Spider - March 2022
Spider - March 2022
Spider - March 2022
An entire
empty universe
and this guy has
to follow me!
1: Wednesday . . . what
planet is this again? 2: Eat breakfast.
3: Fly to work.
6: . . . but change mind and spend the day with a new friend.
20 Bug Adventure by Michael Chesworth Photo acknowledgments: 17 (RB), 19 (RT) Noppakorn Chaiyarak/Shutterstock.com; 21
(LT) Artsiom P/Shutterstock.com; 21 (RT) NASA; 21 (LC) Bayu Prahara/Shutterstock.
com; 21 (CC) Lipatova Maryna/Shutterstock.com; 21 (spot) Volodymyr Horbovyy/
21 A Queen in Space by Abbi Lee Shutterstock.com; 21 (spot) HHO/Shutterstock.com; 21 (RB) NASA; 22-23 (DPS)
sdecoret/Shutterstock.com; 22 (RT, TC, LT, spots) NASA; 22 (LB) Bayu Prahara/
Shutterstock.com; 22 (spot) Elzipo/Shutterstock.com; 22 (spot) Lipatova Maryna/
25 Spelling Bee by Jennifer Funk Weber Shutterstock.com; 22 (spot) HHO/Shutterstock.com; 23 (LT) NASA; 23 (LT) Space
Tango; 23 (RT) Higher Orbits; 23 (RC) Bayu Prahara/Shutterstock.com; 23 (RB) Naddya/
Shutterstock.com; 24 (TC) AleksandrMorrisovich/Shutterstock.com; 24 (LT) Bayu
26 Truman’s Last Chance by Andrew W. Hamilton Prahara/Shutterstock.com; 24 (TC) NASA; 25 (BG, LB) JoyImage/Shutterstock.com; 26
(LT) Dernkadel/Shutterstock.com; 35 (BG) Kostenko Maxim/Shutterstock.com; 35 (CC)
Texturis/Shutterstock.com; 35 (spot) Gluiki/Shutterstock.com; 35 (border) Vector Image
Plus/Shutterstock.com; 35 (TC) White Space Illustrations/Shutterstock.com; 35 (CC)
31 Bear’s Nose by Beverly McLoughland Afshin Kabbi/Shutterstock.com; 36-37 (BG) Tamiris6/Shutterstock.com; 38-39 (DPS)
Zanna Pesnina/Shutterstock.com; 39 (spots) vectortatu/Shutterstock.com; 39 (RB)
molua/Shutterstock.com; 39 (spot) kornn/Shutterstock.com; 39 (spots) kavalenkava/
32 Spider’s Corner and Spider’s Mailbox Shutterstock.com; 39 (spots) Aisyah Az Zahra/Shutterstock.com; 40 (BG) KK.KICKIN/
Shutterstock.com; 40 (LT) Agor2012/Shutterstock.com; 40 (RT) motuwe/Shutterstock.
com; 40 (RC) Kirillova Evgeniya/Shutterstock.com; 40 (spots) ONYXprj/Shutterstock.
34 Ophelia’s Last Word: com, Charactoon design/Shutterstock.com, Meilun/Shutterstock.com, Yevheniia Rodina/
Shutterstock.com, sunny_sunny_art/Shutterstock.com.
Marvelous Martian Maker SPIDER magazine (ISSN 1070-2911) is published 9 times a year, monthly except for
combined May/June, July/August, and November/December issues, by Cricket Media,
Inc., 1751 Pinnacle Drive, Suite 600, McLean, VA 22102. Periodicals postage paid
35 Buggy Bulletin at McLean, VA, and at additional mailing offices. For address changes, back issues,
subscriptions, customer service, or to renew, please visit shop.cricketmedia.com, email
[email protected], write to SPIDER, P.O. Box 6395, Harlan, IA 51593-
1895, or call 1-800-821-0115. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to SPIDER,
P.O. Box 6395, Harlan, IA 51593-1895.
