Table of contents for 462 in The Week Junior

On 13 October, US president Joe Biden visited people in Florida who had been affected by Hurricane Milton. While he was there, he announced around £467 million to improve the country’s electricity network so that it can cope better with future extreme weather events such as storms. How did people prepare for Milton? Authorities told millions of people to evacuate (leave for a safer place). Some followed the orders but others chose to stay at home. Thousands of flights into and out of the US were cancelled or delayed and bridges were closed. The authorities set up several places where people could get free fuel to help them travel to safety. At Zoo Tampa, around 1,000 animals were moved to temporary enclosures to keep them safe. The Florida Aquarium also…

Do you dream of oranges, reds and yellows lighting up the landscape? In 2021, a survey by the National Trust charity found that people’s joy in autumn colours had increased since the Covid-19 pandemic. A third of people said they look forward to autumn leaves more than Christmas. Experts say that this year’s wetter summer could mean a longer autumn leaf display but only if temperatures drop steadily and conditions are calm. However, climate change means that weather is more unpredictable and autumns are generally getting warmer and wetter. Some people love autumn for its colours and cosiness. Others say that colder, wetter weather is nothing to celebrate and spring is a nicer time of year. What do you think? Is autumn better than spring? Yes – autumn is beautiful…

Experts disagree on when the sycamore tree was first brought to the UK from Europe but it has spread all over the country, thanks to its clever fruit. The trees can grow up to 35 metres tall. Their pink-grey bark is smooth when young but gets cracked as it ages. The big leaves measure up to 16 centimetres wide and have five lobes (sections) with uneven ragged edges. The sycamore’s green-yellow flowers hang in bunches in summer. However, female flowers later become winged fruits called samaras. Their shape helps them spin through the air when they drop off the tree, which spreads the seeds they contain over a wide area. Samaras are sometimes called “helicopters” and children use them in flying competitions.…

It’s time to get creative because we need your help. We want YOU to design the cover for our Christmas issue. Your design can feature anything you want. It could be an Arctic scene featuring polar bears, or something really festive like Santa or a Christmas tree – but make sure it’s clear, eye-catching and colourful. We can’t wait to see what you come up with. The judging panel will include a team from The Week Junior, who’ll be joined by illustrator Tom Clohosy Cole. He created the cover of The Kingdom Over the Sea, written by Zohra Nabi, which won Cover of the Year at The Week Junior Book Awards. The prize The winner will have their design featured on the cover of the Christmas issue of The Week…

Take a moment to notice any sensations in your body right now. Is your breathing fast or slow or somewhere in between? Does your mind seem busy with thoughts or is it focused on what you’re reading? These are all signals from your body and brain that tell you how you’re feeling. Where do feelings come from? “Feelings start in our brains and also exist in our bodies,” says Ekta Hattangady, who is a counsellor (someone who helps people with their problems through talking). Hattangady explains how different feelings exist in the body. “When we are happy or find something funny, we smile. When someone jumps and surprises us, our throat or chest might feel tight. When we are scared, our breathing might become shallow,” she says. Why do feelings…

Guillaume Diop Diop is the first black star dancer with the Paris Opera in France. Before this he campaigned to make ballet better for black and Asian dancers, including asking the Paris Opera to provide shoes and tights that match dancers’ natural skin tones. Misty Copeland Although she didn’t start ballet lessons until she was 13, Copeland made history by becoming the first black principal ballerina (the highest ranked dancer) in the American Ballet Theatre. She now works to open ballet to dancers from different backgrounds. Shevelle Dynott London-born Dynott was one of the first to complete Chance to Dance, a scheme that helps children express themselves through dance. He was also the first full-time black student to be accepted into the Royal Ballet School. Dynott has also danced for…

Chefs Wanted by Allegra McEvedy. Illustrated by Alice Bowsher (DK) Award-winning chef Allegra McEvedy presents this collection of more than 45 tasty recipes for young cooks who want to take their skills to the next level. Test out and taste a selection of fun dishes, including cannelloni, profiteroles and spring rolls. The Life-Changing Magic of Baking by Joy Wilson. Illustrated by Tatiana Kamshilina (Magic Cat) Perfect for beginner bakers, this joyful, colourful and easy-to-use handbook is packed with advice from cookbook author Joy Wilson. It will teach you useful skills such as how to cream butter and sugar together and how to make icing. There are recipes to try too, including a “Happy Every Day” cake. The River Cafe Look Book by Ruth Rogers, Sian Wyn Owen and Joseph Trivelli…

