Table of contents for 522 in The Week Junior

Paddington Bear delighted his fans by appearing on Strictly Come Dancing on 6 December. Which of your favourite book characters deserves their own musical? Read about what happened on page 5. Some wild animals have grown tamer to live alongside humans. Which species would you like to see more of in towns and cities? Read about how raccoons and foxes have adapted to city life on page 12. Doing regular chores to help at home can actually boost your brain power. What’s your favourite job at home? Discover how helping out makes you feel good on page 21. The big debate Should all zoos be closed down? Page 10.…

On 8 December, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, met the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the leaders of France and Germany to discuss a possible peace deal between Ukraine and Russia. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At the meeting, which took place at 10 Downing Street (the Prime Minister’s official home) in London, all three leaders expressed their continuing support for Ukraine. Starmer told Zelensky, “We stand here to support you in the conflict and support you in the negotiations.” The peace deal that was discussed at the meeting was put forward by the US. The meeting followed three days of talks between Ukrainian and US officials about the deal. After these talks, Zelensky told Bloomberg News that “sensitive issues” still needed further discussion. These…

On 10 December, the Government announced its Youth Matters plan and report. This is a plan to increase young people’s access to youth centres (see panel) and youth workers in England over the next 10 years. The Government said it would spend £500 million on youth services. What is in the plan? The Youth Matters plan says the Government will build or refurbish (rebuild or redecorate) up to 250 youth centres and provide equipment for activities to about 2,500 youth organisations. Most of the money will be spent on this – about £350 million. The Government also plans to build a network of 50 Young Futures Hubs. These will be centres that bring together different services for young people, such as mental health support and careers advice. The Youth Matters…

Historian Greg Jenner has written seven books and recorded audiobooks for all of them. He tells The Week Junior that he loves the audiobook format because he can “speak directly to the audience”. One of Jenner’s audiobooks, Totally Chaotic History: Roman Britain Gets Rowdy!, won the Audiobooks category at The Week Junior Book Awards in September. Jenner wrote the book with Roman expert Emma Southon, who narrated the audiobook with him. Audiobooks give Jenner more options than you get with a printed book. He can use sound effects, add music and change his voice. “Sometimes we make my voice deeper or we make my voice higher, so it just sounds like there are different people talking to you,” he says. “It means I can do impressions of people.” A big…

Aardvark A six-year-old aardvark called Indie has been settling in at Colchester Zoo in Essex, England. Indie has already been introduced to a female aardvark called OQ, and the zoo hopes that the two will breed together. • LIFESPAN: From 18 to 30 years. • HABITAT: Grasslands, rainforests and woodlands south of the Sahara desert in Africa. • SIZE: The biggest are 2.2 metres long and weigh 65 kilograms. • DIET: Ants and termites. • FUN FACT: With their long, sticky tongues aardvarks can slurp up to 50,000 insects in a single night.…

Your brain only goes into “adult mode” in your 30s, according to new research. Scientists scanned the brains of about 4,000 people – from babies under the age of one, to 90-year-olds. The researchers identified four major “turning points” when brains rewire themselves: at the age of nine, 32, 66 and 83. This means that human brains have five distinct “eras” (ages) during the course of people’s lives. These different eras help us understand how the brain is wired at different stages of life. The brain’s “wiring” means the ways that the different parts of the brain connect. It controls how the brain sends and receives signals and it affects how people experience the world, make decisions and form memories. Duncan Astle, a professor at the University of Cambridge who…

Everton women Everton defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the WSL, with Honoka Hayashi scoring their goal. It was Chelsea’s first defeat in the competition this season. Mia Brookes The 18-year-old British athlete won gold in the Freestyle Snowboard Big Air World Cup event in Beijing, China. James Harden Harden became the 10thhighest National Basketball Association scorer in the US, scoring 34 points for the Los Angeles Clippers against the Minnesota Timberwolves. His career total is 28,303 points. Mark Selby Selby beat Judd Trump by 10 frames to eight to win the UK Snooker Championship for the third time.…

One Shot with Ed Sheeran Available now on Netflix Filmed in one continuous camera shot with no breaks, this documentary film shows singer Ed Sheeran as he wanders around New York City, US, before a big show. Sheeran performs songs on the streets and on a tourist bus and surprises fans over the course of one hour. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw Available now on Disney+ Wimpy kid Greg Heffley is back in a new animated adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s third Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. In The Last Straw, Greg’s dad wants to send him to a strict boarding school and Greg realises he might have to put his wimpy days behind him. Man Vs Baby Available now on Netflix The baby playing Baby Jesus…