The Fun Zone: A Bee Cs March 2022, Volume 29, Number 3 © 2022, Cricket Media. All rights reserved, including
right of reproduction in whole or in part, in any form. Address correspondence to SPIDER
magazine, 1 East Erie Street, Suite 525, PMB4136, Chicago, IL 60611. For submission
by Stacey Lane information and guidelines, see cricketmedia.com. We are not responsible for unsolicited
manuscripts or other material. All letters and contest entries accompanied by parent or
guardian signatures are assumed to be for publication and become the property of
Mind-Buggler: Space Ex-bee-dition Cricket Media. For information regarding our privacy policy and compliance with the
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, please visit our website at cricketmedia.com
or write to us at CMG COPPA, 1751 Pinnacle Drive, Suite 600, McLean, VA 22102.
by B. Honey
1st printing Quad Sussex, Wisconsin February 2022
Printed in the United States of America.
Spider and the Gang by Michael Chesworth From time to time, SPIDER mails to its subscribers advertisements for other SPIDER
products or makes its subscriber list available to other reputable companies for their
offering of products and services. If you prefer not to receive such mail, write to us at
the Harlan, IA address.
Association
4
and its owner. In only minutes, those
two were out, looking glum.
“Next!” Sirius called.
All afternoon, one dog and
owner pair after another entered
Sirius’s tryout space. They all soon
exited again. Finally, it was Don’t’s
turn.
“Meet my heavenly partner, Ursa
Major,” Sirius boomed, ushering
them into a cavernous room with
a stage. A flashy rocket ship was
mounted onstage, near a dog food
bowl and a giant open can of Rocket
Dog Hash. “Ursa’s picking the winner
today!”
bulldog. But Don’t stood out in the “My stars, these two are out of
pack, mostly because Doodlebug’s this world!” said Ursa, an enormous
sister Dandelion had helped get Don’t lady with mounds of shaggy brown
ready. She’d given him a bubble bath hair and a growly voice. “I smell
and used a rose-scented shampoo. pooch potential already.”
She’d even clipped a spaceman Doodlebug sure hoped that was
charm to his collar. Doodlebug a good thing. Don’t gave Ursa a
himself wore a space helmet he’d little yip, as if they were almost
used in some play. from the same animal kingdom.
“Let’s get this party started!” “He does have the Rocket Dog
Sirius said. Then he disappeared look,” Sirius admitted.
behind a doorway with the first dog After Don’t proved he could obey
What matters is you get our
Eet doesn't matter science projects up into space.
'ow you look, Spider. You look awesome! And then get back safe.
5
some simple commands, Ursa said, invisible wires and pulleys. Let’s try
“Let’s give him a trial run.” having him hop in once or twice.
Doodlebug watched nervously as Up and at ’em, my little star!”
Sirius plunked a space helmet on But Don’t didn’t jump in the
Don’t’s head. It was open in front rocket. Instead, he just sat there,
so his nose stuck out. hesitant and unsure.
“Star pup!” Ursa gushed, giving “Go on, boy,” Doodlebug
Don’t an air kiss. “He just needs to encouraged.
gobble up the dog food, get in that Don’t whined. This was not good.
rocket, and show us his adorable Ursa sighed and said, “I’m loving
doggie face. Then he’ll blast off.” your dog for Rocket. But he needs
“Is it dangerous?” Doodlebug to overcome his stage fright. Let’s
asked when he noticed Don’t cowering leave for a few minutes, Sirius, so
a bit. Doodlebug can teach him the trick
“Heck, no!” Ursa said. “It’s all without strangers around.”
What eez your
Yeah, Spider, I gotta
experiment, Bill?
test out my idea.
