Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Spider Magazine Stories, Games, Activites and Puzzles for Children and Kids

DANDELION PINKLEY STOOD at Izzy Wishbones’s front door waiting excitedly for him to answer. She was a little late, but she knew he wouldn’t care. This Golden Oval party sounded so fun! “Just be yourself,” Dandelion’s dad had advised when he’d dropped her off. But what a silly thing to say! Who else could she be but herself? Izzy had planned the Golden Oval dinner (with his mom’s help) to celebrate his closest old friends. Dandelion’s brother Doodlebug told her he thought going to a big fancy dinner party would be worse than a three-hour arithmetic test. But he was so wrong! Now, Izzy swung the door open, greeting Dandelion with a welcoming smile. But when she followed him into his family’s dining room, she wanted to faint. She had…

MANSA MUSA STOOD upon a high balcony and looked down upon his city. Niani stretched beneath Mali’s late morning sunshine like a lion relaxing, powerful and unhurried. A caravan of camels carrying slabs of salt from the Taghaza mines wound along Goat Herders Lane. Smoke from cooking fires drifted above the tents of merchants in the market plaza. Beyond the city’s walls, fields bursting with green abundance spread south and north to the great river, glimmering in the distance. All was well. Children’s voices, raised in something other than play, sounded nearby. Mansa Musa recognized his son’s voice among the chorus. He turned, walked down a stairway, and came upon a group of boys on the patio below his balcony. He stopped in the shadow of the doorway. Maghan shouted,…

Contest Rules Write a poem about bragging or showing off. Here are the only rules: 1. Your poem should be 10 lines or fewer. 2. Your entry must be signed by a parent or legal guardian, authorizing its publication in print and/or online and saying it’s your own idea. 3. Be sure to include your complete name, age, and address. 4. Your entry must arrive by February 25, 2022. We will publish our favorites in the May/June 2022 issue of Spider. Email your entry to spider@cricketmedia.com, or send it to Spider’s Corner, P.O. Box 300, Peru, IL 61354.…

woolly coats that protect them against blistering days and freezing nights spare fat on their backs stored inside one or two humps for converting into food (Storing food outside their main bodies keeps camels cool.) small ears lined with fur to keep out sand windshield wiper-like eyelids to clean away sand leathery pads under their hooves, which act like snowshoes to keep these 7-foot-high, 1,500-pound animals from sinking into the soft sand nostrils that can be shut tight during sandstorms split, rubbery lips for eating prickly plants or snow when food and water are scarce Camels can drink a third of their own body weight in one single session, then live many weeks without drinking again!…

PLANTAINS ARE VERY popular in West African and Caribbean countries. They may look a lot like the bananas in your fruit bowl, but don’t let them fool you! Plantains are not eaten raw. Instead, these tropical treats are baked, boiled, or fried. As they turn yellow and then black, they become sweeter and make a tasty dessert. What You’ll Need: 3 ripe black plantains 3 tablespoons granulated sugar 3 tablespoons brown sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon cinnamon 4 tablespoons butter What to Do: 1. Have a grownup help you peel and slice the plantains. To remove the skins, cut off the ends, slit the skin lengthwise, and peel. 2. In a bowl, toss the plantain slices with the sugars, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon until coated. 3.…

Alora B., age 8 Cottonwood, Arizona Lizrat Bad Breath Kyra K., age 7 Northfield, Ohio Jonathan Aalfs, age 6 Frankston, Texas Maddie N., age 11 Sylva, North Carolina Samantha S., age 11 Plainfield, Illinois Deniz Kunakhovich, age 8 Kansas City, Kansas Good Manners/Bad Manners Everly M., age 8 Ashland, Ohio Vampire Mummy Having a Polite Tea Kennady W., age 7 Damon, Texas Dragon Blowing Up the Sun Madison S., age 9 Plainfield, Illinois Anna P., age 9 Omaha, Nebraska Birthday Monster Esther B. W., age 8 Chatham, New York Monster Messily Eating Spaghetti and…

THE BRADY FAMILY lived in a tumble-down house on the edge of town. Everyone in the family was very big and very, very loud. Pa stood six foot seven and had a voice like a raging hurricane. Ma’s shoes were the size of watermelons. When she hollered, “Suppertime!” kids in the next county hurried home for dinner. Ella was twice as tall as anyone in her class. When she sang a high note, her voice could crack a crystal bowl. Billy wore a water bucket for a hat, and his whistle could be heard over the screech of a runaway train. The Bradys’ pets were very big and very, very loud, too. The porch swing sagged when Tiger the Cat sat on it. Her yowling kept wildlife away and brought…

Hey, Sam! Can you adopt Gorilla? He is very naughty. He is a vampire kitty. He said he’ll do anything for you. Feed Gorilla right, and he’ll lick your face. Feed him wrong, and he’ll breathe fire. He only eats Rice Krispies Treats. Please send me notes, so I can see how he’s doing. Please take good care of him! Please ask the editors to make a mag about saving Galápagos penguins. Eleanna Waterville, Ohio Dear Miro, I know you love cooking. I do, too! I have my own play kitchen. Will you please adopt SnowDrop and FireBurst? SnowDrop is a dragicorn cat, and FireBurst is an ostrikanga dragon. I love French culture! My favorite colors are pink and blue. Au revoir, Miro. Emery Parham, age 9 Ooltewah, Tennessee P.S.…

A PHENAKISTOSCOPE IS a big word for a small toy that demonstrates a big idea in animation. For almost two hundred years, phenakistoscopes have been tricking eyes and brains into thinking motionless pictures are moving. Try it out. Turn twelve still camels into one camel on the go. WHAT YOU’LL NEED: scissorsthin cardboardglue stickunsharpened pencilpush pinwall mirror WHAT TO DO: 1. Cut off the opposite page. Glue it to the cardboard. Let dry. 2. Cut out the wheel. Carefully cut each slit by cutting down the long sides. Then fold over the short part and snip it off. 3. Have a grownup stick the push pin through the circle in the wheel’s center and then into the pencil’s eraser. 4. Stand in front of a mirror. Hold your phenakistoscope by…