What is your favourite thing about winter? I love going to the football when it’s really cold! It might sound mad but watching your team win when you can’t feel your toes is what it’s all about. Do you enjoy snow sports? I’ve been skiing a couple of times. I wasn’t very good but it was brilliant fun, and it doesn’t hurt too much when you fall over. What do you have in common with your character, Tom? I like to think I don’t give up. It’s important to do the right thing, no matter how hard it seems. Have you always wanted to be a writer? Since I was at school. It’s taken a long time but I’m so proud that I’ve done it. I love it, just like…

One of the ways scientists tell how healthy rainforests are is by listening to the sounds of their wildlife. A healthy forest is chattering with animal calls and birdsong but a damaged forest is much quieter. However, that’s a big job. Researchers can make thousands of hours of audio recordings but then someone has to listen to them all and identify the different animal and bird calls. What if that someone is an AI though? Google is using artificial intelligence technology to help with the task. Through its new Forest Listeners web experiment, it wants people around the world – including you – to help too. The site gets you to move around a virtual forest, listening for wildlife. When you find a new species, you listen to its song…

Wordsearch Can you find all of the words listed? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. ASTRONAUT BLACK HOLE COMET EARTH EXPLORATION GALAXY JUPITER MARS MERCURY MOON ORBIT PLANET RINGS ROCKET SATELLITE SATURN SPACE STAR UNIVERSE VENUS Split words Piece together the groups of letters to find four frog-related phrases. Sudoku Place the numbers from 1 to 6 exactly once in each row, column and 2x3 bold-lined box, to complete the grid. Number fit All of these numbers fit in the grid. Can you work out where they go? We’ve placed one to start you off. 3 numbers 274 324 375 857 4 numbers 6260 6756 8464 9105 9471 5 numbers 62571 64765 82251 97105 6 numbers 145143 654365 686601 937082 7 numbers 3816745…

We are on our countdown to Christmas now – and it set us thinking about the toys that were very popular in the past. Many still have fans today (I love Beanie Babies). You can find out about the presents that have made children’s eyes light up on page 14. Do you like our cover this week? There are a lot of foxes that raid bins where I live and I was fascinated to read that raccoons in US cities are also tucking into people’s food scraps. On page 12 you can read about the research, which found that the animals that live in cities and can cope with being near humans are developing shorter muzzles than their country cousins. Scientists have found the same with urban foxes in the…

Tens of thousands of people in Thailand and Cambodia, in Southeast Asia, have had to leave their homes after fighting broke out along the border between the two countries on 7 December. This came a few months after both countries agreed to a ceasefire (a pause in fighting). What happened? Thailand said that on 7 December, Cambodian soldiers attacked a group of Thai soldiers, who fought back. By contrast, Cambodia said the Thai military had started the fighting. On 8 December, Thailand launched air attacks along the border. At least three Thai soldiers and nine Cambodian civilians (people not in the armed services or police) died. Following the attacks, more than 385,000 people living near the border in Thailand were told to leave their homes. Around 50,000 went to shelters.…

A youth centre is a safe place where young people meet each other and take part in activities such as arts and crafts, music and sport. They are usually for older children and teenagers. Youth centres can provide support too, including careers advice and help with mental health. However, their numbers have been declining. Between 2010 and 2023, there was a 73% drop in spending on youth services in England, and more than 1,000 youth centres closed. Youth workers are people who help young people with their development. They often work at youth centres and schools.…

Jimmy Cliff was a singer and songwriter. Born in Jamaica, he was originally named James Chambers, and was born during a hurricane, which destroyed his home. He grew up in a very poor area and started singing at his local church at the age of six. At 14 years old, Cliff had a big hit in Jamaica with his song Hurricane Hattie, and his music career took off. In 1965 he moved to London in the UK to record more records. At first he struggled, saying, “I couldn’t find my place,” but in 1969 he began to have success with top-selling records like Wonderful World, Beautiful People. His songs often protested against war and injustice and had a positive message. Cliff also acted in films, and released lots more songs.…

