for Children, were the teacher’s magazines of choice. Another magazine of choice the children were getting out of the library was Sports Illustrated for Kids. There happened to be a lot of reading time in this class (as there are in most) and although no one reached for it while I was there, based on the finished crossword puzzle and the well-worn issues, it is a magazine the children do like.

~Both issues are 38-pages long with a picture of an animal on the cover. I found the March cover particularly interesting to me since it is on "Coyotes, Good or Bad?" We have a coyote problem in our town. Each issue has a variety of articles but both have “Dear Ranger Rick” and “Ranger Rick’s Adventures” where the coyote article can be found. They also both have a pull-out game section.

A Closer Look

~The March issue starts with a terrific 6-page article called “Mush, Mush! Off to Our Wild Winter Camp” which tells the story of a young boy who goes to New Hampshire for the weekend in the middle of winter for dogsledding and camping. The pictures are great of Michael, friends and Michael’s dad with the dogs, the campsite, the campfire and other pictures pertaining to the weekend. The article is very easy to follow. Not every 7-year-old will be able to read all the words in the article, but most will be able to read most. They will have a tough time with some of the names of the dogs, but they will ask how to pronounce them or what they mean.

~Dear Ranger Rick is a place where children have submitted answers to question or as in the February issue, poetry. The question answered in March was “Where is the strangest place you ever found wildlife?” There is a snail mail and e-mail address to send in submissions.

~The March issue has a card that suggests giving it to your teacher to order a free wildlife poster and kit. This particular promotion is targeted for teachers but this isn’t a magazine just for the classroom. I would have it in my house in spite of it being educational!

~Ranger Rick’s Adventures addresses the coyote issue really well. It is done in cartoon form on 4 pages and ends with More Facts (There are facts throughout the cartoon as part of the cartoon narrative.) and this is where children can learn that coyotes can present a danger and problem for people and gives ways that we can keep coyotes (and other wildlife) under control.

~The pull-out game section includes fill in the blanks, a game (The Great Dogsled Race) and a crossword puzzle. All games in this section teach the children something. They are fun to do but I will stress it again, educational.

~In the class I was in, there was a girl who didn’t like to read. She had, though, read Ranger Rick already and although she can read just doesn’t like to. Reading Judy Blume for example is a chore for her. This is the kind of magazine that I would recommend not just for the child interested in reading but for the child who isn’t because it is engaging, fun and educational all at the same time.

~A 12-month subscription will cost you $17.00. There is no online promotion and it is only available by subscription. Ranger Rick is not available on the newsstands.

My final thoughts

~Ranger Rick is certainly geared for the child interested in wildlife but I don’t think it is so specific (As opposed to Sports Illustrated for Kids which will not appeal to a child not interested in sports.) that your child has to be a budding ranger to enjoy it. I think most children like animals and I think most children will enjoy reading this magazine. It may not be the first one they reach for if given a choice, but if you subscribe to it and it is reading time in your house, I would love to have your child reading this magazine.

~I highly recommend Ranger Rick. $17.00 sounds like a lot for 38 pages, but your child will get information, games and can get involved in contests, send in letters and read! It is only $1.41 for each issue if you do the math. It makes a wonderful gift!

~Although there is no upper age limit and I enjoyed reading the magazine, I would say from experience that once your child hits 12, he or she will no longer want to read this magazine and it will be time for National Geographic or Discover!