It’s your chance to win the galaxy’s most wacky activity book. Grab your pencils, Earthlings. Let our mission commence!
3, 2, 1…blast off! Are you ready to journey out of this world to discover what lies beyond? From space pirates and surfing aliens to galactic shark ships and mysterious planets, strap in, put on your alien mask and zoom through the stars for the ultimate cosmic activity adventure. We’ve got FIVE copies of The Cosmic Book of Space, Aliens and Beyond! to give away!
To win one of FIVE copies, just answer this question in the comments:
Astronaut Tim Peake travelled to the International Space Station in 2015 and spent 186 days orbiting the Earth and has shared some tales from this epic adventure with Whizz Pop Bang magazine in this brilliant blog post: Tim Peake spills the beans on life in space!
He’s also just published his first children’s book, along with bestselling author Steve Cole, based on space-age science and technology: Swarm Rising. We’ve got SIX COPIES to give away!
When Danny is kidnapped by Adi – who can run through brick walls and make cars drive on water – he realises that all humans are in danger. Adi is part of a super-advanced hive mind, the Swarm, which intends to protect the Earth from the environmental catastrophe caused by the human race.
Adi – Alien Digital Intelligence in the form of a girl – can bend the laws of physics and control digital data, but as a digital being she wants to know what it’s like to be human. Which is where Danny comes in.
But what exactly is the ‘help’ the secretive Swarm is offering? Can Danny and his friend Jamila help Adi stop the Swarm Agents and give humanity a second chance?
Tim Peake spent 186 days on the International Space Station between 15 December 2015 and 18 June 2016 and has shared some of his amazing experiences with Whizz Pop Bang magazine. He’s also just published his first children’s book, along with bestselling author Steve Cole, based on space-age science and technology: Swarm Rising. Find out how you could win a copy here!
European Space Agency astronaut, Tim Peake.
How did you feel when you were preparing to go into space?
“I had so many feelings! On the one hand, there was a huge amount of excitement and adrenaline. The trip was a culmination of years of work and effort, so I was really looking forward to it. I was a little bit apprehensive as well – obviously there’s a rocket launch to go through, and then all eyes are on you. The eyes of the agency, the eyes of your crew mates, the eyes of the nation watching! There are times when you just have to step up to the plate and perform.
Catching a visiting cargo vehicle is a one-person job: it is your responsibility to connect an entire space station to an entire cargo vehicle, and nobody else can help with that. These tasks are very, very high-pressure!
I felt that pressure – as sports people do when they have to perform – when I went out on the space walk. So I was definitely apprehensive, but the majority of my feelings were excitement and adrenaline. Being up there on the space station is such a privilege and everyone supports you to try and be the best that you can be.”
What’s it like looking at Earth from space?
“I just loved looking down at Kamchatka on the east coast of Russia, for example, and seeing a volcano smoking away. I’d think, ‘Nobody but me knows that volcano is erupting,’ because there literally are no humans within 2000 square miles of that location. It’s just wonderful that you can visualise the entire planet having been around it about 3000 times.
There’s nowhere on Earth that I don’t know now. Although clearly, I haven’t visited every country, I’ve got a different perspective of the planet.
It’s very serene in space. It’s a beautiful environment to be in; weightlessness, to be floating, to be looking down, just gracefully passing over the Earth without any noise, no vibration. It’s a beautiful, beautiful feeling.”
Did you look out for aliens!?
“Absolutely! The funny thing about looking out away from Earth is that in the daytime, you just see the blackness of space. It’s a very strange black – the blackest black you’ll ever see. Here on Earth we never really see black like this, because there’s always ambient light around.
In space – wow! You feel like you’re falling into the void when you look out at the blackness of space. And of course, there are no stars because the Sun is so bright that it blinds out the light of the other stars. You can only see this black abyss.
At night, when we are in the Earth’s shadow, all the stars come out. It’s beautiful to look the other direction: you can see 100 billion stars making up the Milky Way with no light pollution. The interesting thing is, you can’t see other satellites which you can see clearly from Earth – I look up at the night sky here, and I’m always seeing satellites going overhead. But in space, because we’re travelling so fast, it’s very, very hard to see another satellite that’s also travelling very fast with the naked eye. So we don’t see lights coming towards us in space.”