Observe wintering goldeneyes ducking and diving There is a small population of these handsome ducks in Scotland that stays all year round, but most arrive in the UK for winter from colder places in northern Europe, such as Russia. More than 20,000 spend winter here but visitor numbers have fallen by more than 50% since 1997. Goldeneyes are found in coastal areas and wetlands but prefer freshwater habitats such as large lakes and reservoirs. They are 40-48 centimetres long. Males are black and white and their domed head is black with a green sheen to it. They have a white spot between their bright yellow eye and black bill. Females are a duller grey colour, with a brown head and a yellow eye. Goldeneyes dive for their food and, when…

Delhi’s air For weeks, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in India’s capital, Delhi, has been more than 20 times the limit recommended by the World Health Organisation. AQI measures lots of pollutants. In the last 10 years, Delhi’s average AQI has crossed the “severe” 400 mark many times. Readings over 400 seriously impact people with existing diseases, children and the elderly. An official group has been set up in Delhi to improve air quality.…

A Japanese company called YKK, which is one of the world’s largest producers of zips, has created a new kind of zipper for clothing. The AiryString doesn’t have tape (fabric) attached to either side; instead it has a row of zipper teeth that can be sewn directly onto clothes. As there’s no tape, the zip is said to be much more flexible. It’s also better for the environment as it doesn’t produce large amounts of scrap fabric or use gallons of water dyeing the tape, as normal zips do during manufacturing. FASTEN-ATING The modern zip was first designed to replace the lace-up fastening on boots. Enjoy these stories? Find more in this month’s The Week Junior Science+Nature magazine sciencenature.theweekjunior.co.uk…

Being in a family is like being part of a team, and that means everyone should be doing their bit. Doing chores at home is a great way to help out and learn life skills (things you need to know and be able to do as an adult). Helping out is good for your future too. A study published in 2024 found that children who did chores at home are more likely to be successful when they’re grown up. Why should I help at home? With clubs, friends and homework, helping out can sometimes just feel like extra work. However, you can think about doing chores in a positive way because they have a big impact on your family life. “Chores shouldn’t feel like a punishment,” says Dr Sarah Cresswell.…

A musical based on the popular Dog Man graphic novels by Dav Pilkey will arrive in London next year for its European premiere. In Pilkey’s series, the characters of George and Harold, who are best friends, write a comic book called Dog Man. In their comic, the half-man, half-dog main character is born when a policeman and his canine sidekick are stitched together following an accident. Dog Man: The Musical features several familiar faces from the graphic novels, including the feline villain Petey and his clone, Lil’ Petey. Pilkey said, “It is the perfect mash-up of memorable music, humour, and love.” The musical will appear at London’s Southbank Centre from July to August of next year. GLOBAL APPEAL Dog Man has been translated into 48 languages.…

Dance of Resistance by Catherine Johnson. Illustrated by Katie Hickey (Barrington Stoke) Josephine Baker was a famous actress and dancer who became a spy, a resistance fighter and an activist. This book tells her story, from her childhood living in poverty in the US to becoming a wartime hero in France during the Second World War (1939–45). The Line They Drew Through Us by Hiba Noor Khan (Andersen Press) Jahan, Ravi and Lakshmi are best friends, all born on the same day. Their lives change forever in 1947 when India gains independence from the British empire. Suddenly, lines of Partition are drawn to divide the country – and the friends. What will happen to the three and their families? Will they ever see each other again? Sun Horse, Moon Horse…

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 • 4 small to medium sized potatoes• 1 medium onion• 2 large eggs• 2 tbsp plain flour (or matzo meal)• Sea salt and pepper• Vegetable oil for frying• Grater• Mixing bowl• Tea towel• Wooden spoon• Frying pan• TablespoonMetal slotted spoon/spatula• Large plate• Kitchen paper Hanukkah is an important festival for people who follow the religion of Judaism. This year it begins on the evening of 14 December and lasts until 22 December. The festival of lights celebrates a story from more than 2,000 years ago, when a group of Jewish people called the Maccabees took back their temple. King Antiochus ruled over Judea (where Israel is today) and made it against the law for people to practise Judaism. He took over the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem and…

Name: Ava “I play for a mixed rugby team of boys and girls under 10 years old. We play every Sunday and I love to score tries. When the England Red Roses won the World Cup I was really happy; then I discovered that two of the players, Sadia Kabeya and Emily Scarratt, were coming into the club for our Girls Rugby Fest day! On the day we did some training, practice matches and got to ask them questions. I asked them how they celebrated the World Cup win. They were really nice to us and maybe if I work hard at the skills I could be like them one day.”…

