January 07, 2010

Meet Tony Hawk

Tonyhawk_130 Imagine playing the Tony Hawk Ride video game with Tony Hawk, the real life pro skateboarder! Well, Scholastic Kid Reporter, Christopher Campbell got to do just that! If it were me, I would have been so nervous, I think I would have tripped over my feet, but Christopher was awesome! In the Kids Press Corps blog, Christopher writes " . . . when Tony showed me how to play his new game, it was a whole new experience to me. I thought I would mess up and fall, but I even did better than Tony himself!" Read the rest of Christopher's article to hear all about his experience meeting Tony Hawk.

While he was here, Tony also stopped by the STACKS. What book series does he recommend for you? Captain Underpants! Watch the video to find out why.

image from kids.scholastic.com— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Skateboarder Tony Hawk taught Kid Reporter Christopher Campbell how to play his new video game, Tony Hawk Ride, and how to use the game's skateboard "controller." (Photo: Jennifer Boggs)

January 06, 2010

The 39 Clues Race to Win Game

39clues_130 Happy New Year 39 Clues fans! Hope you had a great holiday season full of action and adventure! Oh wait, that's what I'm here to tell you about! Post Cereals has teamed up with The 39 Clues for a new RACE TO WIN Instant Win Game starting this month. RACE TO WIN will be featured on many Post Cereals boxes including Honeycomb, Alpha-Bits, and Waffle Crisp

Front_of_box     Back_of_box

Go to www.Post39CluesRacetoWin.com and check out the amazing prizes! Four grand prize winners will receive a 4-day, 3-night trip to New York City (including plane tickets, hotel and spending cash!) and the chance to compete in The 39 Clues Scavenger Hunt for a top secret 'bonus' prize. Two hundred first prize winners will receive 39 Clues prize packs including a 39 Clues backpack and a set of The 39 Clues books (#1- #7) autographed by the authors. Nice! 

No purchase necessary. Go to www.Post39CluesRacetoWin.com to get the free access code that allows you to enter the sweepstakes, and for official rules! Don't forget to get your downloadable screensaver and play the “Honey Sweet Search” game on www.Post39CluesRacetoWin.com!!! 

Good luck, Clue Hunters! 

-Julia, Scholastic Media Staffer

January 05, 2010

Trivia Answers: Pictogram Style!

Trivia_tuesdayWOW! So many of you got ALL of the trivia answers for my pictogram trivia right that it just seems wrong to call out one person. So, virtual cookies for all!

If you're not sure if you got them all right (or any right at all), here are the answers:

1_answer  


2_answer  
3_answer  
4_answer  
5_answer  

Until next time, happy reading!

image from kids.scholastic.comCarly H., STACKS Staffer


 
 
 
Quddus with Janet Jackson. (Photo courtesy Nickelodeon)
U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps reacts after winning the men's 100m butterfly swimming final and his seventh gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games. (Photo:©Martin Bureau/AFP/NewsCom)
Gold medalist Nastia Liukin (center) of the U.S. poses with compatriot and silver medalist Shawn Johnson (left) and bronze medalist Yang Yilin of China after the women's individual all-round gymnastics final at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. (Photo:©Mike Blake /Reuters)
Sasha Cohen performs her routine during an exhibition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday, January 15, 2006. (Photo: Eric Gay/AP Wide World)

Trivia Tuesday: Allie Finkle

Allie_all_130 Last month I posted a sneak peek of the brand new Allie Finkle covers for books 1-4 and the new cover of book 5 coming out in March 2010: Glitter Girls and the Great Fake Out. Well, the fun's not over. See if you can answer these trivia questions for each book in Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls series!

BOOK 1 Moving Day: Who is the first person Allie ever tried to show her "Rules for Girls" Notebook to?

BOOK 2 The New Girl: What did Allie eat for breakfast the first day of school, when her parents couldn't find their pots, pans, or dishes?

BOOK 3 Best Friends and Drama Queens: What boy wants Allie to “go" with him?

BOOK 4 Stage Fright: What two professions does Allie now want to be?

Send us YOUR answers in the Comments, and look for the official answers in next week's Trivia Tuesday.

— Ratha, STACKS Writer

January 04, 2010

Attention Baby-sitters Club Fans!

