Innholdsfortegnelse for 523 i The Week Junior

Celebrations at this time of year can create a lot of waste. What’s one thing you could do to make your Christmas kinder to the planet? Have a look at the latest news about animals and the environment on page 12. Australia has banned social media for people aged under 16. What benefits and drawbacks do you think could come from the ban? Read about how people have responded to the new rules on page 5. There are lots of brilliant TV shows and films to watch over the holidays. What’s your favourite festive film? Plan what your family might like to watch from our report on page 22. The big debate Is it better to give than receive gifts? Page 10.…

Australians have gathered across the country to pay tribute after an attack at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, on 14 December. At least 16 people died and dozens of people were injured. What happened? Crowds had gathered at Archer Park, next to Bondi Beach, for Chanukah by the Sea. This is an event held to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah. Hanukkah, also called the Festival of Lights, is one of the most widely celebrated Jewish festivals around the world. It lasts eight days and the dates of the celebrations change from year to year. Two attackers, a 50-year-old man and his 24-year-old son, shot at people attending the event. Sixteen people have died, including one of the suspected attackers. When The Week Junior was sent to the printers, the other…

A TOUGH RUNNER A primary school teacher from Cumbria, England, won a gruelling 160-mile endurance race after all the other racers quit. Sarah Perry completed The Hill challenge, which involved running up and down The Wrekin, a hill in Shropshire, 55 times in 48 hours. ZOOTROPOLIS 2 The popular Disney movie Zootropolis 2 has become the highest-grossing (money-making) Hollywood movie of the year so far. The hit sequel has made around £844 million. It follows brave police rabbit Judy Hopps, who once again teams up with sneaky fox Nick Wilde to crack a mysterious new case. “HORSE” RACING On 14 December, pantomime horses galloped through Greenwich, London, for a very special race. At the 12th London Pantomime Horse Race more than 40 two-person creatures trotted along the streets in a…

On 15 December, resident doctors in England voted to strike for five days. A strike is when people stop working as a form of protest. Resident doctors are qualified doctors who are going through further training. They are unhappy about their working conditions and pay and decided to take action. The Government offered a new deal to the doctors last week to try and prevent the strikes but the offer was rejected. As The Week Junior went to the printers, the strike was expected to run from 17 to 22 December, ending at 7am. It will be the 14th resident doctors’ strike since March 2023.…

For 200 years, a scientist has taken to the stage during the festive season to present the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. This year, it is Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, and she will take audiences on a journey to space. The space scientist told The Week Junior that it’s “a bit mind-boggling” to be presenting the lectures, which have been done by lots of incredible scientists. She says she loves the history of the lectures and the fact that they’ve been going on for so long. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love space,” Aderin-Pocock says. She was born in 1968, the year before humans first landed on the Moon, so space exploration was a big topic when she was growing up. TV shows such as The Clangers (about pink…

“I’m happy I could go out and be myself.” Lando Norris won the Formula 1 World Championship on 7 December. He took the top driving title after finishing third in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the United Arab Emirates. The 26-year-old told BBC Sport he did it not by being aggressive or forceful, but by “trying to be a good person and a good team member.”…

So called because it looks like the fan-shaped, striped tail of a turkey, this fungus can be seen all year round across the UK. However, you’re more likely to see it in winter, when the woods where it thrives are bare. A fungus is a type of organism that gets its food from decaying material or other living things. You’ll find turkeytail on the dead wood of deciduous trees (ones that shed their leaves in autumn). They are a type of bracket fungus and form semi-circular shapes around dead branches or trunks. They can grow on living trees but are usually a sign of an unhealthy one. They grow in tiers (rows, one above the other) and look like velvet, with a waved edge in a creamy colour. Inside this…

Scottish red squirrels Experts say that the range of red squirrels in the Scottish Highlands has increased by more than 25% in the last 10 years. That means they are more spread out over the area. This is thanks to a conservation project run by a charity called Trees for Life. The scheme has been reintroducing red squirrels to forests far from any grey squirrels, which can carry an illness that’s deadly to the reds. This year the charity moved 259 red squirrels to 13 sites where the species was missing.…

The eruption of a volcano in the year 1345 may have set off a chain reaction that brought the Black Death to Europe, scientists say. The Black Death was the name of a deadly outbreak of a fast-spreading illness, the plague, in the 14th century. Plague is caused by a tiny organism (see panel) and it was making humans ill in Central Asia around 1338. Scientists haven’t been able to say for certain how the disease travelled to Europe, but when it did it killed many people. Now a research team suggests that it started with an erupting volcano. Scientists from British and German universities found clues that temperatures were lower between 1345 and 1349 by studying tree rings. You can see tree rings on a stump when a tree…