6
Everyone agreed. When they were returned, Doodlebug knew he and
gone, Doodlebug tried everything Don’t were already goners.
to get Don’t in the rocket. He even “Let’s try it from the top!” Ursa
nudged and prodded with both hands. said, emptying a heap of hash into
But Don’t wouldn’t budge. At last, the bowl. Don’t sniffed and walked
desperate to make Don’t happy and away.
calm, Doodlebug dumped some dog “He hates it,” Sirius moaned.
food into the bowl. Don’t was all for Doodlebug realized he shouldn’t
it. He gulped down the food, then have fed Don’t. “He loved it,” he
licked his face clean. guiltily confessed. “But he’s full.”
But he still wouldn’t hop in the “Great then!” Ursa said. “He just
rocket. has to . . .”
By the time the casting directors She pointed to the rocket and
7
commanded Don’t to jump in. rocket ship now, paws on the strange
Don’t hung his head and looked steering wheel, an unopened can
sideways. of Rocket Dog Hash in his jaws.
“We’re done,” Doodlebug muttered, Doodlebug’s heart burst with
embarrassed and defeated. He’d been joy, but was Don’t . . . ?
so wrong! He whistled to Don’t and Ursa’s voice rose, answering
started walking off. Doodlebug’s big question. “Welcome,
But behind him, Ursa hooted, Rocket Dog!” she cried. “The next
“I’m over the moon for this dog! and brightest dog star in our universe!”
He IS it!” Doodlebug relaxed. He couldn’t
Doodlebug turned. stop smiling. His ultra-talented
Don’t had finally figured out what Rocket Don’t was definitely going
it took to be a star! He sat in the to rocket his way to fame.
Ta-da! A better
spac e hel met. Yi kes! I can't see out
of t his one at all. A h . . . t hat ain't
gonna work. But we bought it used
off t he internet.
8
Cat-and-Dog Delights
SHOW YOUR FURRY friends how much you care
with these yummy treats—safe for both Fluffy and Fido!
What to Do:
1. Ask an adult to preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the wheat germ, baby
food, and water together. Add more water if
necessary to form dough.
3. Roll dough into 1-inch balls, and place on a lightly
greased cookie sheet.
4. Flatten the balls slightly with a fork dipped in
water.
5. Have an adult put the cookie sheet in the oven
for 20 to 25 minutes.
6. Cool before serving. Prepare for happy pet
snuggles!
by Paul Prince
Art by Christopher Cyr 9
S TELLA WAS ENJOYING a stroll across the school-
Galileo yard when she found the worm. She should have been
in history with Avatar Barnett, but honestly, how much
by E J Delaney “War of Independence this” and “Battle for the Galaxy
Art by that” could a girl take?
Shannon Day
The sun was out. Rainbow trees were flowering. With
her mum gone, Stella had hacked into the virtual time-
table and given herself an extended lunch break.
“Look, Galileo,” she called. “Here, boy! Come see.”
Galileo scampered over, stopping only once to leap
at a passing butterfly.
“Moof, moof! Weow?”
“Check it out.” Stella kneeled down and brought her
chin close to something shimmery and wriggling. “If I
didn’t know better, I’d say that was a waste worm . . .”
text © 2022 by Jacob Edwards
art © 2022 by Shannon Day “Moof!”
10
Galileo sprung forward, swatting “Up now, Galileo. Up, boy!”
at the worm. Sparks flew. Zap! He “Moof!”
scrabbled away again. Galileo rolled left and right until
“It is a waste worm!” Stella he rocked over and came up with his
frowned. “Do you know what this stumpy legs beneath him. Stella held
means, Galileo?” the worm out for him to sniff.
Galileo lay sprawled out, sunning “Find the wormhole, Galileo!”
his belly.
“It means there must be a worm-
hole on board. Oh, this is bad.”
“Weow?”
“A wormhole, Galileo.” She ruffled
her fingers through his neck fur. “An
unstable time tunnel connecting two
different points in the universe. One
end must have latched onto our
ship.”
Galileo yawned. His tongue
smacked briefly at his lips. Lolling
his head to the side, he allowed one
big ear to cover his eyes.
“Moof?”
“No,” Stella agreed. She took
out her handkerchief and scooped
up the worm. “No, we can’t wait for
Mum. Who knows what else might
have wriggled through after this
little critter.” She slapped her thigh.