Scholastic has good news for all of you who LOVE the Baby-sitters Club books. Ann M. Martin, the original author of the series, is writing a new Baby-sitters Club book. It is coming out in April 2010 and will be called The Summer Before. It's a prequel — it takes place before the other books in the series. That's all I know right now, but as I get more details, I'll let you know right away.

There are already more than 213 books in the series, so if you want to catch up on the ones you've missed, visit the Baby-sitters Club website. And then go visit the Ann M. Martin Message Board to talk to other fans about the good news! Yay!

image from kids.scholastic.com— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

January 02, 2010

Kids Are Inventors Too!

When people hear the word "inventor" they normally think of an adult, not a kid. Well, I am here to tell you that the definition of inventor is "one who devises some new process, appliance, machine, or article," and that has nothing to do with age. I was eight years old when I first started getting ideas about how to change existing toys, and ten when I had my first invention. 

The inspiration for my invention came out of personal necessity. When I was younger, one of my favorite games was "Miss Mary Mack," the hand clapping game, but there wasn't always someone to play with. So I invented the Hands On Hand Clap Game. It is an electronic board that players hang on a wall or hold on their laps. A pair of hands lights up when players clap against them in time to the music. 

If you enjoy coming up with new ideas and inventions, here are some tips I'd like to pass along to you: 

Be creative. Don't worry if your idea is a little strange or seems too different. Imagine how Ben Franklin felt when he was flying a kite in a thunder storm, with a key attached to it. I bet his neighbors thought he was a little strange! His discovery gave us electricity, which changed the world! 

Stay positive. Don't get frustrated while you’re trying to figure out how your invention will work. 

Persevere! Keep working with your idea. Inventing is a process where you will not only find challenges and obstacles, but creativity and fun too! 

Always stay true to yourself. Don't allow others try to change or influence your concept or idea so much that it is not what you imagined. Focus on your idea, and the rest will follow. 

Get a journal and keep it with you! Always write down your ideas and inventions. Keep it by your bedside. Some people have dreams of their inventions! Madame C.J. Walker (1867-1919) is in the Guinness Book of Records as the first female American self-made millionaire. She had a dream that gave her details on how to invent hair care products! 

Enter contests. My first contest was in fifth grade. It was a class assignment to invent something new. I submitted the Hands On Hand Clap Game. The inventions were judged by the lower classes and I won! Winning gave me the confidence to enter the BKFK Invent-A-Toy World Games Contest! This contest not only helped me become a better inventor, but because of the experience it gave me, it helped me develop my creativity, self-esteem and confidence as a person and inventor. 

Lastly, have fun! Enjoy the process and keep inventing! You may be the next Ben Franklin! 

-- Ana Lingenfelder, Kid Inventor 


Ana_photo  At the age of 10, Ana thought up the Hands On Hand Clap Game – an electronic clapping game. Ana came up with a mobile board with a screen showing a pair of hands. Hands On Hand Clap Game allows a single person to play by following along with glowing lights on the hands. The player is free to choose the difficulty level of the game, as well as select which rhyme they want to clap along to. Ana even wanted the user to be able to input their own rhymes by teaching new hand clap patterns to the game. Ana's game won her first place in the By Kids For Kids Xerox 2005-06 Invent-A-Toy World Games.

December 31, 2009

New Year's Eve Writing Prompt

It's the last day of 2009, the last day of the year, and the last day of the DECADE! But this year we have a problem -- what to call this decade? 

The years 1980-1989 are called the Eighties. The years 1990-1999 are called the Nineties. So we can say, "I like Eighties music." or "I was born in the Nineties." But what about this decade that's almost over? How are you going to say that you like the music from this decade? or whatever from this decade!

What should we call the years 2000-2009? Give me your ideas in the Comments. 

image from kids.scholastic.com

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

December 30, 2009

Best Reads of 2009

2009_130

At the end of the year I like to look back over my reading pile and think about all the books I've read. It gives me a sense of accomplishment to think "Wow! I really read a lot of books!" And I also like to think about which books stuck with me the most so I can add them to my growing list of lifetime favorite books. So here they are, the Best Books I've Read This Year (in the order I read them): 

Graceling Graceling by Kristin Cashore (for ages 12 and up). I remember this time last year when I was reading everyone's best books of 2008, and Graceling kept showing up on every list. So it was the first book I read in 2009, and it is really really good. It's about a girl named Katsa who is a graceling. Gracelings are people who have a special power. It can be anything -- like they are really good cooks, or dog trainers, or whatever. Katsa's grace is that she can kill anyone with her bare hands. Whoa! The prequel Fire is really good too (also for ages 12 and up).