Global Canvas art competition The theme of this art competition is The Book of Life – an imaginary wildlife guide listing as many as 10 million species. Every time a new animal is discovered, such as the vegetarian piranha, the book gets bigger. When a species goes extinct – like the Pinta Island tortoise – a page is lost forever. For the latest Global Canvas competition, the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation wants you to create art to show how The Book of Life can be saved forever. You can use any art medium (painting, sculpture etc) and recycled and found materials are encouraged. The deadline is on 19 February. To find out more, ask an adult to visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-art-comp WIN A BADGE! Email your news, views and pictures to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk…

A MAGICAL MONUMENT St Patrick’s Chair and Well in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, has been given protected status. Legend has it that the chair, a giant rock shaped like a throne, was built for St Patrick when he visited the area around 1,500 years ago, and has special healing powers. PADDINGTON BEAR Strictly Come Dancing viewers were delighted after a certain bear from Peru stole the show on 6 December with a song from Paddington: The Musical. Paddington sang The Explorer & the Bear alongside the singer Tom Fletcher, who composed the music for the hit show. WINTON WANDERERS Angry Ginge has been crowned the king of the jungle on this year’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! TV show. The social media star’s win was celebrated by…

Agarden in Aberdeen that dates from 1879 has won a special award. Union Terrace Gardens was awarded the Best Building in Scotland prize by an architects’ group. Architects are people who design buildings. The Victorian garden, in the centre of Aberdeen, was given a £28.3 million upgrade that began in 2019 and reopened to the public in 2022. The upgrade has created new paths and seating, a children’s play area and viewing spots for people.…

There are lots of zoos and wildlife parks across the UK that people enjoy visiting. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, David Field, president of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, said there are some zoos in the UK and around the world that he believes should be closed because they don’t meet animal welfare standards. He said there are currently checks into some polar bear exhibits where temperatures are higher than the animals’ natural habitat. He also said that some zoos can’t provide enough space for larger animals to thrive. However, Field also pointed out that zoos can play an important role in saving some animals. They also breed species to be reintroduced into places where they had died out. What do you think? Should all zoos…

Scientists have found evidence that raccoons in the US are changing their appearance as they spend more time near humans. The researchers think it’s the start of “domestication”, which is a type of evolution. Evolution is how living things change over time to fit with their surroundings and improve their chances of survival, and domestication means changing to fit in with human environments. In cities or towns where there are a lot of people, there are often food scraps left in bins and not many big predators. Wild animals can gradually change to fit into this habitat, domesticating themselves. Fully domesticated animals, like dogs and cats, often have smaller teeth, curly tails, short snouts and floppy ears compared with their wild relatives such as wolves and lions. A team of…

This year, the hole in the ozone layer over the Antarctic was the smallest it has been since 2019, scientists have said. The ozone layer is a layer of ozone gas (a form of oxygen) in the atmosphere. It surrounds Earth, protecting it from the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation (a type of energy). Long-term exposure to this type of radiation is harmful to life on Earth, so the ozone layer is like an invisible shield. Some of it has been destroyed by pollution released by humans. The hole in the ozone layer is not technically a hole but an area where ozone levels have reduced over time. Every year, it develops over Antarctica because of the region’s unique weather conditions, which allow polluting gases to damage the ozone layer more easily…

In 2023, £900 million was spent on toys in the UK over the festive period. The items expected to top children’s Christmas lists this year include hard-to-get Labubu dolls, Pokémon cards and Lego inspired by the animated series One Piece. Every year there are different toys in demand – but why? Early toys and the first craze In medieval times, children had fewer toys but would play with kites or hobby horses. Victorian children loved a cup-and-ball catching game; dolls made from porcelain; wooden train sets; and board games like Snakes and Ladders. Since the 1950s, crazes have been sparked by clever advertising, films and TV shows, celebrities and playground trends. The first Christmas toy craze was probably Mr. Potato Head in 1952. The company that made it, called Hasbro,…

A collection of clothes for dolls has been released to raise awareness of how much clothing is thrown away in the UK. The range was launched by electronics company Epson, which uses a special method called Dry Fibre Technology to make new material. The technology works by breaking down old fabrics into fibres that can be used to create a new material without using water or harsh chemicals. Research from Epson has revealed that each year, 216 million items of children’s clothing are thrown away in the UK, partly because children outgrow their clothes so quickly. In the research, 59% of parents said their children have unworn items of clothing with the tags still attached sitting in their wardrobes. The average item of children’s clothing is worn just 20 times.…