Interesting. Make a
note of t hat, Arana.
˜ Test subject scrabbled ² scratched
O h, dear! I don't wildly and quickly ² to get t he hel met off.
t hink he could Also, note how his tongue is
breat he in t here! lollin ² loosely hanging.
11
Galileo moofed and set off. Stella
grinned. Her pet might be the most
wonderfully ridiculous-looking
creature in all the galaxies, but he
never lost a scent.
“Weow!”
“No, Galileo. Not the butterflies.
Focus, now. Focus!”
By breed, Galileo was the first
ever tabby hound. (The result of
Stella not being able to choose
between an Old Earth basset hound
and a tabby cat.) He was as fat as he
was furry, with smiling whiskers and
a low-hanging stomach.
He was easily distracted.
“Moof, moof!”
“No, Galileo. The worm! Follow
the worm’s scent.” Stella rolled her
eyes. “Oh, this is hopeless.”
Sighing, she detoured over to the
school’s lone bottle tree. She twisted reveal the familiar corridors of her
the hidden clasp to let the hatch mum’s home spaceship.
on its trunk fall open. Her fingers “Moof?”
skittered briefly on the keypad within. “That’s right, Galileo. No more
Virtual reality disappeared. The butterflies.” Stella held out the worm
school building and Stella’s computer- again. “Now, find that wormhole. Go,
generated classmates faded away to boy!”
Brand-new idea, Spider.
You won't need one. You won't
Put t his on. Relax. It's not a
be in t he rocket now.
No! No more space helmet.
space hel mets! What! Who's
gonna fly my
socks i nto
12 space?
up near the ceiling between decks.
Galileo leaped for it with a cat’s
instincts but a basset’s stunted agility.
“Weow?”
Stella gave him a boost and then
followed. If the worm had made it
this far, then the wormhole had to
have opened up hours ago, probably
just after her mum was called in to
work.
“Keep going, Galileo,” Stella
urged.
No sooner had she spoken than
she heard a frantic scratching of
claws and then a muffled thunk.
That was Galileo dropping down at
the other end of the crawlspace.
“Hold on, Galileo! I’m coming!”
Stella tumbled after him and
found herself in the engine room,
staring up at the wormhole. It hung
“Weow!” spinning above the deck like some
Nose to the metal floor, Galileo impossible hula hoop, all fizzing
snuffled and trotted off, bouncing edges and pulsating blue energy.
along like a tabby tumbleweed. Stella Wormhole, she thought. Check.
jogged to keep up. The only reason Stella took it
“That’s it! Good boy!” so calmly was because she’d spotted
They came to a high crawlspace something even more worrying:
Spider is, but using virtual realit ² You' ll fly t he rocket
from t he ground like Note: Spider did not approve and
a fake interactive environment
it's a video game. Harrumph. You've snuff led ² loudly sniffed many
created by a computer where
got to be kidding. times ² at t his awesome idea.
sig hts and sounds seem real.
13
a glassy black eye as big as a boulder out the nuclear trash lying half-
glaring at her from within the burning digested inside the waste worm.
circle! But it was getting too close to the
Star sparrow, she winced. Double ship’s engines! If it broke through
check. the shielding . . . Meltdown!
“Galileo, we’re in trouble.” Doomsday-level kaboom!
“Moof! Weow!” Horrified, Stella lost her grip on
The tabby hound darted forward the handkerchief. The worm slipped
and then skipped back, growling and out and fell to the floor.
hissing. The sparrow was enormous! To her delighted relief, Galileo
It flapped its star-white feathers and pounced on it. He swiped it playfully
tore hungrily at the edges of the from paw to paw, closer and closer
hole, thrusting its arrowhead beak to the wormhole. Suddenly, the star
through. It was hunting for food, sparrow stabbed down and pecked
Stella realized. It must have sniffed the worm up.
This will be easy. It's just like
flying the rocket in real reality.
