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+ 3 FREE POSTERS!

Wonder Girl

for girls who love adventure

New A world of wonder for girls just like you

Get Busy DiscoverCreateOver To You

The adventures of Wonder Girl and Mow

Brand

NEW

comic!

Check out our top soccer skills

2 packed puzzle pages!

Make yummy choc brownies

Vicious Vikings

Explore South Africa with reader Emily

WIN!A chance to edit

Wonder Girl

Inside Wonder Girl!

FREE GIFT

Want to get involved?Write to us at:Wonder Girl Head OfficeBute BuildingKing Edward VII AveCardiff CF10 3NBOr check out our website: www.jomec.ac.cf.uk/wondergirl

Inside this issue...

Hello! Welcome to the first ever issue

of your brand new magazine Wonder Girl.

Wonder Girl is for girls just like you. We

have features on just about everything:

from Vikings and ballet to football and

tortoises.

We’ve put a lot of hard work into

finding out what you want to read but if

you want us to write about something

you love, just email or write in to us at the

address below.

Ruth & the Wonder team

2

Explosive volcano facts!

14

Discover

Terrific Tortoises

8

The Vicious Vikings

7

Growing food atthe allotment18

Day out vs. Day out:Camera & Laser Quest

Football: Try out the skill school12

Get Busy

20Cooking:beetroot brownies

9

Create

Make a Viking ship

Wonder Girl badges

Turn to page 28 to

find out how to use

this week’s free

project book with the

wonder girl badges in

this magazine.

10

Meet Katie

NEW COMIC

26The Adventures of Wonder Girl

Ballet girls

Eleri Sarah

Sarah is 8 in this photo. Turn to page 30

to see what she’s doing now, at age 15.

Book Club 21

Puzzles 24

Over To YouEmily

South Africa

22Discovers

Real Wonder Girl

30

6

Hobbies

3

Ellie, age 7, from Yorkshire, was treated to a double scoop of strawberry ice cream after scoring full marks on her school spelling test. Well done Ellie!

Charlie, age 9, from Llandrindod Wells, has been kicking her brand new football about in the garden.

EXPLOSIVE NEWS FROM TEAM WONDER

As you’ll see on page 14, Science Sam,

Wonder Girl’s boffin, loves volcanoes.

This week Sam tried to make his own

volcano in his lab and it exploded all over

him. Don’t worry, Sam made it from baking

powder and water, not lava. Check out our

website to make one of your own !

Let us know if you’ve done a good

deed for somebody else. Try

helping your sister with

her homework, or your

mum tidy the house.

PRIME MINISTER’S CAT

Prime Minister David Cameron

recently adopted a cat called Larry

after TV cameras filmed a big black

rat running past his front door.

Larry is a four year old tabby cat

and it is his job to catch mice and

rats at No.10.

GROW A TOMATO FOR RED NOSE DAY

Red Nose Day takes place on Friday

18th March and there are lots of fun

ways to raise money. You can get a

plant pot from Sainsbury’s contain-

ing tomato seeds, compost and plant

seeds and the rest is up to you. Forget

the boring plastic red nose - for £2 you

could grow a real tomato for charity.

NEWS

Have you been a star?

4

Grace, age 8, from London, has been ill this half term. All of us at Wonder Girl hope she gets better soon.

Won a prize? Had a haircut? Or bought a new goldfish? We’d love to hear your stories. Get in touch with with us at: www.jomec.cf.ac.uk/wondergirl

MUMMY CRISIS

Cairo’s Egyptian Museum

needed protecting from looters

during the recent protests.

A human chain protected the

museum but some artefacts

were still damaged: two royal

mummies lost their heads!

A WHALE OF A TIME IN WALES

Welsh Wonder Girls may soon be

able to get to know a different

kind of “whales” after two of the

giant creatures were seen off the

Pembrokeshire coast.

The mother and baby fin whales

were spotted from a ferry as they

blew water 10 metres into the air

over the Irish Sea.

Experts said whales are becoming

more common there. This could

be due to global warming – or just

because there are more fish for

them to eat now.HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Scarlet

from Croydon, who turns 8

on 29th March. Scarlet loves

reading, writing and drawing.

We hope you get lots

of books and pens for

birthday presents.

POWER TO THE PUPPIES

Every year the National Football League of

America holds an event called the Superbowl,

a championship game of American football.

