COINS IN THE WATER
Object of the Game: To win the treasure by dropping a coin directly on top of it.
Q: What do they call a game of checkers in England? A: Draughts (pronounced “drafts”).
Setup: You’ll need bright nail polish, small coins, and a plastic bucket. Paint a dab of nail polish on both sides of a coin. Fill the bucket with water and drop the coin into the water. This is the “treasure.”
How to Play: To win the game, all you have to do is drop another coin into the bucket so that it lands directly on top of the treasure. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Think again, treasure hunter! This is much more difficult than you might imagine.
If you don’t win the treasure at first, don’t give up. Leave the game set up, coins and all, and when you have some pocket change to spare, try again. In fact, leave it set up for as long as it takes to win—days, weeks, months. Once you land on the treasure, all of the money in the bucket is yours! Jackpot!
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CALLING DR. BOOGER!
An Austrian doctor has given kids everywhere an official thumbs up—up their noses! In March 2004, lung specialist Dr. Friedrich Bischinger said that eating one’s own boogers provides a boost to the body’s immune system. “The nose is a filter in which a great deal of bacteria are collected, and when this mixture arrives in the intestines it works like a medicine.” He went on to say that society’s pressure against nose picking is actually harmful—and that children should be encouraged to pick and eat their boogers!
Q: What are Fabio, Elmo, Bingo, Chico, and Harpo? A: Dory’s names for Nemo in Finding Nemo.
JAMAICA BOBSLED
What has four blades, four men, no engine…and goes 90 miles per hour?
THE HOTTEST TEAM ON ICE
Jamaica is a tiny tropical island in the Caribbean Sea. It has plenty of sun, surf, and sand. One thing it doesn’t have is snow. But despite its balmy weather and complete lack of snow, Jamaica sent a four-man bobsled team to compete in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.
WHAT IS BOBSLEDDING?
The bobsled was invented in Switzerland in 1897. The Swiss took toboggans, which are long, flat-bottomed sleds, and put runners on them to make them travel at high speeds down the famous Cresta Run at St. Moritz. Within a year, bobsled racing had become the new extreme winter sport in Europe. It got its name because early racers thought they could gain even more speed by “bobbing” their bodies back and forth in unison. Even though riders discovered later that that wasn’t really true, the name stuck.
Nowadays, the sleds, or “bobs,” are made of fiber-glass and skate on four runners, which can be steered. The course is an ice track that looks like a giant waterslide. It’s 1,640 yards long with between 15 and 20 banked turns.
To get moving, the team pushes the bobsled with a running start. Then they quickly hop into it and tuck in their heads for the ride downhill. The push start is the most important part of the race. A great start can help a sled reach speeds of 90 mph.
Bobsledding became an official Olympic event in 1924, and over the years many countries have sent sled teams to compete in the Winter Games. But the most unusual—and attention-getting—by far was the first team from Jamaica.
THE BIG PUSH!
The guys on the Jamaican team were fast sprinters, which is important for a fast start in bobsledding. A few of them were even racing champions—pushcart racing champions.
Pushcarts are used throughout Jamaica as roving restaurants or shops. The four-wheeled carts are pushed onto street corners or to the side of the road and then opened for business. In 1975 a group of Jamaicans thought it would be fun to race their carts. With a driver steering and a runner pushing, the Push Cart Derby was born.
It was only a matter of time before someone recognized the similarity between the Jamaican Pushcart Derby and bobsled racing, and decided to form a team with push cart racers.
Zoo-laska: 12,000 years ago, elephants, lions, and camels lived in Alaska.
ISLAND TRAINING
There were a few big problems: no snow, no ice, and no bobsled. But hey! The team was cool, mon! They pushed their own wheeled version of a sled over dirt and sand, all around the island. They even took turns standing in a walk-in freezer to get used to cold weather—although nothing could really prepare them for Calgary, Canada, in the dead of winter.
COOL RUNNINGS
Using a real bobsled, on real ice for the first time in their lives, the Jamaican team entered the 1988 Olympic bobsled competition. They careened, they crashed, and they finished dead last.