I'm not so hot at video games.
True. I always run
you down flat in
Big Bad Bug Race.
14
“Oh, good boy!” Stella exclaimed.
“Well done, Galileo!”
The hula hoop began spinning
in reverse. Sparks flew from its rim,
and it gurgled like a fast-emptying
bathtub, sucking the sparrow back
through. When the wormhole
collapsed, it left nothing behind
but a faint after-rain smell.
No worm, no wormhole, Stella
mused.
She turned to Galileo, but the
tabby hound had moved beyond
petting range. He sniffed about some
more, then flopped down alongside
the main engine and went to sleep.
Shaking her head, Stella reached
instead for the nearest control panel
and restarted her virtual school. Even
as the building ghosted back into
existence, a frowning hologram Actually, we came within a whisker
of her mother appeared above the of total destruction. But everything’s
schoolyard, hunched forward in her fine now!” Stella smiled fondly at
pilot’s seat of her little space-hopper. Galileo. The tabby hound was
“Stella, have you been messing pawing quietly at the air, shedding
with the virtual reality again? If I can’t fur everywhere as he chased after
trust you alone in homeschool—” dream butterflies. “Well, nothing a
“Sorry, Mum. Bit of an emergency. quick vacuum clean won’t sort out!”
15
A Shooting Star
by Raven Howell
Art by Ryan O’Rourke
16
Shooting Star Wishes
18
from a stuck elevator. Nana nods in the direction of school.
“I’m still going?”
“School has power, sugarplum.” She nudges my arm to get
my feet moving, and we walk lickety-split all three blocks, so
I’m not late.
The power is still off when I come home. We take it slow
up the stairs.
After dinner and homework, we take biscuits and jam to
the balcony and watch day turn to evening. Lights come on
several blocks away, but it’s dark here.
“Stars might not be so afraid tonight,” I say.
I hum a tune, and Nana joins in.
19
Flash! A streak of light shoots across
the sky—so sudden it hardly seems real.
Nana stops humming and starts to laugh.
That’s how I know it’s real.
She gives me a squeeze. “Don’t tell
me now. Keep that wish secret, or it
won’t come true.”
“How do you know I made a wish?”
“I could feel it, sugarplum.”
Like magic, I feel my wish holding
tight to the tail of that shooting star,
dancing across the sky to our songs.
20
L]]fY_]j<YfE&Hgkc]na[`k
)10,`gf]qZ]]]ph]jae]fl`Y\
logeYaf_gYdk2lgklm\q`go
`gf]qZ]]kZ]`Yn]afkhY[]Yf\lg
[gehYj]`gf]q[geZeY\]afgjZal
oal``gf]q[geZeY\]gf=Yjl`&
by Abbi Lee
Do drive carefully, Bill. Don't crash it into I got t his. Goin' for
sumpin' real! the high score.
22
Af*()0$^an]d]Y^%[mllaf_Z]]kYdkgklYq]\
afYkh][aYdZgp&Al[gflYaf]\^gg\Yf\
[Ye]jYk&=n]jql`ajlqeafml]k$l`][Ye]jYk
lggcYh`glgYf\Yna\]g&L`]^gglY_]
^jgekhY[]oYk[gehYj]\oal`^gglY_]
g^Z]]kafYfa\]fla[YdZgpgf=Yjl`&
9kljgfYml<gfL`geYke]flgj]\@a_`]jGjZalk
klm\]flkgfl`]ajklm\]fl%d]\d]Y^%[mllaf_Z]]
j]k]Yj[`&
24
Spelling
Bee
by Jennifer Funk Weber
Art by Beatrice Beex
LA__ FINISH
Answer on page 35
25
Truman’s Last
Chance
by Andrew W. Hamilton
Art by Alan and Lea Daniel
RACHEL PETTINGILL.
As Truman trudged home from school, he repeated the
name in his head. Throughout third grade and the year
before, Rachel Pettingill had earned the highest science
grade in the class. The truth was she scored highest in
every subject. Truman knew this because they compared
scores on every test, every report, and every quiz.