Millions of people watch the Superbowl, but

American TVchannel Animal Planet has made

its own version of the game using puppies

that is quickly becoming a phenomenon.

The Puppy Bowl started in 2005, and is

shown on Animal Planet on the same day as

the Superbowl. Puppies play inside a model

stadium, and for all you feline fans out there,

there is also a Kitty half-time show.

5

Over To You

6

Ballet

If you, like Wonder Girl Sarah, want to be a dancer when you are older it is important to work hard in your classes and pass all your grades.

Practising in front of an audience is also important and there are opportunities to perform outside of your dance school at local festivals.

These are like small competitions between dance schools in each area and there are many different categories such as ballet, song and dance and tap.

Check out the medals below that you can win if you do well! Some Wonder Girls even go to ballet boarding schools where they get to dance all day (around their studies!).

Tring Park is a dance school where some girls start at the age of eight and others join when they are 16.They learn every kind of dance and also have lessons in drama and singing. When they leave the school at 18 lots of them get jobs in musicals, ballet, films and TV programmes.

How to make it as a dancer...

Ballet is a really fun hobby for any Wonder Girl. It isn’t just for girls who want to be ballerinas when they are older, even top footballers do ballet classes to improve their game! At ballet you can make friends and you get to perform on stage and dress up in lots of cool costumes. If you prefer trainers to tutus then there are funky street dance, tap and jazz classes you can do.

Arianna, 7 does ballet because she loves being able to portray different characters.

Ella, 8 goes to ballet because she enjoys performing on stage.

Gwen, 8 simply loves everything about ballet.

Sarah, 10 wants to be a dancer when she’s older and enjoys working towards her grades.

Morganna, 9 likes ballet but she prefers Street and Latin dancing.

Caitlin, 7 enjoys ballet because it is fun.

Niamh, 8 likes ballet because she makes lots of friends.

Eleri, 9 loves performing to her family and friends.

Why do Wonder Girls do Ballet?

2. Laser Quest

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

The great thing about this day out is that you can go anywhere you like. Whether you choose just one interesting place or lots of different places you are sure to create the perfect picture story board.

Wh

ere?

Taking your camera for a walk gives you an amazing opportunity to get out of the house and be creative. It’s so much fun to take great pictures and by making a story of your day out you can keep the memories forever.

Wh

y?

Depending on where you visit, your day out could be totally free.

Ho

w?

‘Take your camera for a walk’ gives you the chance to get outside and take pictures of interesting things.

You can snap absolutely anything that takes your fancy, from a dog walking its owner to a beautiful view. When you get home you can use your pictures to tell the story of your day out. Simply arrange them in an order you like and then glue them down to a large piece of paper.

Voila, your masterpiece is complete!

Wh

at?

Take your

camera for a

walk to earn

this Wonder Girl

Get Busy badge.

See page 28 for

more details.

1. Take your camera for a walk

In 23 different places across the UK. There is bound to be a laser quest centre near you.

Where?

It’s so much fun! You’ll be running round screaming your head off as the enemy chases you, or sneaking up in silence as you prepare to fire.

Why?

Prices start from about £5 for one game but special packages can be bought for parties.

How?

Laser Quest is basically a game of tag but with an exciting twist.

Points are awarded every time you shoot another player, with points being taken off every time you are shot. At the end of each game, scores are displayed on the score screen, with each player receiving an individual score card that has a breakdown of the score so you can find out how many times you shot your best friend or your annoying little brother!

Wh

at?

perfect for wonder girls!

5/5

Wondering what

to do with your

weekend?

We pit the best

days out against

each other to see

who comes out

top in Day out

vs. Day out!

fun with a big group of friends

4/5

Day

out

vs.

Day

out

7

Get Busy

Discover

8

Make a viking vessel

AD 787The first Viking raid on Saxon England. Viking ships land on the Dorset coast and those naughty old Vikings kill the Saxon King.

AD 793Vikings from Denmark attack Lindisfarne Priory in North East England and throw the monks into the sea. They return home for the winter.

The Vicious Vikings

AD 866 Vikings capture the city of York and rename it Jorvik. They capture King Edmund of East Anglia and guess what ...they kill him!

AD 871Alfred becomes Saxon King of Wessex. He defeats the Vikings at the bloodthirsty battle ofEddington.

AD 1002 The Vikings invade the South of England and King Ethelred of England flees.

AD 1100 The official end of theViking Age and the start of the Norman Age.