On 14 December, England celebrated winning the Horizon Series for the first time by beating Jamaica in two netball matches in London. They won the first match, played on 13 December, by 80 goals to 37. The following day England dominated again to defeat Jamaica 81-30. The Horizon Series was first played in 2024 between the two nations, with two games in England and then two games in Jamaica. That year, Jamaica won the most games to win the trophy. This year there were only two matches, both held at the Copper Box Arena in London. The two games that were due to be played in Jamaica were cancelled because of the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa, which struck the Caribbean island in October. England – nicknamed the Roses –…

This Christmas, there are lots of festive TV shows and films to enjoy with your family. As well as the seasonal classics, there are some new things to look out for as well. There’s an animated film on BBC iPlayer called Nollaí. It’s about a young Irish deer called Nollaí, who lives with a human family. Nollaí has always been very tall for his age, which can be difficult sometimes. One day he discovers that he could be the last living Megaloceros giganteus (giant deer) in existence. This leads him on a journey to learn about where he’s come from. When he finds a portal leading to the realm of the giant deer, he must decide whether to join his ancestors or stay with his human family. As well as…

Anisha, Accidental Detective: Christmas Chaos! by Serena Patel. Illustrated by Emma McCann (Usborne Publishing) Anisha’s family love Christmas – and this year, Dad is in charge of the festive fun. Everyone’s ready to help – but things go wrong when someone steals the sleigh for Santa’s grotto. Will Anisha manage to track down the thief? The Other Father Christmas by Serena Holly. Illustrated by Shahab Shamshirsaz (Fox and Ink Books) When Santa decides to retire, Mikey nominates his grandfather to take over. Before he can take on the job, they must travel to Christmasland – a world of gingerbread escape rooms and bottomless hot chocolate. Can Mikey help Gramps complete four magical challenges and rediscover his festive spirit? The Great Reindeer Disaster by Kate Saunders. Illustrated by Neal Layton (Faber…

Name: Evan Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi “Adventurous, action-packed, haunting. This dark fantasy makes you want to turn the page. It’s full of dangers and mysteries!” 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.…

“David Walliams is one of my absolute favourite authors because he is so funny and talented at what he does. I am currently working towards the full collection and hopefully by my birthday in January, I will have them all!” Ashleigh, 10. Send a picture of your shelf showing the book titles clearly and tell us why you love them. Ask an adult to send it to hello@theweekjunior.co.uk with your name and age.…

Wrapping paper is a tasty treat Supermarket chain Aldi has released the perfect wrapping paper for anyone who’s feeling peckish on Christmas Day before they’ve had their dinner. The new wrapping paper is lickable and tastes like “pigs in blankets” (mini sausages wrapped in bacon), which are a popular part of festive feasts. There are stickers on the paper that can be peeled back to reveal the flavour. The supermarket said the paper, available to shoppers through a competition, captures the “smoky, savoury flavour and smell of the festive treat”. Calendar is rubbish – in a good way A man from Congleton, England, has put together a calendar for everyone who likes looking at bins. Andy Bailey is known for photographing the bins in his hometown and posting them online,…

Teacher’s name: Mr Fryer School: Rhydypenau Primary School, Cardiff, Wales “Mr Fryer is always enthusiastic towards learning and always greets us with a smile. He is always telling us interesting facts about history. He is fantastic! He speaks fluent Spanish and is telling us new words every day. This is why I think he should be teacher of the week.” Helena 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 do you say when Santa Claus does the register? Present!” Sophia…

“We would love to share some giant leaves we found at Syon House.”Bella and Dax “In November, Mum said it was too early for a Christmas Tree, so I made one out of my The Week Junior collection.”Prisha “I took this photo to show how many magazines I have. I have been reading The Week Junior for over a year; all the magazines nearly cover my lounge floor!”Owen “We’ve had a fun week exploring Sherwood Forest and watching some amazing light displays. We’ve enjoyed catching up on news when relaxing.”Nell and Ada…

Following the attacks at Bondi Beach, people around the world gathered to pay their respects to the people who died and who were injured. There were gatherings in Germany, France and Hungary among other countries. In London, on the evening of the attack, around 100 people met outside the Australian High Commission building. Yisroel Lew, a rabbi (Jewish spiritual teacher), lit a menorah and said, “After hearing what happened this morning, the first thought was, how can we bring more light? Don’t be afraid, and celebrate Hanukkah.”…