Name: Aafia The Treasure Hunt Monster by Marcus Rashford “Enthusiastic, confident and brave. I enjoyed reading this book as it takes me into a world full of mystery and deception.” YOUR TURN Please email your book review to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If it is printed in the magazine you will receive a Roving Reporter badge. Describe your chosen book in three words, tell us what you liked about it and why you would recommend it to others. Don’t forget to include your name and address.* *If you are the competition winner, we will only use the details you provide to contact you and arrange delivery of your competition prize. Further details about how we manage the data you provide can be found at www.futureplc.com/privacy-policy…

What you need ● 1 pumpkin, about 1.2kg● 3 tbsp olive oil● Salt and black pepper● 30g unsalted butter● 30g plain flour● 1 tsp English mustard powder● ¼ tsp paprika● 500ml milk● 150g mature cheddar, grated● 50gComtéorGruyère, grated● 300g dried macaroni or spiral pasta● 50g chunky breadcrumbs● 30g Parmesan, grated● 2 baking trays● 2 saucepans● Wooden spoon● Colander Will you carve a pumpkin this Halloween? What do you do with the bits you cut out? New research from the environmental charity Hubbub shows that one in four children have never eaten a pumpkin but millions of them are bought for Halloween every year. Hubbub’s research predicts that 24.5 million pumpkins get thrown away. For its #EatYourPumpkin campaign this year, Hubbub has partnered with Emily Gussin, the author of a book…

We are now in the middle of Black History Month and I was fascinated to read about Ballet Black and the other dancers who have inspired others (page 20). At our Book Festival, which is happening on 29 October, author G.M. Linton will be giving a workshop based around her beautiful book, My Name Is Sunshine Simpson, which recently won the Breakthrough award at The Week Junior Book Awards. Her story was inspired by the amazing journey of her own parents, who moved from the Caribbean to the UK as part of the Windrush generation. She will be inviting her audience to think about their family, heritage and community – basically the ingredients that make you unique. To find out more about the Book Festival, ask an adult to have…

You can help change lives by getting your school involved in Trainer Tuesday this autumn term. On this day, students and staff can wear their favourite trainers to school instead of their regular school shoes, raising money for the Youth Adventure Trust. The charity helps vulnerable young people build confidence and resilience through outdoor challenges. To join, just ask your teacher or head to sign up. You’ll be helping young people your age take on exciting adventures and achieve their full potential. You can find out more at youthadventuretrust.org.uk/trainer-tuesday GET INVOLVED Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk Please include your full name and address so that we can send you a Roving Reporter badge if your contribution makes it onto the page. We will only use the details…

We love hearing from you! It’s easy – just write a comment when you vote in our online Big Debate poll, or even record a voice note for The Week Junior Show. Last week we asked you if children should learn to grow food… “Yes, because you need to know where your food comes from.” “No – why give up your precious time when you can buy food from the supermarket?” “Yes, growing food can be a fun activity to do in your spare time.” “No, this could take time off of things such as homework, sports or activities.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here.…

A SINGING WEATHER PRESENTER On 11 October, a BBC Scotland presenter sang in Gaelic (a Scottish and Irish language) during his weather report. Calum MacColl won an award for singing at the 2021 Royal National Mòd, a festival of Gaelic culture. This year’s event took place from 11 to 19 October. UNITING RHINO SISTERS On 4 October, two rhinoceros sisters called Bonnie and Ailsa met for the first time at West Midlands Safari Park, England. Ailsa was living there already but Bonnie was moved there from another zoo. At first the southern white rhino sisters pushed each other around but then they got together and shared some hay. COIN COLLECTORS The Royal Mint, which makes the UK’s coins, has produced a new collectible 50p coin, featuring a scene from Raymond…

These days there are lots of famous people, including Tom Daley and Greta Thunberg, showing that anyone can enjoy knitting. Joshie, aged 12, is a fan too, and has raised £3,000 for charity by making headbands. Joshie, from Poole, England, took up the craft after being diagnosed with epilepsy (a condition that affects the brain) in 2023. He was told to limit screen time to help stop the seizures (bursts of uncontrolled movement) that epilepsy caused. To keep busy, Joshie picked up a pair of knitting needles and found he really liked crafting things. “It relaxes me a lot,” he tells The Week Junior. He decided to use his skill to raise money for University Hospitals Dorset’s epilepsy fund because he was staying in one of their hospitals when he…

More than 3,000 years ago, aurochs (a species of cattle – see panel) disappeared from Britain. These magnificent creatures later went completely extinct. A new research project will introduce a very similar animal, the tauros, to the UK for the first time. Tauros are big, muscular cattle with long horns. Humans have deliberately bred them to be similar to aurochs. Now, a charity called Trees for Life wants to introduce a herd of up to 15 tauros to the Dundreggan estate, near Loch Ness in Scotland, in 2026. The people on the project hope the tauros will help to rewild the landscape in lots of ways. Rewilding is the process of restoring land to its natural state, where nature takes care of itself and can support many species of animals…