AD 1066 The Battle of Hastings.William the Conqueror (The Duke of Normandy) invades England.

The Viking terrible timeline:

9

Create

Viking longboats were some of the best-made ships in the ancient world. They were key to the success of the Viking invasions and helped them get wealthy through plundering. The vessels were well-balanced and could travel long distances - all the way to America in the case of Leif Erikson! Build your own Viking longboat out of everyday objects.What you will need:*An empty juice or milk carton*A brown paper bag*String or thread*A straw*12 barbecue skewers *Masking tape

Make a viking vessel

1) Place the carton down on a surface with the open side facing up. Using a ruler, mark halfway points at each corner and draw a straight line from the marked points all the way around the carton. Ask an adult to help you cut along the line which will create a nice even edge to your boat hull.

2) Now it’s time for the fun part: the ugly figure-head. We created a dragon head but you can make any scary creature you like. Simply draw out the shape you want on a piece of cardboard or on the discarded side of the juice carton. Colour it and make it as ugly as possible. Cut it out and tape it to the front of the hull.

6) Cover a straw with masking tape to make it look like wood. Carefully cut small slots in the top of the straw. Using a hole punch make evenly spaced holes around the edge of your boat. Tie a long piece of string to one of the corner holes and then run it through the slots at the top of the mast. Then tie it to the opposite corner hole. Continue this going from each opposite hole to the other.

7) The sail: Cut a 12.5cm x 12.5cm square out of your brown paper bag. Stick a piece of masking tape along each side using only half the width of the tape and then folding the other half over. Tape 12.5cm skewers to the top and bottom of the sail and then tie or tape the sail to the mast.

8) Making the oars: Cut out ten 12cm pieces from the skewers and fold some tape over on itself on the end of each oar. Cut it to a shape that looks like a paddle. Carefully measure and make 5 small holes on each side of your ship then insert your oars into the holes. 9) Time for the final touch:

Jazz up your ship by adding

coloured shields along the sides.

All done? You’ve earned your Wonder Girl craft badge. Cut it out from the top of the page and stick it in your badge book!

3) Tape your carton to cover up the print. Start at the bottom and work up and create enough layers to cover the design. The layers should overlap to look like wooden slats.

5) It’s time for the rudder. In the same way you created your figurehead, draw out a tail on cardboard and stick it to the back.

4) Finish up by carefully folding the top

row of tape over and into

the inside of the hull.

Discover

10

Terrific Tortoises

Cassidy the tortoise was found crawling down a main road in Wales last autumn, lost, hurt and alone. He was rushed to a local vet who saved his life, and is now fully recovered and living at the International Tortoise Association in Sully, Cardiff.

The charity rescues dozens of tortoises like Cassidy each year who have not been looked after properly. About 480 of the loveable creatures are currently recuperating at their centre.

Celia Claypole, a regular volunteer, has some shocking stories about how the tortoises were found. From boys playing football with them to burning on bonfires or simply being left alone to starve, it was clear they all needed a new home.

Celia loves her work nursing them back to health and said, “It’s very rewarding – some of the poor animals have been on the brink of death.”

“We’ve seen some catastrophic sights but try to give them a brand new life.”

The centre was set up 35 years ago and became a charity in 2006 with the aim of helping more neglected pets.

Celia wants to raise awareness about looking after the reptiles properly.

Volunteer Celia Claypole tells us all about working with rescued tortoises

In the past tortoises were common pets, but since few people knew how to care for them properly many were left out in back gardens and forgotten about. Nowadays, you need to have a special licence to own one.

The main problem is that breeders are bringing tortoises to the UK from overseas, which is illegal and very upsetting for the animals. Celia recommends getting one from a reputable British breeder so you can see its parents and know it has been treated right.

She is deeply worried about the future of the world’s tortoises. “They are the last of the dinosaurs: they deserve to be protected and preserved. Although they are not an endangered species yet, they might be heading the same way as the panda!” Celia says.

Tortoises certainly deserve to be celebrated. According to Celia, the best thing about them is their adorable babies. Watching the tiny creatures break out of their eggs is an exciting experience. The hatching season in the summer always brings a tear to everyone’s eyes.

Cheeky chappy Cassidy

has found himself a

girlfriend and is now

a proud father-to-be.

These brave creatures

are tough to beat!

The main difference

between tortoises

and turtles is that

turtles are built to live

in water. They have

webbed feet, flatter

backs and are not strict

vegetarians.

