Table of contents for 439 in The Week Junior

Between 5 and 10 May, China’s president, Xi Jinping visited Europe alongside his wife, Peng Liyuan. The trip was Xi’s first trip to Europe in five years and it was a chance to improve the relationship between China and the European Union (EU, a group of 27 countries that work and trade together). Where did he visit? On 6 May, Xi arrived in Paris, France. There, he met French president Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, a part of the EU that proposes new laws. On 7 May, Xi and Macron travelled to the Pyrenees mountains to see the Tourmalet pass, a place where Macron visited his grandmother as a child. The following day, Xi visited Belgrade, in Serbia, for talks with Serbian…

Sister and brother Aurora and Kehan are British inline speed skating champions. Aurora, who’s 12, has two records, and nine-year-old Kehan has five. Inline skates have wheels and you skate on the ground rather than ice. Recently, the pair took part in a Development Squad training day organised by Team Great Britain (GB). For three hours they practised hard for European competitions. It all started on a holiday to China when Aurora took an ice-skating lesson. Her mother, Weixi, says Aurora was a natural, so when the family returned to the UK, Aurora joined an inline speed skating club in Birmingham. Now, Aurora says, skating is “second nature” to her. She compares it to learning how to walk. “When you’re younger, walking is hard, but then eventually you do it…

Harvest mice More than 150 harvest mice, which were bred in captivity, have been released into Perivale Wood in London. The mice disappeared from the area around 45 years ago, probably because of loss of habitat. Volunteers also added a new pond because the mice like living in reeds. Antarctic wildlife A hole in the ozone layer (part of the atmosphere that absorbs some of the Sun’s rays) is affecting creatures in the Antarctic. Experts say that krill (which penguins, seals and whales eat) may swim deeper in the sea to avoid the damaging rays, making it harder for animals to find them.…

A photography exhibition in London last month celebrated children’s smiles. The photographs, taken by a famous photographer called Rankin, was all about encouraging people to celebrate their teeth after a study found that 84% of people felt less confident because of their smile. So open wide and we’ll take a look at teeth in detail. Teeth for life Over our lifetime, we develop several types of teeth. Most children have 20. These are baby teeth, which fall out when adult teeth start growing. Most adults end up with 32 teeth. In the upper and lower jaws, the front teeth (called incisors) have a thin cutting edge for chopping up food. The pointy teeth on both sides of the incisors are called canines. They get their name because these teeth are…

Bird Boy by Catherine Bruton (Nosy Crow) Will has left behind his life in a high-rise city flat to stay with his uncle in the mountains. There, he makes friends with Omar, a refugee from Afghanistan, and together they discover an osprey nest. This moving new story about the power of nature is perfect for fans of Phil Earle, Katya Balen and Gill Lewis. Feather by M.G. Leonard (Walker Books) In the final instalment of the Twitchers series about young bird-watching detectives, hundreds of valuable bird-of-paradise skins have been stolen from the Royal Swan Natural History Museum. A large jet-black feather could be a clue but can the Twitchers solve the case? Bone Music by David Almond (Hachette Children’s) Sylvia moves from Newcastle to the wilds of Northumberland and meets…

Name: Ditty The Ice Children M.G. Leonard “Thrilling, spellbinding and magical. I love this book because of all the mysteries and secrets of Bianca’s frozen brother, Finn. I recommend this book to people who like magic and fairy tales.” YOUR TURN Please email your book review to us at hello@theweekjunior.co.uk. If it is printed in the magazine you will receive a Roving Reporter badge. Please describe the book in three words, what you liked about it and why you’d 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 futureplc.com/privacy-policy…

What you need ● A sheet of thick card ● Pencil ● Scissors ● Paint ● Paintbrushes ● A sheet of white paper ● Needle and thread Hello, my name’s Olaf Falafel. I’m a dad and a stand-up comedian and I’m also the author and illustrator of the Trixie Pickle Art Avenger books. Every month I show you how to create art based on the works of famous artists. Plus I tell you a really bad joke like this one: What’s black and white and says “ooh”? A cow with no lips! As I’m a big football fan and it’s almost the end of the season, I thought I’d make a sporty artwork based on someone who made sculptures that could move. Alexander Calder was famous for making sculptures and…