On 15 December, nearly 1,000 schools in the UK took part in a science class with British astronaut Tim Peake. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Peake’s mission to the International Space Station, he broadcast a lesson from the Science Museum in London. Peake talked about his favourite moments in space and how rockets get launched. It also included a mass paper rocket launch at 11.03am – the exact moment he blasted off into space 10 years ago.…

Dr Mya-Rose Craig has been celebrating the 10th anniversary of her charity, Black2Nature. Craig, who is 23, founded it when she was 13 years old to encourage children from visible minority ethnic (VME) communities to get outdoors and enjoy nature. In the UK, VME means anyone who isn’t white. Craig’s mum is from Bangladesh, and when Craig was younger, she remembers a family member calling birdwatching “a white people thing”. Black2Nature challenges this view, by organising outdoor adventures for VME children and families. Craig told BBC News that it was amazing to look back at “the lives we’ve changed.”…

London is set to get some new residents – beavers and white storks – as part of a campaign to boost nature in the city. This month, the London Wildlife Trust charity announced a species recovery project called Rewilding East London. The project will take place at Eastbrookend Country Park in Dagenham. It aims to increase local biodiversity (the range of different species in an area) and reconnect people with wildlife. White storks and beavers are species native to the UK. It is hoped that reintroducing them will help to rewild the landscape. This is the process of restoring land to its natural state, where nature takes care of itself without human interference. London’s white storks will arrive in autumn next year. Storks were driven to extinction in Britain in…

Threatened animal species around the world have received new protections after governments met at the CITES COP20 conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. CITES stands for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is a global agreement that most countries follow to prevent animals from going extinct. At the conference, some species were given the highest level of global protection. More than 70 species of sharks and rays were granted extra protection, including whale sharks (the biggest fish in the sea) and devil rays. These are all threatened by the selling of shark fins, which are used to make shark fin soup – a popular dish in some countries. Other animals that got more protection included the okapi, a stripy-legged animal that looks like a…

The environment An organisation called Material Focus says that about £1.7 billion was spent on Christmas lighting last year, and 168 million of these items were thrown away after Christmas. The study asked 4,000 UK adults how many cheap lights they bought and how many they threw away. From this, researchers estimated how much lighting is wasted by the entire population of the UK. Festive lights includes fairy lights and decorations for the garden.…

Lindsey Vonn The 41-year-old American won gold at the World Cup downhill skiing competition in Switzerland. She is the event’s oldest winner. Innes FitzGerald At the European Cross Country Championships in Portugal, Great Britain’s FitzGerald won the women’s under-20 race for the third year in a row. St Mirren The Scottish football club won the League Cup final with a surprise 3-1 win against Celtic. Khadija Shaw Footballer Shaw scored four goals in Manchester City’s 6-1 win over Aston Villa in the Women’s Super League. The Jamaican forward has now scored more than 100 goals for the club.…

by Alexandra Benedict (Simon & Schuster Children’s) Did you know that people in the UK eat more than 800 million mince pies over Christmas? In this new detective story, mince pies aren’t just a seasonal treat – they might also be a motive for murder. Eleven-year-old Brooke is dreading starting a new school just before Christmas. Settling in won’t be easy – but the last thing she expects is to be faced with a murder on her first day. Is the crime connected to the Christmas Cup, in which local schools compete to make the most perfect mince pie? It’s up to Brooke and her friends to solve the case. The gang are neurodivergent, which means their brains process, learn or behave differently from what is described as “typical”. They…

One frosty morning, on a walk in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland, author Eilish Fisher remembered an article she’d read about a reindeer bone that had been discovered in Ireland. Although reindeer don’t live in Ireland any more, they once roamed the countryside. The bone discovery was important because it had human markings on it, showing that humans and reindeer lived in Ireland at the same time, more than 30,000 years ago. Fisher wondered what the relationship between humans and reindeer would have been like. This inspired her to write Fia and the Last Snow Deer, which won The Week Junior Book Awards’ Children’s Poetry Book of the Year category in September. The book is about a girl called Fia and her snow deer, who go on a quest together…