Cassidy at home in

the rescue centre

Delve into the world of these funny old reptiles

with Wonder Girl!

Discover

11

Tortoises1. Tortoises do not have teeth

2. Females and males look exactly alike3. All tortoises like to have access to water

4. Tortoises can be fed leftovers5. The number of wrinkly rings on tortoises’

shells show their ageAnswers are at the bottom of the page!

True or false?

+ Tortoises can live up to 150 years+ There are about 200 species of tortoise on record+ Giant tortoises live up to their name. Some weigh 300 kilograms+ Female tortoises lay between one and 30 eggs each year+ The oldest tortoise ever recorded was 188 years old

Did

yo

u k

no

w?

Gavin and Stacey star Ruth Jones lost her pet tortoise in 2008 when he was thrown out with the rubbish. The sneaky creature crawled into a recycling bag and it took five weeks for Ruth to be reunited with him.

Tortoise Tom was finally found on a conveyer belt by a worker at Cardiff’s recycling plant. The reptile had been living at the dump for a month before he landed on the conveyer belt, surviving metal spikes and a glass crusher before he was spotted. What a lucky escape!

Tortoise trouble

Lifespan: Tortoises are a

long term commitment –

most live to be around 100.

Will someone always be

able to look after them?Habitat: Tortoises are not

made for British weather,

so keeping them outside

during the day and indoors

at night is preferable.

Lighting: Hibernating

tortoises need heat

rays and specific air

temperatures to survive

Britain’s cold winters.

Diet: Tortoises need a

mixture of fresh fruit

and vegetables as well as

special formulated foods

which can get expensive.

Some tortoises are tiny! These Indian star tortoises are from India and Sri Lanka.

Think you want a pet tortoise?

Consider these facts carefully:

A giant tortoise

Dinner time!

Answers: 1. True; 2. False: females have short tails whilst males have long ones which are kept tucked to the side; 3. True; 4. False: lots of things including dog food, bananas and iceberg lettuce are dangerous to tortoises; 5. False: this is just a myth!

Not just a boys’ gameGet Busy

12

We know lots of you enjoy a good game of football, so why not prove to the boys that you can be just as good as them, if not better!

Wonder footballers

FreyaPosition: Right midfieldTeam: Frampton Cotterell Rangers FCFavourite team: LiverpoolFavourite player: Steven GerrardTrophies: Player of the season

Kelly SmithCareer honours -* UEFA Women’s Cup: 2006/07* FA Cup: 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08* Premier League Cup: 2005/06,2006/07, 2008/09* Community Shield: 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2008/09* Women’s Premier League: 1996/97, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08

Credit: Samuel Hiser/hiserfotograf.com

Anna

Position: Right back

Team: Bristol Ladies Union FC

Favourite team: Liverpool

Favourite player: Steven Gerrard

Trophies: Tournament silver plates,

achievement for Bristol Ladies Union FC

Wonder Girl Position: Striker

Team: Wonder FC

Favourite team: England

Favourite player: Kelly Smith

Trophies: Mow the cat’s

Wonder Cup 2011

Girls football is continuing to

grow. Over one million of you

play some kind of football across

the UK, making it the most

popular female team sport.

One of the most successful English players is Kelly Smith. She has played for Arsenal ladies and still plays for England and Boston Breakers in America.

Practice with your friends or on your own and see how many keep-ups you can do. Try to do it with both feet to really become a star!

Keep-ups

The Wonder Girl skill school

13

Get Busy

The history of women’s football

1895: The first women’s football match is played.

1969: The Women’s Football Association (WFA) is formed with 44 clubs.

1991: The WFA launches national league in England with 24 clubs.

2007: Arsenal ladies became the first British team to win the European Cup.

2010: Arsenal won the Premier League, Leeds Carnegie won the League Cup and Everton won the FA Women’s Cup.

In a small group find somebody to go in goal and another to pass you the ball. Take shots from lots of positions, really concentrating on hitting the target.

Shooting

Lay out 10 cones with two steps between each one. Dribble the ball around them, trying to use both feet and not touching the cones. The faster you can do it the better you will become.

Dribbling

Get a friend and stand two metres apart. Ask your friend to throw the ball to your head, chest, thigh and feet. With one or two touches, control the ball and return it to your friend’s hands. Do this 10 times and then swap over.