Artwork is lovely to look at, but did you know that seeing a real work of art – instead of a photo of it – makes people more emotional? Neuroscientists (researchers who study the brain) recently carried out a study at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, a city in the Netherlands. The museum is home to Girl with a Pearl Earring, a very famous painting by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer. It was painted in 1665. The researchers used eye-tracking equipment and a brain scanner called an EEG (see panel) to observe how people reacted to several paintings. First, the volunteers were asked to look at the real paintings on display, and then at posters of the artworks in the museum shop. The results revealed that their emotional response was…

On 12 October, the England women’s rugby union team won the WXV 1 competition. The Red Roses defeated Canada 21-12 to win the title for the second year in a row. WXV is a tournament with 18 national teams divided into three groups of six, called WXV 1, WXV 2 and WXV 3. Each country played three games against other teams in their group. The tournament started on 27 September and each group’s games were played in three countries: Canada (WXV 1), South Africa (WXV 2) and United Arab Emirates (WXV 3). Four points were awarded for winning a match and two points for a draw. Teams could also get bonus points for scoring four or more tries or losing by seven points or fewer. England beat the US 61-21…

In the Magic Isles, Eglantine lives in a rare and extraordinary house with amazing magical powers. Now it is under threat from the terrifying Whistlewitch – and to save the house and her family, Eglantine will need to find her “Witchspark” and unlock her magical abilities, fast. Meanwhile, the young Princess Victoria is horrified to discover that she possesses magical powers, which begin to spiral out of control and cause chaos at the Royal Palace. Princesses aren’t meant to have magic but keeping her Witchspark a secret seems impossible. Both girls desperately need some help – could Miss Heggoty’s course for aspiring (and ungovernable) witches provide the answers? This adventure is set in an alternate version of Britain and is partly inspired by the real childhood of Queen Victoria –…

Frann Preston-Gannon is a children’s author and illustrator, best known for her award-winning picture books including The Journey Home and the nature poetry anthology I Am the Seed that Grew the Tree. Preston-Gannon started working in bookshops as a teenager and developed a passion for children’s books. It has always been her dream to have a bookshop of her own and this year, Preston-Gannon opened The Paper Cat Children’s Bookshop, which she runs with two other local mums. Where did the name come from? “My daughter, who is cat-obsessed, came up with the idea of ‘Paper Cat’ and it just stuck,” Preston-Gannon tells The Week Junior. After sketching out designs for the shop, the team were excited to see their plans come to life. “We had this bench idea and…

ShowerBox Being unable to maintain personal hygiene (stay clean) can be bad for your physical and mental health. It can also lead to being excluded by others and make you feel bad about yourself. ShowerBox has been supporting those facing homelessness with access to showers since 2018. It provides 60-80 showers every Saturday in London and people visit for sanitary products, toiletries, donations, hot drinks and a community. The charity has also just launched in Birmingham, England. Find out more at showerbox.org…

“Thank you so much The Week Junior for a fabulous dinner. We have been asking my mum to get ingredients for this recipe as it looked so delicious… and it is!”Aariyan and Riyaan “I interviewed my grandma. She had 40 guinea-pigs, a pet pig, a black lab puppy, frogs and toads, chickens, a goose, horses and rabbits.”Charlie “I went to a netball tournament with my friends Helena and Daisy – we placed 3rd and raised money for charity.”Caterina…

On 11 October, a sculpture celebrating hundreds of women was unveiled in Leeds, England. Ribbons was created by artist Pippa Hale and features five ribbon-shaped lengths of steel engraved with the names of almost 400 women, voted for by the public. Hale said Ribbons celebrated “the achievements of women in our city”. The women include Isabella Ford, who campaigned for women’s rights and working people in the 19th century, and former Olympic boxing champion Nicola Adams.…

Rachel Hayden has been given an award for encouraging young people to think of a career in civil engineering. Civil engineers design and build structures like bridges, hospitals, roads and tunnels. Hayden is the Institution of Civil Engineers South West STEM Ambassador of the Year 2024, a reward for promoting STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths). She says she was inspired at school when visiting STEM ambassadors held a pasta bridge competition. Without them, she told BBC News, “I might never have known about civil engineering, let alone be the civil engineer I am today.”…

