A Five Year Old's View

Ranger Rick is a publication of the National Wildlife Federation published monthly at a cost of $17 per year or $2.25 per issue if purchased at your newsstand. Per the publisher/Federation it is geared for ages 7-12...but my five year old would beg to differ.

Some additional facts:

The National Wildlife Federation actually publishes three periodicals geared for children. Wild Animal Baby was created for ages 12 months (!) to 3 years. This one is 10 issues for $19.95. From that your nature lover can proceed to Your Big Backyard for ages 3-6 and $15 for 12 issues. Ranger Rick falls in after that.

It may have been by default or by choice, I don't recall, but my five year old has started out with Ranger Rick and couldn't be more content. Of course content is geared for the younger set so what may sound nonsensical to adult readers, is quite entertaining for the younger crowd. Here's what you'll find in a typical issue...

Several games involving bits of animal information, letters written to the editor (aka "Ranger Rick", a question and answer column hosted by a cartoon fox named 'Scarlett', a pull out poster, a monthly cartoon series called "Ranger Rick's Adventures". In addition to these items you'll find articles written with the attention span of your young reader in mind. These vary from information on specific animals, habitats, some geography.

Pages are filled with great colorful photographs---many of the action variety appreciated by children. Print is larger than your average magazine and most articles and columns are written more in "blurbs" than in paragraph style. As for the age range issue, Ranger Rick, in terms of reading ability, is geared appropriate for the 7-12 range. However, age ranges can be quite subjective as they often depend on your child's interest and how involved parents are when it comes to reading.

This family's only beef? I find the paper/binding to be rather low quality. Considering little hands are primarily using the magazine, it would be nice to at least have a slightly sturdier cover. Ours are usually dilapidated rather quickly.