Control

The surface of the earth is like a jigsaw puzzle and volcanoes are found where the pieces fit together. Each jigsaw piece is known as a plate and when they meet you find a plate boundary. However, to complicate things, this is a moving jigsaw! When these enormous plates, the size of entire continents or vast oceans, crash into, move away from or grind against each other, volcanoes form. A staggering 75 per cent of the earth’s volcanoes are found at the edges of the Pacific Ocean where the Pacific Plate ferociously interacts with its neighbours. As a result, the large group of volcanoes surrounding the Pacific Ocean is known as the ‘Ring of fire’.

Where do you find volcanoes?

The Pacific ‘Ring of fire’

Discover

14

ExploreVolcanoes

Volcanoes are pressure valves that release energy from deep within the earth. Beautiful, awe-inspiring and deadly, they are spectacular reminders of the powerful forces of nature that impact the world!

What is a volcano?

Shield VolcanoPose little threat to humans due to their predictability. Liquid lava oozes out, cools, and forms a new part of the volcano. This means that shield volcanoes are relatively wide and flat.

Stratovolcano These are the most dangerous due to their explosivity. They are cone shaped, with steep sides and a crater at the top of the mountain.

Volcano types

To earn a Wonder Girl Discover badge, try building your own volcano online.

Visit www.jomec.cf.ac.uk/wonder-girl for a how-to video!

With Science Sam!

Discover

Bodies in the

ash at Pompeii

15

Discover

On August 24th, 79AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Italian city of Pompeii and burying it in ash. It was a long time before the city was ever seen again.

Nearly 2,000 years later, in 1748, the city was accidentally rediscovered! How often do you hear of people accidentally rediscovering an entire city?

1.

As it turns out, Pompeii had been buried under 60ft of ash and volcanic rock after the eruption. That is around 18 metres and equivalent to 6 storeys high.

When Pompeii was excavated, archaeologists found the eruption had covered bodies in volcanic ash that had set around them, like concrete. They had been buried beneath the ash for 19 centuries.

2.

The 20,000 people of Pompeii were completely unaware that the volcano was going to erupt. They had never seen a previous eruption, as the volcano had been silent for 1,500 years.

The earth began to shake beneath their feet for several days prior to the eruption, but at the time they had no idea that the vibrations would lead to a huge eruption!

3.

WHEN VOLCANOES ERUPT

A street in Pompeii

Turn over for your

free poster of a deadly,

vicious supervolcano!

Pompeii’s ruined theatre

Pompeii’s explosive story!

Picture the most powerful volcano imaginable…now double it and you’re probably still miles off the size of some of the world’s supervolcanoes. But where are these sleeping giants? We’re not talking normal volcanoes here. These things are enormous and they’re lurking beneath our very feet. Under Yellowstone National Park in North America, there’s a volcano the size of Tokyo, the largest city in the world with over 18 million people.

One of the most recent supervolcanoes to erupt was beneath Lake Toba on the island ofSumatra in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago. This caused the weather to change all over the planet and nearly led to the extinction of the human race!

Get Busy

WWhat to

18

It can be cold so a hat and gloves will help you beat the outdoor chill.

“The best thing to

plant is what you

like eating.” says

vegetable grower

Jenny Howell from

Cardiff’s very own

community allotment.

Awesome Allotments

An allotment is a plot of land

rented to a gardener for growing

plants and crops. Growing your

own food is a great hobby. Ask

them nicely and your parents

might even let you start planting

in your own back garden.

It’s really fun getting dirty and

stuck into the soil. Keep an eye

out for worms, snails, spiders,

birds, squirrels and if you are

really lucky, moles – but they are

very shy animals.

What is an allotment?

Good boots or wellies are perfect for a muddy allotment.

What to wear

Do you wonder where food comes from?

*A lot of the food in our supermarkets has

travelled thousands of miles to get to your plate,

from places like Guatemala, Holland, Israel,

Kenya, Argentina and many more! *Some products like bananas need a hotter

climate to grow, but Britain even imports apples,

which are easily grown here. *The pollution involved in this food’s transport

can add to global warming and problems for our

planet’s future. Looking out for British flags on

food, shopping at farmers markets or growing

your own is a great way to help.*Cardiff allotment volunteers have made their

own solar-panel oven which cooks food using

energy from the sun’s rays!

Food miles

You’ll get pretty grubby, so old clothes are the best garden gear.

