Ranger Rick Jr.
Ever been asked where birds sleep, whether flying fish can really fly, or if penguins have knees? Ranger Rick, Jr, a bi-monthly magazine written for children aged four through seven years, is coming to the rescue. The animal and nature-themed magazine features beautiful, color photography with just the right ratio of image to age, and ability-leveled text. Each magazine starts with “What’s That,” an eye-catching photograph of an animal not typically presented to young children: a leafy seadragon, a capped heron, a mongoose, a macaque, and more. Then, Ricky the Racoon jumps in to guide readers through the magazine with fun facts, riddles, and discussion questions. There are cover articles, Fun Facts, Ever Wonder, Playhouse, Crafts, and fictional stories. Through this content, children learn about animals, their habits and habitats, their diets, and more.
The magazine also offers animal-themed games activities such as mazes, drawing, find-the-object, and a craft based on the cover article. Children may make coffee-can giraffe cups, thumb print frogs, or even sea turtle cookies. And, there’s a pull-out poster in each edition.
Ranger Rick, Jr. is a well-designed, well-crafted magazine that teaches children not only about animals and nature, but also important reading skills (e.g. letter recognition, vocabulary, word-to-image connections, and so forth).
Sharon Heuscher ©2018 Parents’ Choice
Sharon holds B.A.s in English Literature and Ancient Studies as well as a B.S. in Psychology. She is currently a masters-level trainee in Clinical Psychology specializing in neurodegenerative diseases. For the past thirteen years, Sharon has focused primarily on raising, educating, and nurturing her five children who range in age from three to thirteen.