Chelsea women Chelsea enjoyed a 2-1 win at London rivals Arsenal in the Women’s Super League. Mayra Ramirez and Sandy Baltimore scored for Chelsea. Wigan Warriors Wigan beat Hull KR 9-2 in rugby league’s Super League Grand Final. Wigan have won four trophies this season. Ruth Chepngetich At the Chicago Marathon in the US, the athlete from Kenya set a women’s world record of two hours, nine minutes and 56 seconds. A marathon race is 26.2 miles long. Erling Haaland The footballer scored twice against Slovenia to become Norway’s record scorer with 34 goals in 36 games.…

When Cassa Pancho saw there were hardly any professional black dancers in ballet, she wanted to change things. So in 2001, she set up Ballet Black to show children with black and Asian backgrounds that ballet is for them too. As well as running a dance school, Ballet Black is now a dance company that has performed more than 60 new ballets, starring black and Asian dancers from around the world. “There’s something about seeing people that look like you on stage, regardless of how fancy the production is, that really inspires and motivates,” Pancho explains. Classical ballet has been around for more than 400 years and is performed in countries around the world. However, the number of non-white dancers is still tiny. This is why the work of Ballet…

Super Happy Magic Forest Available now on BBC iPlayer In this fantasy adventure series, five brave heroes, led by Hoofius the faun, team up because they love going on quests and having picnics in the woods. The Council of Happiness sends them out on missions to protect the forest, where they must solve puzzles and riddles and defeat villains. The Addams Family Available now on Amazon Prime Perfect for Halloween, this film is all about a spooky family. After they move to a boring town, problems arise for the family when Wednesday Addams becomes friends with the daughter of a reality TV show host.…

What would be your favourite magical subject? Probably creating potions. I’d love a bubbling cauldron – but broomstick-making would be up there too. Describe Eglantine and Victoria in one word each. Eglantine: stubborn. Victoria: frustrated. What do you enjoy most about writing fantasy? Making the weird and wonderful come to life. I love the idea of impossible things happening, like finding a gnome who makes bread living in your pantry. If you had a magical pet, what would it be? A dragon or wyvern that can talk, definitely. Who would you recommend this book to? Anyone who likes stories about enchanted houses, aspiring witches, alternative magical history and quirky magic. So readers of Harry Potter, The Worst Witch and Howl’s Moving Castle might well enjoy it.…

Do you get easily bored with playing just one game? Super Mario Party Jamboree may be the answer. It is a collection of more than 110 mini-games, all designed to be played with your friends and family. It’s the latest game in the Mario Party series, hosted by Nintendo’s cartoon plumber Mario. Like the previous games, it has been designed like a board game: each player rolls a virtual dice and moves their character around the level. This isn’t about snakes and ladders, trivia questions or buying properties, though. As you travel around the boards – there are seven of them – you’ll open up the colourful, wacky mini-games to play. You’ll find archery, basketball, bongo drums, log-rolling, nail-hammering, platform-jumping, robo-arm wrestling, snowball fights, whack-a-mole – and many more. Some…

A fish counter with a difference popped up in London recently, offering a selection of crabs, lobsters, prawns, sardines, squid and other seafood – all crafted in colourful yarn. The display was an art installation called Fishy Business by artist Kate Jenkins, who made each knitted, crocheted, embroidered and sequinned item by hand using sustainable materials. Jenkins studied fashion and says she started her business from “a love of knitting, food and fun”. Customers who visited the fish counter at Air Contemporary Gallery could buy their own fishy favourite and have it signed by Jenkins. “Each artwork is made with love, crafted by hand using cutting-edge techniques and with sustainable yarn – even the smallest sardine,” says Jenkins.…

Name: Theo and Grace We enjoyed the article on page 19 of Issue 456 about art, creativity and well-being and we want to tell you about a project we worked on over the summer holidays. We made and opened a “Little Free Art Gallery” on the verge of our garden. The aim is that it will spread joy and celebrate creativity in our village and beyond. This is how it works; anyone in the community can: - Take a piece of art - Leave a piece of art - Just take a look around I (Theo) helped my dad make the gallery out of a cupboard my cousin gave us, and I (Grace) took the lead on the art and setting up the exhibition space. We used mostly recycled materials…

Teacher’s name: Mr Steele School: Holmewood House School, Langton Green, Tunbridge Wells “Mr Steele has been a great teacher. He plays lots of fun games with us and if we get something wrong he tells us, ‘You don’t get everything right on the first try, that’s why you come to school.’ He has only been at our school for a few months but everyone likes him and when I mean everyone I really mean everyone! Now I really enjoy learning languages.” Arthur If we pick your teacher as Teacher of the Week, we’ll send your school three free issues of The Week Junior. Send your nominations, along with a picture of your teacher and your school’s full name and address, to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…