19

Get Busy

If you’re stuck for space and don’t have a garden or allotment that you can visit, why not

try growing veggies out of a window box?Herbs like coriander, parsley and mint grow really well in window boxes, but you can also have a go at lettuce, chilli or spring onions. Ask an adult to take you to a garden centre and

see what seeds you can find. Don’t forget to pick up some compost while you’re there.

Window boxes

Tate, 7, loves visiting an allotment in Cardiff to build dens, grow vegetables and stamp on the huge compost heap.

Organic food is crops grown without synthetic fertilisers or pesticides or hormones.

Only during the 20th century was food produced with artificial pesticides, before that all food was grown organically.

Getting rid of these modern fertilisers improves the quality, taste and nutrition of food considerably, but organic vegetables are usually more expensive.

What is organic?

Awesome Allotments

Beetroot is a tasty vegetable

harvested in the autumn. It

stores well and is available in

shops at the moment too. Why

not try planting your own?

Cook up a stormChef Deri Reed cooks for his friends at the allotments using food that he has grown. Deri makes loads of yummy things like squash risotto.

Try out his special recipe for brownies over the page. Wonder Girl writer Caroline made them for the office and they were a really big hit.

Take advantage of being outside by building stuff. You can try bird houses and dens, to tree houses and rabbit hutches.

Create

20

In the kitchenIf you can’t eat

gluten have a

look in your local

supermarket for

alternative flour to

try in this recipe.

200g beetroot200g dark chocolate250g butter65g flour80g cocoa powder36g caster sugar50g walnutsFour eggs1 tsp baking powder

Shopping list

Cu

t m

e o

ut

!Beetroot brownies

1 2 3

4

56

Before you start, you need to put your beetroot into a pan of water with a lid and boil them for 30-60 mins until cooked. After that an adult can help you slip off their skins and grate the purple flesh.

Melt the chocolate over a pan over boiling water then add the butter.

Add the cocoa powder, sugar, flour and baking powder to the gooey chocolatey mixture.

Grease your brownie tin (you can use a normal deep baking tray if you don’t have one) and pour in the mixture. Pop them in your preheated oven for 25-35 minutes until they are springy on the outside and gooey on the inside.

Allow your Brownies to cool and cut them up. Now they’re ready to be gobbled up! Enjoy.

Beetroot is full of nutrients like iron, calcium and vitamins A and C. But with all of the butter and chocolate in this recipe, make sure you eat these brownies as a treat and as part of a balanced diet.

Beautiful beetroot!

Beat the eggs and stir into the mixture until it’s smooth.

Magic beetroot!Greek mythology

claimed that beetroot had mystical powers

and that it was worth its weight in silver!

5/5beetroots!

200g

Preheat the oven to 180c

360g

Over To You

21

Wonder Girl welcomes you to our brand spanking new...

Book club! This week get the scoop on Jacqueline Wilson’s latest book, Lily Alone

Name: Elsa Book: The Bed and Breakfast Star Profile: Comedian in the making Elsa keeps you chuckling from start to finish. Despite living in a dingy hotel room, her happy-go-lucky attitude is a real inspiration and her naughty antics are laugh-a-minute fun.

Name: Beauty Book: CookieProfile: Shy and plain Beauty is an unlikely star. You quickly warm to her and her struggle against school bullies and a violent father. When she moves away to start a new life with her mum, you will be rooting for her to have a happy ending.

Name: Tracy Beaker Books: The Tracy Beaker trilogy Profile: The most famous and feisty of all Jacqueline’s heroines, cheeky Tracy wins you over with her active imagination. Three books and a successful TV show later and Tracy is still our favourite girl.

Check out Jacqueline Wilson’s top heroines

Jacqueline Wilson has written another great book about the difficulties of family life and growing up. Lily’s mum is a disturbing character, and you cannot help but feel sorry for the poor heroine. The chaos of a big family is true to life, told with Jacqueline’s great sense of humour.

First person writing takes you right into Lily’s mind, making her story all the more believable and touching. Any reader with younger brothers or sisters will easily identify with Lily and imagine what they would do if they were put in her tricky situation.

The book loses points for originality: Jacqueline’s plots about irresponsible mothers are starting to sound a bit similar, but a great read all the same.

Reading level: Although it is aimed at 9+, confident readers of all ages will definitely be able to tackle it. Or you could try reading it with your own big sister. 3.5/5 stars!

Review

11-year-old Lily is left alone in charge of her three younger siblings when her unreliable mum goes off on holiday. When her step-dad does not show up to look after them, Lily has to do her best to keep the family together.