We know that protecting nature is one of the biggest challenges we face, so it is great to read that conservation efforts do indeed work (page 10). Researchers looked at lots of studies to see how humans changing their ways can support the natural world. The Whitley Awards (page 3) reward some of the many people working in conservation. The awards highlighted work going on across Africa, Asia and South America to protect habitats for birds, animals and sea life. We can all help too, by reducing our food waste, and it was fascinating to read on page 11 that the first and most important step is to note down what we throw away. Thinking of human and animal behaviour, the story about the lab mice (page 14) made me…

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 you provide to arrange delivery of badges, and we will not share them with anyone else. By submitting your reports and pictures, you give consent to The Week Junior to print them in magazine and digital editions, and mention on our podcast. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, accuracy and suitability. Ensure you have your parent/guardian’s permission before sending anything to us.…

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 our readers whether pupils should take time off to protest… “Yes, otherwise we’ll get no attention.” “No, you could just protest on the weekends.” “Yes, it’s our future and we should have a share in it.” “No, most students will only care about skipping school.” “Yes, it’s your choice if you want to sacrifice learning for protest.” Tell us what you think of this week’s issue and we’ll print some of the best comments here. If you’ve enjoyed this issue, why not listen to our podcast, The Week Junior Show? Go to tinyurl.com/TWJ-show or…

Xi has been president of China since 2013. During his time in power, China has funded huge projects in many other countries through its “Belt and Road Initiative”. This is a project linking Asia with Africa and Europe. China has also become a world leader in making electric cars. However, Xi’s ruling style has been strongly criticised. Many experts say he has punished people who oppose him to strengthen his own power. The relationship between the EU and China has become difficult recently, partly because of worries that China seems to be helping Russia with its war against Ukraine.…

A YOUNG FOOTBALL STAR On 28 April, 16-year-old Issy Hobson became the youngest ever goalscorer in football’s Women’s Super League (WSL). The WSL is the top competition for women’s football in England. Hobson scored a last-minute equaliser for Everton against Arsenal. MANÚ THE GIANT OTTER Manú, a three-year-old male giant otter, has arrived at Chester Zoo in England. Manú travelled from Budapest Zoo in Hungary to join a breeding programme aimed to save his species from extinction. He has been paired with a female giant otter, called Tibiri, and so far the two are getting along well. STAMP COLLECTORS Royal Mail has announced it will release stamps featuring Peppa Pig to mark 20 years of the children’s TV show. From 16 May, 12 new stamps featuring different scenes from the programme will…

May is the best time to catch a glimpse of this eel-like fish, found across the UK. Like its relatives, river and sea lampreys, the brook lamprey is an ancient species that is older than dinosaurs. Like sharks – another ancient species – their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than bone. Adults are between 15 and 25 centimetres and greenish-grey, with two back fins and gills by their head. Instead of a jaw, lampreys have a round sucker for a mouth and one nostril on top of their head. Look in shallow areas of brooks, streams and rivers for clusters of them spawning (reproducing). The eggs hatch in a few days but the larvae (young) stay buried for up to seven years. They then become adults and spawn, but…

On 21 April, a man in Oregon took the first photo of a blue rock thrush in the US, where the birds are not usually found. Michael Sanchez thought it was a blackbird but then noticed it was blue and brown. Birdwatchers on social media later identified it. Days later, the species was spotted again near San Francisco. ● LIFESPAN: Up to 10 years. ● HABITAT: Usually in southern Europe, Africa and Asia, on rocky beaches, cliffs and mountains. ● SIZE: 21 to 23 centimetres long. ● DIET: Berries, insects, seeds, snails, spiders and worms. Sometimes lizards, mice and small reptiles. ● FUN FACT: Some blue rock thrushes migrate, and when they do they only fly at night in groups of up to four birds.…