Truman was used to being second best to Rachel.
“But science is my thing,” he declared to a stop sign.
Truman’s parents were scientists, and he would be a
scientist. That was just a fact. Somehow, with only one
week and one assignment to go before break, he and
Rachel were tied. Dead even. To finish on top, his last
report had to be great. It had to be better than great.
The subject of the project was beehives. Truman’s
class had studied bees for three days, so he was ready.
But, as his teacher Mrs. Lawrence had explained, to earn
an A+, he needed a “new angle.”
Truman pushed open the front door to find his four-
year-old brother, Bryan, sprawled on the living room rug,
hard at work. Paper towel tubes were all over the floor.
Bryan leaped to his feet. “Truman, help me build a city!”
Now, while Sonya's experiment
takes solid steps for science, You can take it off,
my new experiment will take Hey! My headset shut off.
Bill. The rocket will fly
one big stride — long step. itself here on out.
26
“I’d like to,” Truman shrugged, “but I have to do a
report on beehives and—”
“Can I help you?” Bryan begged.
“I don’t think so, Bry. Sorry.” Truman stepped carefully
between the scattered tubes. He went to his room, dropped
onto the bed, and studied the ceiling.
Rachel Pettingill.
Her report would be pretty ordinary but
perfectly executed and accompanied by one of
her incredible drawings. Truman had to come
up with something great, but what?
“Truman?” Bryan poked his head in.
“Bry, I said I can’t play with you
now.” Truman tried not to sound
mean. His brother could burst into
tears at the hint of an unkind word.
“I know where there’s an old
beehive.” Bryan smiled.
“Where?” Truman sat up.
“In the wood pile by the garage.”
Bryan copied Truman’s stride as
the boys marched to the stack of
firewood. Bending down, Bryan
pointed out the hive deep inside
the pile. Truman took off several
top layers of the stacked wood
and carefully removed the hive
from its hole.
For my experiment, it needs Isn't Bill gonna get to bring
to go a long, long way out. it back to Earth and smash Without Spider on board,
it into something? it need not come back.
Huh? What do you mean
“here on out”?
27
“You got it!” Bryan shouted.
Back in his room, Truman sat
at his desk, turning the fragile
hive under a lamp. It smelled like
old leaves. Each cell was a perfect
hexagon. How did the bees fit the
cells together so neatly? And how
did they make each cell six-sided?
Could they count?
“Boys, dinner’s ready!” his
mother called. Truman fought the
rising panic as he glanced at his
desk clock.
All through dinner, Truman
struggled to keep his cool. If his
parents found out he was working
on a science project, they would
run around pulling out books and
volunteering ideas. He wanted to
beat Rachel without their help.
As he carried his half-empty
plate of spaghetti to the kitchen,
his father called, “Don’t forget, Truman’s heart fluttered as he
Truman—it’s your night to do scraped a plate. If he didn’t think
the dishes.” Truman glanced at the of something soon, his chance to
clock again. 7:05. beat Rachel would be lost . . .
Rachel Pettingill. maybe forever. The thought of it
Almost a billion
It's going onward, out farther into miles away!
space to study the hexa on —
Wait . . . WHAT!
the two-dimensional figure with six One . . . billion . . . miles.
connected straight lines and
six corners — on Saturn's top.
28
“Truman! You’re wrecking my
city!” Lost in thought, Truman
hadn’t seen Bryan settle in behind
him with a mess of paper tubes.
“Get your tubes out of here,
Bryan! I’m trying to finish the
dishes!” Truman blurted.
Bryan began to cry. Loudly. He
gathered an armful of dented tubes,
threw them under the running
faucet, and ran sobbing into the
living room.
Truman sighed and gathered the
dripping tubes in both hands. As he
held them over the wastebasket,
they suddenly reminded him of
something. The beehive!
Looking closer, he noticed the
tubes were arranged with one in
the middle, surrounded by six others.