Will social services or school find out and separate her from the six-year-old twins and her three-year-old sister? Or will acting like the mum of the family become too difficult for Lily?

Synopsis

Kieze, Daisy & Carlota from The Elms school in Worcester are big Jacqueline Wilson fans:

"Exciting things happen to girls in her books. I really like them." - Kieze, 10

"She writes really well. I think she’s a better writer than Michael Morpurgo." - Daisy, 11

"Her books are very imaginative!" - Carlota, 8

Your opinions

Join the club!Have you seen our new online book club yet? You can talk to other wonder girls about your favourite books and the latest releases at www.jomec.cf.ac.uk/wondergirlYou may even be featured in the next issue of Wonder Girl!

Psst! Check out

your free

pull-out for more

book club fun.

Discover

22

WONDER WORLD

Safari is very popular with tourists as you get to see so many amazing animals in their natural habitat, with no fences! The “Big Five” safari animals are elephants, lions, rhinoceros, buffalo and leopards, they are called this because they are the most difficult and dangerous to hunt on foot.You usually tour in a small group in a jeep with no roof so you can stand up and enjoy the view – but whatever you do, don’t lean too far out of the vehicle!

With the striking Table Mountain as a backdrop, stunning beaches and a chilled atmosphere, it is no wonder that South Africa’s capital Cape Town is one of the most popular cities in the country.

Cape Town boasts buildings steeped in history, interesting museums, shopping malls, great food and the odd baboon! On top of this, there are excellent surfing beaches along the pristine coastline, and the spectacular Cape of Good Hope 70 kilometres south of Cape Town.

Capital: Cape Town

Language: 11 different languages

Population: 50 million

Area: 471, 443 square miles

(about five times the size of the UK!)

Currency: Rand

Safari Cape Town

SOUTH

“South Africa is full of surprises from the moment you arrive until you leave. It’s an awesome country with so many plants and animals including cheetahs, lions, whales and rhinos. The scenery is spectacular - mountains rolling down to the sea and beautiful sunsets. The people are fun and friendly too. You get a real feel for their culture when you’re there.”

Emily explores South Africa

Facts

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Discover

AFRI A

Name: Nelson Rohihlahla Mandela

Born: July 18, 1918

Who was he? Nelson Mandela was the most significant

black leader who stood up against racism in South

Africa, while many in the world were silent.

Be prepared to try ostrich and

mashonzha (worms!) along with

milk tart and fruit chutneys.

South Africa has 11 official languages. English is widely spoken as well as Afrikaans and IsiZulu.If you go to Africa here are some useful phrases!How are you? - “Hoe gaan dit met jou?” (Afrikaans) I’m fine, thanks - “Goed, dankie” (Afrikaans)Thank you - “Ngiyabonga” (IsiZulu)

South Africa’s coastlines are home to an abundance of marine life; there are 320 common sea fish that live just off the South African coastline. Humpback whales can be seen passing the coastline on their migration to Antarctica and bottlenose dolphins are found all year round off the coast of Cape Town.

The dolphins are not scared of humans and boats and often interact by somersaulting in the water. There are also five types of sea turtles in South African waters – they all have different diets and therefore don’t have to compete with each other for food.

SOUTH

AFRICA

South Africa’s landscape varies considerably from rolling desert dunes to jagged coastlines. Table Mountain, in Cape Town, is a flat top mountain two miles wide, with two large cliffs on each side: Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head.

Table Mountain is 1,086 metres above the sea and it is popular to hike up it and takes 1-3hours. On your way up you might meet a porcupine, a tortoise or a snake!

Landscape

Nelson Mandela

Sea life

Food

Language

sT;;

Puzzle mania!

24

AMERICA

BRAZIL

CANADA

CHINA

EGYPT

FRANCE

ITALY JAPAN

SPAIN

SOUTH AFRICA

SWEDEN

Can you find these countries?

There are seven

differences between these two pics of the caped crusader Super Mow! Can you

spot them?

Answers: 1. Mow’s ‘M’ sign is upside down. 2. The sun has no rays. 3. The lampshade is red. 3. Mow has an extra whisker. 5. The window frame is green. 6. Mow has an extra spot on his foot. 7. Mow is missing a spot on his tummy.

sT;;

25

Can you help Science Sam find the way back to his Wonder lab?

Can you fit the names of the animals below into this grid?