Do you find you’re able to understand how your friends feel? This could be because you have good emotional intelligence, an important set of skills that help you overcome challenges. What is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence is being clever about your feelings. This can mean knowing when you’re angry and calming yourself down, or noticing if a friend is sad and cheering them up. Mental health expert Shahana Knight calls emotions our “internal compass” because they tell us how we feel. If you’re happy and relaxed when reading or playing sports, for example, you know to do this more. If you’re worried around a friend you often fall out with, this could be a sign to spend less time with them. Emotional intelligence gives you the skills to read your…

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is the BookTrust charity’s latest “writer in residence”. The BookTrust helps children from all backgrounds to get into books and reading. When the BookTrust invited her to take on the job, Sirdeshpande jumped at the chance because, she says, “The role is about encouraging reading, and research shows that reading has a huge impact on children’s life chances.” Sirdeshpande started out as a lawyer. Then, after winning a writing competition, she had her first book published and began writing for all ages. When Sirdeshpande joined BookTrust this March, she wanted to focus on non-fiction books. “I love reading and writing them, and I’ve seen the difference they make to readers,” she told The Week Junior. She aims to help her readers explore and be wowed. “Some books let…

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 110 208 532 624 863 4 numbers 1186 2024 2154 2440 3476 4248 5 numbers 14040 66277 80023 6 numbers 421188 618881 660381 7 numbers 1744282 6071404 6187287 8 numbers 32568441 32673483 58432507 9 numbers 402378047 817837278 916887544 Wordsearch Can you find all of these words for picnic foods below? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. BAGUETTE BISCUIT CAKE CELERY CHEESE CHICKEN COLESLAW CRISPS DRUMSTICK JUICE MUFFIN PASTY QUICHE ROLL SALAD SANDWICH SAUSAGE SCONE SQUASH TOMATO Puzzles answers…

Name: Eleanor “I am 14 years old and I have been a Sea Cadet at Southampton Unit since I was 10. I am visually impaired but I don’t let that stop me. I play the trumpet in the Sea Cadets band and play in national parades. My dream is to have a career in music. Being a part of Sea Cadets gives you opportunities to try new things, gaining confidence, skills and qualifications. I’ve been on offshore voyages and taken part in lots of courses and competitions. My disability doesn’t stop me from being the best I can be! Sea Cadets adapt my course work and provide an iPad so I can see everything clearly. They provide a guide for me when we go boating. They make sure that all…

It can be hard dragging yourself out of bed in the morning when a cough has kept you awake at night and you’re under the weather. Trying to concentrate in class when you don’t feel well is a struggle too. The number of pupils taking days off sick has risen since the Covid-19 pandemic and schools are under pressure to change this. The UK Government says that face-to-face education is best for young people to reach their potential. However, what about everyone else in the class or on the bus or in assembly, who might catch what you have got? The NHS says it’s fine for children to go to school with a cough or cold but is it fair for others to have to sit near someone blowing their…

Conservationists received good news recently after a big research project found that wildlife conservation projects really are effective. At the moment, nearly a third of species that are monitored by experts are ones classed as endangered due to human activities. Threats to these species include habitat loss and changes in weather patterns such as rising temperatures. Conservation projects aim to help boost species numbers and help them thrive. For the new study, a team of international researchers looked at 665 trials of conservation efforts between 1890 and 2019. The trials were across the world and focused on lots of different species. The results showed that two thirds of conservation trials either improved biodiversity (the variety of wildlife in an area) or slowed down its decline. The researchers said that when…

Mice are often used in scientific studies but they don’t always perform in the way that researchers expect them to. However, rather than these being mice mistakes, a new study suggests the little rodents might be misbehaving deliberately. Kishore Kuchibhotla and a team of scientists at Johns Hopkins University in the US thought mice might make “errors” on purpose in an attempt to explore and test their knowledge. To see if this theory was right, Kuchibhotla and graduate student Ziyi Zhu came up with an experiment. The mice heard two sounds. On hearing one of the sounds, they were supposed to turn a wheel to the left. For the other, they were supposed to turn it to the right. When the mice made the correct decision, they were rewarded with…

