Real: Read Everything and Learn. (Elementary Edition-Kindergarten to Grade 3). Richmond Hill, ON: REAL Canadian Kids, 20-- 32 pp., 5 x year, $19.99 + taxes. ISSN 1920-9282. Grades 2-3 / Ages 7-8. Review by Gail Hamilton. ** /4
	Real: Read Everything and Learn. (Junior Edition-Grades 4 to 8). Richmond Hill, ON: REAL Canadian Kids, 20-- 32 pp., 5 x year, $19.99 + taxes. ISSN 1920-9290. Grades 4-6 / Ages 9-11. Review by Gail Hamilton. **½ /4

excerpt:

We big boys with Dollar Store toys
We big boys you know
We big boys with Dollar Store toys
     Yo! Yo! Yo!

We big boys with Dollar Store toys
Duck or you'll get hurt
We big boys with Dollar Store toys
     Squirt, squirt, squirt!

(From "We Big Boys" in REAL, Elementary Edition, Vol. 7, Spring, 2011.)

This Canadian children's magazine, whose acronym REAL stands for "Read Everything and Learn", is published five times per year in two editions, the elementary edition for students in Kindergarten through Grade 3, and the junior edition for fourth to eighth graders. Each edition consists of about a dozen articles, stories, poems, legends and puzzles and covers a wide range of topics. There is no advertising in the magazines. The page numbers in the table of contents are colour-coded to indicate the reading level of each of the articles. Basically, there is one article at each of the reading levels, and the rest are considered "shared reading," though it is unclear as to what that term means- does it mean that a parent's help is required, or that children of all ages will enjoy the story? Both editions feature a wide range of writing and artistic styles. Illustrations, for example, consist of drawings, photographs, cartoons and paintings. Unfortunately, the quality of both the writing and the illustrations is inconsistent, and the age range of the intended audience is too broad, for reasons of reading and interest levels. Third graders, for instance, will find a few of the articles in the elementary edition far too juvenile. What is needed, perhaps, is a third edition of the magazine so that the reading level range is narrower. A suggestion would be to have a primary edition for Kindergarten-Grade 2, an elementary edition for Grades 3-4, and a junior edition for Grades 5-7.

      Solely based on the two reviewed issues (Vol. 7, Spring, 2011) and some of the questionable selections, it is evident that these magazines require some careful revision in order to be considered "contenders."

Recommended with reservations.

Gail Hamilton is Library Learning Resources Consultant at the Instructional Resources Unit, Manitoba Department of Education, in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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