I saw that this morning and thought it was interesting - I have never
crossed a beaver dam in a canoe. Guess it is basic, but a lot of young
kids read those magazines

True, but in the same issue there was a whole section devoted to kids on
fishing.
They could have put it there. Trust me, it ain't that hard...paddle up
to dam, climb out of canoe, stand on dam, drag canoe over, get back in
canoe. LoL