Ranger Rick Celebrates 50 Years with a New Magazine and App for Kids

National Wildlife Federation, publisher of "Ranger Rick," one of the longest-running children's magazines ever, announced it will now publish "Ranger Rick Jr.," a magazine about animals and wildlife for young children. The company will also offer an interactive Ranger Rick Jr. app for kids.

On Nov. 9, the National Wildlife Federation celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Ranger Rick children’s magazine at Books of Wonder in Manhattan. At the event, the company announced it will release a new magazine in December: Ranger Rick Jr.

This new publication is geared toward children ages 4-7, which is a younger age group than the original publication. Ranger Rick Jr.’s biggest surprise is the introduction of Ricky Raccoon, a friend of Ranger Rick. Unlike his older friend, Ricky plays along with the children and helps them explore the magazine’s age-appropriate educational content about animals. Ricky pops up throughout the various features, which include articles, poems, fun facts, world-class animal photography, and games. The magazine contains no advertisements.

In order to promote a healthy lifestyle, every issue has a Look Outside and Green Time section designed to get kids to play outside. This effort is part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Be Out There pledge, which aims to get 10 million kids outdoors.

In collaboration with the new magazine, the National Wildlife Federation has released Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures!, a new iPad-only series of apps made for children ages 4-7 that presents Ranger Rick Jr. magazine into an interactive and digital format.

In the first series, Ricky is joined by friend Lars the Lion and the two take the children through the African grasslands, learning everything there is to know about lions. There are three sections of the app: Explore, Play, and Create. In the Create section, children can let their imaginations run wild, putting their own animal together, writing stories and composing music with an animal-themed piano.

For more information on the new magazine and app, visit rangerrickjr.org.