Truman tore open the drawer near
the sink, grabbed a handful of
made his stomach hurt. paper clips, and clipped the tubes
As he turned around to put together. As he suspected, the soggy
the butter into the refrigerator, center tube formed a hexagon, just
his foot came down on something like the cells of the hive.
with a crunch. Just to be sure, he tried five and
You can close your Our rocket won't get to
notebook, Arana.
˜ Saturn for five years. FIVE YEARS! A BILLION MILES!
MY SOCKS!!! Whoa! That's one
harsh reality, Bill.
29
then seven surrounding tubes, but
neither way fit. Six was the only
number that worked.
He said aloud, “Bees just build
round tubes and stick the sides
together. The cells have to be
six-sided.”
Truman ran to the living room
and threw his arms around his
brother. “Bryan, you did it! I’ve got
my angle!” he gushed. “And a real
beehive. And now I can build a
model beehive with your tubes! I
mean—if it’s OK with you.”
“Well . . .” Bryan pulled away,
still sniffling.
“You can help me glue them,”
Truman offered. Bryan beamed and
began picking out his finest tubes.
Rachel Pettingill didn’t stand
a chance.
There, t here, Bill. I' ll Oh, it's not hing. It's just . . . nobuggy
knit you some new socks. Arana
˜ ... ushed ² showed lots of excited
A billin' miles wit hout Why are you sad? interest ² about my notes.
Bill in socks!
30
Bear’s Nose
Bear follows his nose
Wherever it goes—
All the rest of him
Shuffles behind.
A beehive of honey
All golden and runny,
So complaining
A bear never does,
by Beverly McLoughland
Art by Ronni Runyon 31
3V]PUN/H[PUNVY4PZZPUN:UV^
Ryan C., age 8 Emily S., age 7 Haadi N., age 8
Shaker Heights, Ohio Hopelawn, New Jersey Westlake, Ohio
The Amazing Snow Day Finally Snow A Snowy Day
I ran downstairs and yelled, “It snowed!” I One day, Alexander woke up. “Hey, One day, George and Theodore were
love snow! It is so fluffy and beautiful. I put on Isabella, wake up!” he yelled. sipping cocoa inside. Unexpectedly, a
my snow gear and ran outside with glee. “What is it?” said Isabella, who was eight snowflake hit the window. George exclaimed,
I sprinted outside and heard something years old, looking at her brother, who was “It’s snowing! I love snow!”
by the driveway. I dashed over and saw the younger by four years. “I hate snow,” Theodore said sadly. They
snowplow! I bolted inside to get my dad, so we “It’s snowing,” said Alexander. were best friends, but they were opposites.
could build a fort from the snow the snowplow “In Florida?” asked Isabella, waking up “I like snow because you get to make
pushed over. My dad and I got the shovel and more. snowmen!” George said. “And sledding is
spade and went to work. With the shovel, I “Yeah, wanna see?” fun!”
traced out where we would dig. Then we started “Sure,” said Isabella. They ran to the “I don’t like snowmen because I have to
digging out snow from the mountain. My dad window. “Oh, man! It is!” said Isabella. “Wait use all my Oreos for the eyes. Sledding makes
made the top of the snow pile dome shaped, a minute. That’s not snow. That’s rain! me dizzy!” Theodore replied.
while I dug out the inside. Besides, it’s three in the morning! Go back “I like snow angels and snowball fights!”
After we were done, my dad and I went to to bed!” George said a little louder.
the front yard and had a snowball fight. I won They slept until ten o’clock in the “Snowballs hurt like apples falling on
and had a great day! morning. When they woke up, they looked your head!” Theodore almost shouted.
out the window. Shiny white snow was “No, they don’t. Also, scarves are really
Madelyn D., age 8 everywhere! cozy!” George yelled.
Rochester Hills, Michigan “Come on, let’s eat our breakfast real “No, they’re so tight around my neck!”
quick!” said Alexander. Theodore frowned.