9780439023498_med  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (for ages 12 and up). To be honest, I didn't like this book as much as The Hunger Games (also for ages 12 and up) which is the BEST BOOK EVER! Maybe that's only because I will never like another book as much as The Hunger Games for as long as I live. But Catching Fire is still one of my favorite books of the year for sure, and I can't wait for Book 3!  

 

Escape Under the Forever Sky Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem. This is a fictional story about an American girl who was kidnapped in Ethiopia. In this book, she escaped from her captors and survived alone in the wild when anyone else probably would have been eaten by lions. The lions actually helped her! This is a heart-pounding African survival story, and the part about being helped by the lions is actually based on a true story!

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy Montgomery. This book is about snow leopards, possibly the coolest animal on earth. They are called ghosts of the mountain because you can be looking right at them (with binoculars) and still not see them. They blend so well into their environment. They only live in the very remote parts of the Himalayan Mountains, so very few people have ever seen one in the wild.

Unfinished Angel Unfinished Angel by Sharon Creech. I loved this book because it reminded me of The BFG by Roald Dahl. It's not about a big friendly giant, but it's about an angel who doesn't know what it's supposed to be doing. Then it meets a girl who starts telling it about problems in the town, and together they work to help. It's a really heartwarming story and also funny because the angel is pretty clueless and makes up words for stuff that it doesn't know the right word for (like the BFG). It's really cute.

Those were my favorites this year. I know I missed a lot, and there are still some books from 2009 on my To Be Read pile. What are your favorite books that you read over the past year? Tell me about them in the Comments.

image from kids.scholastic.com

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

 

December 29, 2009

Trivia Tuesday: Wizards of Waverly Place

Wizards_of_waverly_place Ok, magic fans, who out there is confident enough in their wizardry knowledge to take a trivia quiz on my favorite kids' television show, Wizards of Waverly Place?

Airing on Disney Channel, Wizards of Waverly Place follows the Russo family as they live seemingly normal lives in Manhattan. . . except for the fact that all three Russo children have magical powers inherited from their dad! There's the oldest brother Justin (David Henrie), who takes his wizardry skills very seriously; middle sister Alex (Selena Gomez), who doesn't take anything seriously; and youngest brother Max (Jake T. Austin), who is seriously bad at magic. And then there's Alex's best friend Harper (Jennifer Stone), their parents, Jerry and Theresa, and all the characters who hang out in their sub shop and their school.

And PS, the stars of the show are all big fans of reading. Check out these videos of David Henrie, Selena Gomez, Jake T. Austin and Jennifer Stone talking about why they love books.

Now that you're caught up, let's see what you really know about Wizards of Waverly Place!

1. All three of the Russo kids have magical powers, but only one of them will keep those powers as an adult. How will it be decided?

  1. Their parents will choose.
  2. They'll have to compete in a magic competition.
  3. The official wizardry council will decide for them.

2. Why did Jerry, the Russo dad, have to give up his wizardry powers?

  1. When he fell in love with a mortal woman, he gave them up to marry her.
  2. When he had children, he decided his powers were too dangerous.
  3. He lost a magic competition against his sister.

3. When does Harper, Alex's best friend, find out Alex and her brothers are wizards?

  1. At Pop-Con when Harper accuses Alex of being a bad friend
  2. At school when Alex turns her art teacher back into a teenager
  3. During a marathon when Alex casts a spell that makes Harper win the race

4. Perhaps my favorite part of Wizards of Waverly Place is the song that plays during the opening credits. Who sings the song?

  1. Taylor Swift
  2. Demi Lovato
  3. Selena Gomez

5. In Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, the Russo family goes on a trip to the Caribbean. Alex makes a wish that comes true and causes all sorts of problems for the Russos. What was her wish?

  1. She wished Harper had come on the trip with them.
  2. She wished her parents had never met.
  3. She wished for two sisters instead of her two brothers.