From adverts on the TV to jingly songs on the radio, Christmas fever is in full swing. It’s not just radio and TV, though – there are plenty of ways to look forward to the big day online.Start with two well-known Christmas websites: Google’s Santa Tracker and NORAD Tracks Santa. They feature games, videos and puzzles to enjoy throughout the month. The WhyChristmas website is 25 years old this year. It’s a guide to the different ways people celebrate Christmas around the world, as well as having its own collection of word puzzles and jokes. OhMyTales is a stories website that has a special section for Christmas tales. They’re organised by age group, including 7–8, 9–10 and 11–12. For musical fun, the ElfYourself app is a favourite every year. It…

Wordsearch Can you find all of the gifts listed here? They are hidden horizontally, vertically or diagonally and may read forwards or backwards. ANNUAL BARBIE BICYCLE BOOK BRACELET CHOCOLATE DOLL EARRINGS FOOTBALL GAME HEADPHONES JIGSAW LEGO PLAYSET SCOOTER SKATES SWEETS TABLET TEDDY TRAINERS Shortcode Eight letters of the alphabet have been replaced by numbers. Crack the code to find the words. Kris kross All these words fit in the grid. Can you work out where each word goes to complete it? 4 letters CAPE LIST SACK SNOW 5 letters JOLLY VISIT 6 letters DASHER SECRET 7 letters BLITZEN LANTERN 8 letters STOCKING SURPRISE WORKSHOP 9 letters GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 10 letters FOOTPRINTS SPECTACLES Number tower Place a number in every circle to complete the tower. The value in each circle is…

Welcome to our Christmas issue, with its beautiful cover image created by Vivaan. A huge thank you and well done to everyone who entered our Christmas cover competition – you can find out what the judges said on page 14. We had more than 760 entries this year, and they were absolutely fantastic. The very first one we opened was Betty’s lovely picture of me (above). We’ve got lots more Christmas treats, including a round-up of family films (page 22) and apps (page 26) that add to the excitement. The festive season is all about sharing, and as you can see in our Wellbeing feature on page 21, sharing makes you feel good. In our survey a few weeks ago we asked for your festive wishes – you can find…

The Venezuelan politician and winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, María Corina Machado, escaped the country and travelled to Oslo, Norway, to collect her award in person on 11 December. Machado is the leader of the opposition party in Venezuela, a country in South America. This means she is the leader of a political party that isn’t in power. She campaigns against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, and people have made threats against her, so she has been living in hiding. Machado had to wear a disguise and make the journey to Oslo in secret because the Venezuelan government has said she is not allowed to travel. The politician was named this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner on 10 October for her work promoting the rights of the people…

The NHS (the UK’s health service) has warned that there are high levels of flu across England this winter. The number of people ill with flu is also rising in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. What’s happening? On 11 December, the NHS announced that the number of people in hospital with flu in England had increased by 55% in one week. They said the average number of people with flu who had to be looked after in hospital was the highest it’s ever been for this time of year. Hospital admissions for flu have increased in Northern Ireland and Scotland. The First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, said on 12 December that she expected the number of people with flu in Wales to increase in the next few weeks. The…

People across the UK took part in Christmas Jumper Day on 11 December. The fun event encouraged people to wear a festive jumper to school or work to raise money for Save the Children–a charity that helps children around the world access medicine, food and education. There was also a competition to design a Shaun the Sheep-themed jumper to wear on the day, which was won by a pupil from West Yorkshire, England. Since it started in 2012, Christmas Jumper Day has raised more than £40 million. Last year’s event raised £2.8 million.…

What you need to know • It’s nearly Christmas and for many people that means trees, turkeys and – most excitingly – presents. Giving gifts is an ancient tradition. It is a way to build friendships and show kindness. • In the UK, around 41% of children help their parents with Christmas gift shopping, selecting items for other family members and friends. • A Canadian study found that young children were happier when they gave gifts than when they received them. Other research found that adults who bought presents for others experienced more happiness than if they’d spent the money on themselves. Christmas is the season of giving. Gift-giving has been taking place in the UK for thousands of years. There is even evidence of people exchanging presents in the…

Allestree Park in Derby, England, is the UK’s largest rewilding project in a town or city. An old golf course is being turned into a home for wildlife, and local people are monitoring it. In Scotland, the Edinburgh Living Landscape project has helped create more than 70 new wildflower meadows across the city. In Belfast there is a project to restore grassland that supports all sorts of wildlife, and in Cardiff, grass in the city’s parks is now mown less often to encourage and support more plants and animals.…