But the Jamaicans inspired other tropical countries, such as Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands to join the bobsled competition. They’re the team that inspired the 1993 movie, Cool Runnings. And they won the hearts of everyone watching them race. Why? As team member Devon Harris explained, “When you think of Jamaica, you think of sun and surf. When you think of Jamaican bobsled, a smile comes across your face.”
It takes about 18 minutes to cool melted chocolate into a Hershey’s Kiss.
AMAZING KIDS
These amazing kids prove that all you need to change the world is a good idea and some follow through. Go for it!
BOOK IT
Amazing Kid: Brandon Keefe, age 8, West Hills, California
Big Idea: BookEnds, a nonprofit organization that donates children’s books to schools and youth organizations in the Los Angeles area.
How He Did It: In 1993 Brandon heard through his mother that Hollygrove, a home for abused kids, was building a library but had no money to buy books. Brandon came up with a solution. He figured that every kid at his elementary school had at least one book that they didn’t want, so he organized a book drive. Four months later, Brandon surprised his mom by donating 847 new and slightly used books to the children’s library at Hollygrove. Since then, BookEnds has donated more than half a million books to 120 children’s libraries.
IT’S IN THE BAG
Amazing Kid: Josh Marcus, age 10, Boca Raton, Florida
Big Idea: Sack It to You, a project that provides backpacks filled with school supplies to needy kids.
How He Did It: It all began in 1996 when Josh paid a visit to a daycare center for the children of migrant workers. When he asked how he could help, he was told the kids needed backpacks for school. He started collecting them from friends and neighbors. Then he contacted businesses like Office Depot for more help. Since then, Josh has helped thousands of children through his organization. Sack It to You has raised over $400,000 and given away more than 9,000 backpacks to disadvantaged kids in south Florida and around the country. Josh still hand delivers most of the Florida backpacks himself!
In 1974 Dave Kunst became the first person to walk around the world. It took him 4 years, 3 months, 16 days, and 21 pairs of shoes.
TOP HAT
Amazing Kid: Anthony Leanna, age 10, Suamico, Wisconsin
Big Idea: Heavenly Hats, a community service program that collects and distributes brand-new hats to cancer patients who have lost their hair.
How He Did It: In May 2001, Anthony got the idea when his grandmother lost her hair while undergoing chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. He made posters and placed hat collection boxes in downtown businesses. He also e-mailed and telephoned businesses around the world, asking for donations. As of January 2004, Anthony has sent more than 20,000 hats to more than 90 hospitals and clinics across the United States.
BELLEROPHON AND THE MAGIC HORSE
We told you about the Chimera in our first Bathroom Reader for Kids Only. Here’s the Greek myth of how it met its end.
Bellerophon was a brave young man who had only one fault—he was handsome. So handsome that Queen Anteia, the wife of King Proteus, fell in love with him. King Proteus was wild with jealousy and rage, but he hid it from one and all.
Calmly, the king asked Bellerophon to do him a great favor and deliver a letter to Queen Anteia’s father, King Iobates of Lycia.
Bellerophon
was happy to help the king. He delivered the letter without knowing that the message inside was a note from Proteus asking Iobates to murder Bellerophon.
But Iobates didn’t want the blood of this young man on his hands. Instead, he sent Bellerophon on a seemingly impossible mission, one that would surely end in the young man’s death. He ordered Bellerophon to kill the Chimera—a ferocious beast that had been terrorizing his kingdom.
The Chimera was three monsters in one! It had the fire-breathing head of a lion and the body of a goat. Its tail was a snake with venom so poisonous that it could kill with one bite.
Mount Everest is a foot higher today than it was 100 years ago.
Bellerophon was frightened and went to ask the wise man Polyidus for help. “Please wise sir, I am just a man. How can I fight such a dreadful creature?”
“You cannot do it alone,” Polyidus advised. “You will need the help of Pegasus, the flying horse. He is the only creature who can survive the Chimera’s fiery breath.”
But how could Bellerophon even approach this magnificent beast?
“Go to the temple,” the wiseman told him. “Pray to Athena. She will help you.”