Get out those magic wands and cast your answers, readers! Leave a comment with your guesses and we'll soon see who has magical powers when it comes to trivia. . .

— Morgan, Scholastic staffer

Photo © copyright Disney Channel/Craig Sjodin

December 28, 2009

Writing Prompt: New Year’s Resolutions

Writingprompt_resolutions I'm guessing you've been so busy playing with your Christmas presents and enjoying no school that you might not have noticed that there's only four more days left of the year. Not only that, there's only four more days left of this decade!

Now, there are lots of people out there making their best-of lists — best songs of the year, biggest news stories of the last 10 years, favorite movies with talking animals — you name it and someone’s listed it (and as a heads up, you can catch Sonja's best books of the year right here on Ink Splot 26 this Wednesday, 12/30).

But I'm not about to ask you to list anything. The past is in the past. And while I'm not about to stop partying in the USA to Miley's "Party in the U.S.A." just because that song's from 2009 and it will be 2010, I'm much more interested in all the new adventures everyone has planned for the next decade.

Which is all just a long way of saying, Tell me your New Year's Resolutions!

image from kids.scholastic.comCarly H., STACKS Staffer

December 27, 2009

Protecting Your Invention with a Patent

Lightbulb

We all know that Thomas Edison created the light bulb. But how will anyone ever know that you were the first to dream up your invention? What if someone else says it was their idea first? You've put all of your hard work and energy into this one creation; you don’t want to lose it all. When you think of an amazing idea, one that is all your own, there is a way to protect it so no one tries to steal it. That's where the patent comes in and saves the day.

A patent is a legal document from the United States government that basically says that you thought of the invention all by yourself, and no one can steal the idea from you. No one, other than yourself, will be able to sell or produce your creation without your say. Pretty cool, right?

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the place to start getting your inventions patented, but getting a patent is not easy or quick. You can also work with a company like By Kids For Kids — they help kids get their original ideas patented for free.

Just think, once you have your idea patented, nobody will ever be able to say anyone else created it. And, one day your name may be the one kids everywhere know as a great inventor!

— Alyssa Hansen & Kaycee Johnsen, Kid/Teen Inventors

Bkfk_alyssaandkaycee  

Alyssa Hansen and Kaycee Johnsen, both 16, began inventing when they were just 10 years old. They, along with their siblings and friends, have created Boogie2Boogie, a new kind of wave-riding toy and the Underwater X-treme, a challenging pool toy that solves the problem of everybody peeking when playing Marco Polo. Both inventions won the National TOYchallenge and are currently being marketed by By Kids For Kids. Alyssa and Kaycee have been writing a regular column for creative kids in bkfk.com since 2006 and have co-written a book and activity kit that teaches kids how to invent. You can see all of their creations, and a lot more at www.bkfk.com.

December 26, 2009

Remembering 2009

2009 Oh 2009! What a year it was! From political events that made history to the tragic deaths of many great entertainers, this is a year that will definitely make a showing in the pages of many books to come.

Here are the news stories that resonated most with me in 2009:

Obama's inauguration: Though it seems like so long ago, at the beginning of 2009, Barack Obama becoming the very first black president in history cannot be topped.

Death of Michael Jackson: Forever known as the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, one of the world's greatest performers passed away this year. Though he was only 50 years old, Jackson's musical and performing talent was celebrated in the film This Is It.

Swine Flu Outbreak: The one story that has certainly not diminished is the outbreak of the H1N1 virus. Originating in Mexico, it quickly spread around world, causing mass hysteria and extreme precautions. Fortunately the CDC (Center of Disease Control) acted rapidly by containing the cases, educating the masses and developing a vaccine for the American public.

Miracle on the Hudson: When I first heard that a plane had landed in the Hudson River in New York City, I thought to myself, “What in the world! Is that a real story?” Sure enough, the stories and the images started flooding onto the television as the entire country soon discovered that pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was a hero, saving over 150 people on board.

Jon and Kate Gosselin: While not the most uplifting story of the year, Jon and Kate had their share of air time. Whether their feuds and petty fights were publicly displayed on prime time news outlets, entertainment news shows or SNL skits, these reality television stars got plenty of fame.

Which news stories and/or events do you remember most in 2009?

—Carly M., STACKS Staffer

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