London City Lionesses are playing in the Women’s Super League (WSL) for the first time in 2025-26. The WSL is the top level of women’s club football in England and Katie Zelem joined for this exciting season. “I’m really happy here. We just want to keep winning and I think we’re surprising people,” Zelem told The Week Junior. London City Lionesses is the only WSL club with no connection to an existing men’s football club. Zelem, who is a midfielder, had been playing in the US, where the women’s top-level teams are independent, like London City Lionesses. “You see the power of women’s football as a stand-alone club. When I was at Manchester United, Liverpool and Juventus, sometimes the women’s team may not be thought of first. At London City…

SpongeBob SquarePants, the giggly sea sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea, is back for a new big-screen outing. He was first introduced to audiences in 1999 (see panel) but this might just be his most daring adventure to date. In The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, SpongeBob and Patrick Star join the Flying Dutchman, a cursed ghost pirate, on a journey into the Underworld. SpongeBob is on a mission to prove his bravery but, according to the film’s director Derek Drymon, the sinister Flying Dutchman has other plans. “What’s really happening is the Dutchman is using him to try and break his curse, and SpongeBob doesn’t know that,” Drymon tells The Week Junior. The director worked on the first three series of the show and the first…

by Simon Fox (Nosy Crow) Tom is on a skiing holiday, staying in a luxury chalet in the snowy mountains. He’s excited to be spending some quality time with his mum – but he soon realises that she’ll be spending the holiday working for her boss, Eric, who owns the chalet. The trip takes a spine-chilling turn when a villainous gang turns up at the chalet, searching for a powerful technology that Eric has invented. Together with Eric’s daughter Emily, Tom watches as the intruders take over the chalet – then cause a dangerous avalanche (a mass of snow moving rapidly down the mountainside). Now the chalet is cut off completely from help and their parents are trapped and in danger. Can Tom and Emily work together to save their…

Five years ago, Freya Blyth moved from working as a school librarian in Israel to setting up a bookshop in Aberystwyth, Wales. With all of its folk tales, castles and libraries, Blyth describes Wales as “very magical”. She tells The Week Junior, “If you visit the Bookshop by the Sea, it’s like visiting a fairy-tale bookshop”. It’s an especially magical time of year when the bookshop prepares for the festive season. In the run-up to this Christmas, Blyth has been crafting a window display filled with fairy lights and glittery snowflakes. She and her team have been making origami (folded paper artwork) out of old, damaged books that were donated to the shop. Their paper creations include hundreds of snowflakes, which have been hung from the ceiling, and a paper…

A gigantic new art exhibition An art exhibition featuring giant furniture you can walk under has opened in Los Angeles, US. The event features work by artist Robert Therrien, who died in 2019. He was best known for creating large-scale sculptures of everyday household items, like tables, chairs and plates. Taking place at an art museum called The Broad, this is the largest ever exhibition of the artist’s work and features more than 120 items including a huge tower of dishes, a giant table and chairs, a larger-than-life cupboard filled with a massive pile of pots and pans, and even a giant beard. Big cheese heads to Hollywood An organisation that looks after a type of Italian cheese has signed with a big talent agency in the US. The Parmigiano…

Teacher’s name: Mrs Whiting School: Frimley Church of England Junior School, Frimley Green, England “I would like to nominate my music and French teacher Mrs Whiting. She is kind and helpful and if she was not at our school it would be totally different. She is our school librarian and makes our library and school stand out. I also love going to her recorder club after school. She’s awesome and we all love her teaching us!” Phoebe 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 JOKE OF THE WEEK “What starts with a P, ends with an E,…

“I’m half Scottish so I made some tablet (issue 520) and can’t wait to show my family and friends.”Ben “I love gymnastics and The Week Junior. Here is a picture of me doing both.”Orla “We three sisters danced in The Nutcracker with the West London School of Dance after many months of rehearsals. We brought The Week Junior with us to read backstage between performances.”Hero, Iris and Honor “We harvested the last of our carrots before the first frost and unearthed this absolute whopper. I think it looks just like a deep-sea creature or a lobster.”Wilbur We’re proud to be plastic-free The Week Junior is delivered without a wrapper. This decision was made in response to requests from our readers who wanted us to reduce waste. Since removing the wrap…