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zootles-ranger-rick-jr

We love kids magazines and my girls especially love the science magazines. When our Ranger Rick Jr. subscription ran out, I couldn’t find a good deal, so we bought Zootles instead. Here are our thoughts on which we like better.

Zootles

About 17 pages
Thick pages
Sponsored by a letter, color, concept (big/small), number (2 of 4)
Bimonthly
Age 3-6
Animal theme/focus, too
$29.95 normal price/yr

Zootles Content

Contents reinforce sponsors
Small boxes of info–easy to digest
Pictures & illustrations
Resource corner with more info + additional resources online & activity for older kids (k level)
Poems
Short story – longer attention span
Has audio book version for car
Comic on back cover

Ranger Rick Jr

34 pages
Pages are thinner
Variation of topics within an issue
10 issues
Ages 4-7
$19.95/yr.

Ranger Rick Jr. Content

Photos & illustrations – short bursts of reading
Games/puzzles/drawing/mazes/etc
Bonnie & Chester rebus story
Ricky & pals story – longer attn span
Hands on activities, mailed projects/pics from kids
Longer feature story
Shorter ‘extra’ stories
Fun facts about animals (that’s wild!)

Overall, my girls have found Ranger Rick Jr. to be more engaging. The content was more fun, had more activities & was longer. Its much harder to find a deal on, but at almost twice as big as Zootles, I would definitely spring for Ranger Rick Jr. at full price. The other thing I liked about Ranger Rick Jr was that despite the fact its put out by the NWF, there is no garbage content in it (global warming, etc) — it’s really just about animals and nature.

Also, it does say for ages 4-7, but I found that I moved Dagny up to Ranger Rick at age 5 and she’s been pretty happy with that change. I would call these more toddler/preschool level magazines.

If you watch deal sites like Zulily, Plum District or others, you can often find both at a discount.

What magazines do your kids enjoy?

Jen S.