The Day Snow Shined When they finished their breakfast, they “Can’t we just enjoy our drinks?” George
One day, it was snowing. It was twenty-two ran outside. Alexander jumped into the snow. sighed. “At least we both like cocoa—you can
degrees outside. The sun came out later that day. But Isabella stood there staring. Could this have it hot, and I can have it iced.”
It made the snow shine like glittery diamonds in be a joke? It hadn’t snowed in two years. They They both laughed and watched the snow
the sky. When we went outside to play, we made sledded and skied for the rest of the day! fall.
a sparkly snowman, had a sparkly snow fight,
and had sparkly faces.
What to Do:
1. Each player draws a Martian body, head, and mouth. (Do NOT draw any other parts yet!)
Then put all crayons in the middle.
2. Everyone says, “3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . Blast off!” and rolls their die onto their paper.
3. Based on your roll, grab your crayon. If more than one player rolls the same number, whoever
grabs that crayon gets to
draw. The other players Orange Purple Black
lose their turns. Players
who grab the wrong color Red Blue Green
also lose their turns.
4. Players with crayons then roll the dice at the same time to see which Martian part to draw. If more
than one player rolls the
same number, those Any part Arm Leg
players switch papers.
6. Keep playing until one space alien has two or more of every part. That drawing wins the most
marvelous Martian award. Give awards to all Martians, like scariest, goofiest, or cutest.
Ex-bee-dition
_____light
_____ship rock _____ _____burst
Mind-Buggle
An r to
Q. What is woolly and
Spelling Bee rockets to the moon?
Why did the bees fly to
ing ?
space after their wedd ?:LM
A. A space sheep.
To go on their
;BLM G>LM SFLM
honeymoon ! Send your jokes to
<NLM EBLM FHLM =:LM >FLM
[email protected]!
CNLM D>LM GNLM HILM K:LM
E:LM
Answer: star
YOU
+
- ---
Math Superhero!
Currently offering
Math Tutoring for K–12 stud
(including MATH SAT pre
With our package options, you can purchase hours and allocate them however yo .
=SYV ƼVWX LSYV MW SRP] 99¢ with promocode TRYMATH. Visit CricketMedia.com/Tutoring XS PIEVR QSVI 35
What to Do:
1. Cut out the bee game pieces. Glue one piece to each button. Let dry.
2. Pick your bee. Place it on the board on its color. The player whose name
is closest to B in the alphabet goes first. Play continues clockwise.
A Bee Cs
by Stacey Lane
Art by Von Reigns 3. On your turn, flip the coin. If you get heads, pick an empty spot one
space away. If you get tails, pick an empty spot two spaces away.
YOUR BIG BRAIN is bound to be
4. If you picked a red or green spot, follow the directions on that spot and
buzzing with a bunch of words that begin
move your bee there.
with B. But which bee will beat its
buddies across the board to be the best? 5. If you picked any other spot, read your category aloud. Then the next
player begins reciting the ABCs. Name something that starts with the
A game for 2 to 5 players letter B that fits the category on your chosen spot before the next player
finishes saying the ABCs. If you complete the challenge, move your bee
onto that spot. If you don’t, stay where you are.
What You’ll Need:
scissors 5 large buttons 6. Players keep taking turns until someone moves into the winning purple
glue coin spot by completing the challenge of quickly saying 3 first names.
in a Skip Move
backyard next bee’s hobby another bee
turn. 2 spaces.
start in a zoo in the air machine
for your bee to move into, you lose your turn. dinner food is ue fruit
book is square
Want to play again? Pick a different letter than B. Some fun ones are on an
island
C, M, P, R, S, T, and W.
is fast country
in a
can swim movie
Move garage
bird another bee
1 space.
in a ice cream
insect
bedroom flavor
Skip
next bee’s on a farm
turn. 3 first
is stinky game Winner
names
makes
job
music
city fish
Move Skip
in a
_ __
__ __ __
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ !
E G H I M N O R T Y