“A few years ago, if you told me I was going to the Olympics I would have laughed at you.” That’s what Rose Harvey says as she gets ready to run for Great Britain in the women’s marathon at the Olympics in August. A marathon is a 26.2 mile race and Harvey only ran the event for the first time in 2017. In 2020, she decided to take the sport more seriously after losing her job as a lawyer during the Covid-19 pandemic. Harvey has gone on to become a professional athlete and is one of Team GB’s top long-distance runners. “I used to run as a weekend hobby and now I feel hugely privileged to do it as my career,” Harvey tells The Week Junior. “I was very dedicated to…

The adventures of the Doctor, a time-travelling alien from the planet Gallifrey, are returning to TV in a brand new series of Doctor Who. The story will follow on from the special episode that went out on Christmas Day last year, The Church on Ruby Road, where the Doctor (played by Ncuti Gatwa) and his new companion, Ruby Sunday (played by Millie Gibson), met for the first time. Now the two of them are off to travel through space and time together. They will face new monsters, visit worlds in outer space and even travel back in time to the 1960s to meet famous band The Beatles. Russell T. Davies, the showrunner (person in charge of the show) and writer of the new series, told The Week Junior that Ruby…

Monsters at Work, Season 2 Available now on Disney+ In season two of animated series Monsters at Work, Tylor Tuskmon is presented with a new opportunity at FearCo. However, FearCo is a rival to Monsters, Inc – the company Tyler works for – so he must figure out where he truly belongs. Planet Earth III: Narrated by Kids Available now on BBC iPlayer Instead of Sir David Attenborough, This special episode of the BBC nature series is narrated by young people. The Planet Earth team and BBC Children in Need brought together 49 young voices from across the UK.…

What was your main inspiration for Nush and the Stolen Emerald? My main inspiration for this story was a portrait of a real princess called Victoria Gowramma. She lived in London from the age of 11 and was Queen Victoria’s goddaughter. Who is your favourite character in the book? I loved writing Nush’s character but my favourite character is probably Prince Bertie. I enjoyed thinking up naughty pranks for him to play on his family and I think it showed an unexpected side of the real royal family. What is your greatest achievement? I think I would probably say the day I met Queen Camilla when I was invited to Buckingham Palace. I was really excited and it was a fun day, celebrating young writers from across the world. If…

The largest mountain in the world needs climbing, and you’re the person to do it. Not in real life – unless you fancy scooting up Mount Everest – but in a new game called Surmount. Released for Nintendo’s Switch console and PCs, it’s a game about climbing the made-up Mount Om. If you’ve ever tried to get up a climbing wall, well, this game isn’t entirely realistic. Although you can use your hands and feet to clamber up Mount Om, you can also do some circus-like stunts, such as flinging yourself about with ropes, or even hop onto a rocket. It’s fun and a little bit silly, and if you make a mistake your character will get a cartoon bump but not serious injuries. Surmount isn’t just about mountain climbing,…

Some owners of Google Pixel phones recently noticed an interesting new feature pop up on their devices. A list of emojis now appears on their screens during telephone calls and gives them the option to play different sounds down the phone. They can produce applause by clicking a clapping hands emoji, and the sound of laughter using a tears of joy emoji. There’s also a poo emoji that makes a farting noise. For now, the audio emojis update seems to be a test and it hasn’t been made available on all Pixel phones.…

The Great Stag Hunt Spectacular stag beetles start emerging from the ground on sunny evenings from late May and continue to be seen well into July. They’re easy to spot as they are the UK’s largest beetle, and the males are instantly recognisable with their antler-like jaws. As part of a survey organised by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, people are being asked to record any stag beetles they see. A free beetle ID guide is available online to help you tell the difference between stag beetles and other insects. Stags are mostly found in southern England. Last year, more than 14,000 stag beetles were spotted during the Great Stag Hunt. To take part, visit ptes.org/gsh…

Teacher’s name: Miss Rutherford School: South Gosforth First School, Newcastle Upon Tyne “I would love to nominate my Year 4 class teacher, Miss Rutherford. She is incredibly kind and patient and is always making sure that everyone is feeling good at the end of each lesson. Miss Rutherford is also the school SENCO and is about to go on maternity leave (so must be very tired!), but even though she has a very busy schedule, she still manages to fit in our football club every Tuesday night, which I always look forward to so much!” Anya 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…