Bellerophon did as he was told, and that night while he slept, Athena came to him in his dream. She placed a golden bridle in his hand and told him how to find the well where Pegasus drank.
The U. S. used the Navajo language as a secret code during World War II. No one cracked it.
When Bellerophon awoke, he hurried to find Pegasus. He found the wild horse grazing by the well, just as Athena had told him. The golden bridle was magical, so the instant Pegasus saw it, he became tame. He trotted over and touched Bellerophon’s shoulder with his nose.
Bellerophon placed the bridle on Pegasus and mounted his back. He clicked his tongue and they were airborne. “To the Chimera, Pegasus! And may the goddess Athena watch over us!”
The beautiful white horse flew them to the Chimera’s cave. Armed with a long spear, Bellerophon charged the Chimera.
The monster exhaled its horrible fire, but Pegasus danced away from the burning breath. Before the Chimera could breathe again, Pegasus flew close and Bellerophon drove his spear through the Chimera’s heart.
The triumphant duo, Bellerophon and Pegasus, flew back to King Iobates’ palace. When the people saw the young hero carrying the head of the Chimera, they were ecstatic. King Iobates, too, was pleased…and amazed. Bellerophon had achieved the impossible task and saved the kingdom.
Not only did Iobates spare Bellerophon’s life, he gave the handsome young man a handsome reward—the hand of his youngest daughter in marriage.
They lived together happily and when Iobates died, Bellerophon became king. That should have been enough to satisfy any man, but Bellerophon longed for greater adventures and decided to fly Pegasus to Mount Olympus and visit the gods.
Sounds fishy: 80% of all known freshwater fish species live in the Amazon River.
But Bellerophon’s arrogance displeased Zeus, king of the gods, for no one but the gods were permitted on Mount Olympus.
“Impudent mortal,” he thundered, and sent a tiny fly to punish him. The fly stung Pegasus. The horse reared, hurling Bellerophon off his back.
Athena spared Bellerophon—he landed on soft ground. But for the rest of his life, he walked the land, lonely and crippled, in search of his magnificent steed.
But alas, Pegasus never returned.
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VIDEO TREASURES
Next time you’re at a video store with no idea what to rent, here are a few recommendations.
SPLASH (1984) Comedy
“An uproarious comedy about a young man (Tom Hanks) who unwittingly falls in love with a mermaid (Daryl Hannah). Marvelous.” (Video Movie Guide)
THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984) Science Fiction
“A teenage video game whiz is abducted by the survivors of a distant planet who need his skills to outwit their enemies. Sharp and witty.” (Halliwell’s Video Guide)
The European medicinal leech has 32 brains.
TUT’S TREASURE
Uncle John has often wondered what exactly was in King Tut’s tomb—besides his mummy. Here’s the answer.
TUT’S TOMB
In 1922, after five long years of digging in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt’s famous graveyard of the pharaohs, British archaeologist Howard Carter and wealthy financier Lord Carnarvon finally found what they were searching for—the lost tomb of King Tutankhamen, or King Tut for short. The young pharaoh had become ruler of all Egypt when he was only 9 years old, and died when he was 18. He had been buried for more than 3,000 years when his tomb was discovered.
BEHIND DOOR NUMBER ONE
The tomb consisted of four rooms, each filled with amazing artifacts. The British explorers entered the antechamber, or outer room, first. There they found two life-size statues of King Tut dressed in gold, a golden throne, and many elaborately carved golden beds. A stack of chariot parts filled one corner, and the chamber was piled floor to ceiling with gilded dishes, painted statues, and furniture.
The entrance to another room, known as the annex, was found under a golden bed with carved hippopotamus heads. The annex was crammed with more than 2,000 everyday objects, including baskets of food, fans, finger rings, daggers, shields, shoes, eye makeup, and wine jars. There was even a box filled with 150 pairs of underwear!
On a roll: The first wheeled vehicles were invented around 3500 B.C.
GOLDEN BOY
At the center of the third room, the burial chamber, was a huge wooden box covered in gold. Inside was a carved stone coffin called a sarcophagus. And inside that were three nested coffins, each one more elaborately decorated than the other. The last coffin, which held King Tut’s mummified body, was made of solid gold and weighed 296 pounds!