Reindeer Although lots of people leave a carrot out for Santa’s reindeer on Christmas Eve, experts at Chessington Zoo say they actually eat moss and lichen, a crusty plant-like organism. • LIFE SPAN: Around 15 years. • HABITAT: Forests, grasslands, mountains and tundra (treeless and frozen landscape) in the far north of North America, Europe and Asia. • SIZE: Up to 1.5 metres. • DIET: They gobble up to eight kilograms of vegetation per day. • FUN FACT: Reindeer’s eyes are gold in summer and deep blue in winter, which helps them to see in low light.…

Patients with a previously untreatable form of blood cancer are now living disease-free thanks to a new treatment. Cancer is a disease caused by oddly behaving cells growing out of control. Alyssa Tapley from Leicestershire, England, was the first person in the world to receive this treatment, called BE-CAR7. Now, three years later, she is cancer-free. In 2021, Alyssa was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia after a long period of illness. Leukaemia is cancer of the cells that make blood. Alyssa was offered other forms of treatment but nothing worked, so she agreed to take part in a trial for a new treatment. It used a technology called base editing. This technology meant that Alyssa was given healthy T-cells (a type of blood cell that helps to fight germs)…

Do you like letting other people borrow your things? Sharing games, food and your time over the Christmas holidays can make you feel closer and more connected. What does sharing mean? Sharing means offering part of what you have to someone else. This could be something you own, like games or snacks, or things you can’t see such as your thoughts, feelings and ideas. Some people are better at sharing than others. Maybe you don’t like handing over a favourite book or letting other people know how you feel. Or perhaps you find it hard to say “no” when friends ask to borrow your things. Sharing is a skill you can learn and it helps you be open and kind without feeling like you’re giving too much away. It boosts…

We wanted to know how our readers will be spending the festive season, so a few weeks ago we asked you to fill in our survey. Thank you to everyone who took part – more than 300 of you. Here’s what you said. Family and friends Many of you told us that your favourite thing about the season is spending time with family and friends, playing games, relaxing and eating together. One reader said their favourite thing is “Visiting my grandparents and great grandparents” and another commented, “I like the kindness of Christmas because it makes me feel happy.” Festive foods Food has a special place in your heart – or should that be in your stomach? – especially the main Christmas meal. “I love roast dinner!!!” said one reader.…

Tell us your favourite Christmas memory. A power cut struck on Christmas Eve when I was about eight. Everyone in our cul-de-sac (a street closed at one end) got together to sing carols by candlelight around a fire. Do you enjoy mince pies? I love mince pies. The more buttery and crumbly, the better. How is writing for children different from writing for grownups? There aren’t that many differences between writing for children and grown-ups. The main things are to reduce the darker aspects of the crimes. Do you think you’d make a good detective? While I’d be good at spotting patterns of behaviour and noticing clues, I tend to believe whatever people tell me – making me a really bad judge of character and a very poor detective. Will…

Hello my name’s Olaf Falafel. I’m an author, an illustrator and a stand-up comedian. My latest book is called A Poo on a Pogo Stick and it’s a joke book. I love to show people how to create art – sometimes based on the works of famous artists or illustrators. I also like to tell a joke – like this one from my book: Which of Santa’s reindeer was always picking its nose and burping? Rude-dolph. For this week’s festive activity I’m going to show you how to create Santa Claus in the style of the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian. Mondrian was born in 1872 in the Netherlands and he started out painting real things like trees, windmills and landscapes. As he grew older, he became interested in making art…

Name: Elida “Billions of mysterious black plastic bio-beads appeared on the idyllic beaches of Camber Sands, England, earlier this year. These beads could contain deadly toxins that could destroy marine life and our precious ecosystems. Caring volunteers rushed to the beach to prevent the destruction of many important critters before they eat the tiny beads. Camber residents and others have been racing against time to clear up the beads before they do any more harm but this proved to be verging on an impossible task, as the size and quantity of the beads is everlasting. I went down there to help clean up this disastrous mess and I was appalled at the sight. As I got closer and crouched down, what at first seemed like a normal beach was covered…

New Year Plant Hunt Every year, the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) organises the New Year Plant Hunt. From 1 to 4 January 2026, the society is encouraging people of all ages to get out and record any wild plants they see in bloom (with their flowers fully open). This information helps the society’s experts learn about how plants are responding to climate change and how this might affect other species. The BSBI has created a phone and computer app to help record any finds. To find out more and how to take part, ask an adult to help you visit tinyurl.com/TWJ-plant-hunt WIN A BADGE! 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…