*Tortoise*Horse *Fish *Snake *Elephant*Cat *Mouse

Animal antics!

Puzzle mania!

true false?or

Goats can climb trees.

A: TRUE

To earn this Wonder Girl badge for your project book, do all the puzzles on this page.

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27

Competition!

Once you’ve finished your book, send it with a self-addressed and stamped envelope to:

Wonder Girl Head OfficeBute BuildingKing Edward VII AveCardiff CF10 3NB

Have you found your project book in the centre of this issue?

Everyone who sends their project book into us will receive an official Wonder Girl badge.

FREE BADGE

Every week there will be four Wonder Girl badges from the different sections of the magazine: Get Busy, Over To You, Discover and Create.

Try each of the activities linked to them, then cut out the badge and stick it in your project book, with a quick note or doodle explaining what you did to earn the badge. Send us your photos too!

Your chance to win!

At the back of the book

is a Book Club Log.

Here, you can fill in

what you think about

any books you read and

tell us more online at

www.jomec.cf.ac.uk/

wondergirl/bookclub

Your project book

P.S.

The project book with the best doodles and notes will get a very special prize: a chance to come to our office with a parent or guardian and guest edit an issue of Wonder Girl for a day!

WIN!

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f

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Wonder Girl

for girls who love adventure

A world of wonder for girls just like you

£33 for 26 issues, saving you over £20!

FREE poster book

FREE membership to our awesome Wonder Girl subscriber’s club

Four issues for £1 introductory offer

FREE monthly subscriber’s newsletter

Visit www.jomec.cf.ac.uk/wonder-girl

Or call our subscription hotline on 08000 123 456

Next time in

Wonder Girl...

Join in the fun today!

Adventure

RollercoastersAction

WIN!

FREE GIFTSThe adventures of Wonder Girl and Mow

Continued:

Science myths: busted!

Dear Newsagent,

Please reserve a copy of Wonder Girl issue two for me.

Thank you,

Name: _________________________

Address: _______________________

_______________________________

Reserve your copy today!

30

Why is Sarah a Wonder Girl? This 15-year-old already has the top grade in violin and a gig at the Proms coming up, as well as living an action-packed life!

Q: How did you get into playing the violin? A: There is a music centre quite near where I live in Surrey. It’s called Hindhead Music Centre, and when I was five I went there for an introduction day to music. From then on I was hooked and decided I wanted to play the violin!

Q: What do you enjoy the most about it?A: Playing the songs you’ve been practising for ages because you get a sense of achievement when you get them perfectly right.

Q: Do you play in any orchestras or clubs? A: I play both at school and in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. It’s very sociable and you meet loads of new people. I have many close friends from past and present orchestras I’ve been in.

Q: What level have you reached? We hear you are practically qualified to teach!A: I did my grade 8 in Year 8 and am now working on getting a good repertoire together. You can teach at any level, but you do need to be over 16.

Q: What are your hopes for the future? A: I’m not sure what I want to be yet. But I’m playing at the Proms with the National Youth Orchestra in the Summer which is exciting.

Q: What has been your proudest moment so far?A: Getting into the Nationals competition final and the National Youth Orchestra.

Q: What do you do in your spare time?A: Homework! But also hanging out with friends, shopping, going to the cinema, chatting…and reading and watching films.

Q: So what is your average weekend like?A: I have swimming from 7 to 9 am, and have to cram in homework, violin, music, seeing friends. I also play lacrosse and netball for school if there’s time. I’m currently doing swimming coaching as part of my Duke of Edinburgh award…and can’t wait to be paid when I’m 16!

Q: How would your friends describe you?A: Very busy! But I always try to make time to see my friends.

Sarah aged 10

Sarah now, playing the violin

Q: Do you have any advice for other readers interested in pursuing music?A: If you enjoy it, remember to keep at it. I know the practising can be boring but what you can achieve in the end is amazing.

Sarah’s top tip!

Over To You!

Name: Sarah Baldwin

From: Haslemere, Surrey

Studying: GCSEs at girls’ school,

Guildford High.

Nickname: Baldie or Sare

Describe yourself: Quite shy, kind, bit

silly sometimes

Favourite animal: Kittens

Favourite food: Chicken curry

Favourite book: The Diary of Anne Frank

Favourite subject: History or Art

Most exciting place ever visited:

Malaysia where my mum’s family lives

Indoors or outdoors: Outdoors

Wonder

GirlsReal

Fact file

Sarah