The mummy was wearing sandals made of gold, 140 golden bracelets and rings, and a collar made from 171 gold pieces. His face and shoulders were covered in a beautifully crafted gold mask that weighs 22 pounds. The mask is priceless, but the gold used to make it would be worth $140,000 in today’s money. The gold from the coffin is valued at about $2 million. It was worth a lot in Tut’s day, too—all that gold would have bought 1,600 cows, 5,000 donkeys, or 50,000 goats!
Bottoms up! The Nile catfish swims upside down.
TREASURES GALORE
The fourth chamber of King Tut’s tomb was called the treasury because it contained even more riches than the other three rooms.
Towering above the treasures was a gold-covered shrine protected by statues of goddesses. Inside the shrine were King Tut’s vital organs—his heart, liver, and lungs—each individually wrapped in linen and placed in its own little coffin.
TUT’S LEGACY
Surprisingly, in his time, young King Tut wasn’t considered an important pharaoh and was forgotten soon after his death. That may be why his tomb wasn’t looted of its treasures as so many others were. Instead it lay unnoticed until Howard Carter found it. But now more than 2.5 million people visit King Tut’s treasures at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo each year, making him the best-known pharaoh in history.
Some mummies have tattoos.
WHAT’S YOUR SIGN?
Uncle John’s astrological sign is Taurus (maybe that’s why people say he’s bullheaded). What’s yours?
ARIES (March 21–April 20)
The Ram
Element: Fire
Statement: “I am.”
Gemstone: Diamond
Metal: Iron
Flower: Honeysuckle
Color: Red
Characteristics: Aries are natural leaders, energetic, and fun-loving. If you’re an Aries, your friends can count on you to rally everyone for an adventure. But you get bored easily and your temper comes and goes—in a flash! Above all, you are a pioneer; just give others a chance to catch up with you every now and then.
Born Under Aries: Rosie O’Donnell, Johann Sebastian Bach, Aretha Franklin, Reese Witherspoon, Norah Jones, Sheryl Swoopes, Peyto
n Manning, Elton John, Vincent van Gogh, Jackie Chan, Maya Angelou, Kate Hudson, Colin Powell, Thomas Jefferson, Pete Rose, David Letterman, Eddie Murphy, Leonardo da Vinci, Emmylou Harris
TAURUS (April 21–May 21)
The Bull
Element: Earth
Statement: “I have.”
Metal: Copper
Flower: Daisy
First person to name hurricanes after people: Australian weatherman Clement “Wet” Wragge.
Gemstone: Emerald
Color: Pastels
Characteristics: Though friends may think you’re stubborn, you’re just committed to doing things your own way. The Taurus mind works like a clock: methodically, carefully, and decisively. You’re patient, warmhearted, and loving. Practical and reliable, you can be counted on to get the job done—at your own pace, of course.
Born Under Taurus: Queen Elizabeth II, Andre Agassi, William Shakespeare, Kelly Clarkson, Barbra Streisand, Florence Nightingale, Jerry Seinfeld, Kirsten Dunst, George Clooney, Malcolm X, Tim McGraw, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Hawk, Harry Truman, George Lucas, Janet Jackson, Cher
GEMINI (May 22–June 21)
The Twins
Element: Air
Statement: “I think.”
Gemstone: Agate
Metal: Mercury
Flower: Lavender
Color: Yellow
Characteristics: Geminis are full of ideas and love to talk about them. You can settle arguments between friends and make them laugh at the same time. Your parents will never worry if you’re reading enough—you’re probably reading three or four books right now! Your mood can change on a whim, which may make you seem a little wishy-washy. But in reality, you just love to do everything at once.
Born Under Gemini: Wild Bill Hickock, Michael J. Fox, John F. Kennedy, Clint Eastwood, Paula Abdul, the Olsen twins, Allen Iverson, Marilyn Monroe, Alanis Morissette, Venus Williams, Johnny Depp, Judy Garland, Mike Myers, Courtney Cox, Nicole Kidman, Prince William
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