What’s bedtime like in space?
“Sleeping in weightlessness is lovely once you get used to it. It’s a bit tough to begin with, because your body doesn’t know to go to sleep. Here on Earth, every day of our lives we lie down at bedtime, rest our heads on pillows, and these actions are such strong triggers to make us fall asleep. When you don’t have those triggers, you float around all day, you float into your crew quarter, you zip up a sleeping bag, you can switch off the lights, you can put in some earplugs in but your body says, ‘What now?’ Once you get used to it and your body can fall asleep, wow, it’s a lovely sleep. There are no pressure points, no tossing and turning, no restlessness and you wake up completely relaxed.
We only need six hours’ sleep maximum on the space station because the quality of sleep is so good.
I used to like to strap my sleeping bag loosely using tie wraps, just enough to allow me to float around a little bit – not so much that I’d bang my head on the roof, but enough to enjoy that floating experience.”
How do you eat on the ISS?
“You get very unpopular with your crew mates if you open a packet of crisps or something like that!
Crumbs go everywhere, even in people’s eyes, all week long – so we try and avoid that.
I had bags of pistachio nuts, already shelled, but they were a treat that were sent up in care packages every now and again. You just had to be careful about how you eat that kind of thing. But yes, you don’t really want to have crumbs in the space station!”
For fans of Alex Rider, Young Bond and Cherub, this exciting action-adventure is the first children’s book from astronaut Tim Peake and bestselling author Steve Cole, and is based on space-age science and technology.
When Danny is kidnapped by Adi – who can run through brick walls and make cars drive on water – he realises that all humans are in danger. Adi is part of a super-advanced hive mind, the Swarm, which intends to protect the Earth from the environmental catastrophe caused by the human race.
Adi – Alien Digital Intelligence in the form of a girl – can bend the laws of physics and control digital data, but as a digital being she wants to know what it’s like to be human. Which is where Danny comes in.
But what exactly is the ‘help’ the secretive Swarm is offering? Can Danny and his friend Jamila help Adi stop the Swarm Agents and give humanity a second chance?
Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity: Words that Changed the World by Carl Wilkinson brings Einstein’s world-changing understanding of gravity, time, space and light to life for young readers.
Go on a journey through Einstein’s mind as this beautiful book breaks down his complex theories to make them accessible for young readers.
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!
Add a sprinkle of science to your child’s bookshelf this autumn with these three inspiring titles from Wren and Rook.
Launch yourself into the great unknown with Space Explorers by Libby Jackson. Marvel at 25 extraordinary true stories of humankind’s thrilling journey to the stars which have been brought to life by Léonard Dupon’s beautiful illustrations.
In An Engineer Like Me by Dr Shini Somara and illustrated by Nadja Sarell, Zara’s journey around the city sparks some serious curiosity: How do roller coasters do loop-the-loops? How do planes stay up? As she marvels about how they work, Zara learns about some of the brilliant engineers who have shaped the world around her. This inventive book is packed with engineering explanations and challenges get future scientists thinking.
A Climate in Chaosby Neal Laytontackles the huge issue of our warming planet by explaining what it is, what’s causing it and – most importantly – how we can all help to keep Planet Earth happy.
Want to win all three books for your family? We’ve got five bundles of three to give away to Whizz Pop Bang fans!
To be in with a chance of winning, simply answer this question in the comments:
Whizz Pop Bang is a top-quality, gender-neutral, advert-free science magazine for families everywhere. Each issue is packed with experiments, activities, amazing facts, puzzles, jokes, riddles and more. Find out more here!
It’s World Book Day on 5 March 2020 and this year, it’s all about Sharing a Million Stories! Joining in is simple: just sign up and pledge to share 10-minutes of storytelling (which includes reading aloud, audiobooks, comics or lots more) as many times as you can throughout World Book Month (27 February – 29 March 2020).
You could win £1,000 of stories to share with your nursery or school during each week of the campaign, simply by sharing stories! Find out more here.
Putting together a super-exciting science magazine for children (and with some of us being parents of some scientists-in-training ourselves) means that Team Whizz Pop Bang read rather a lot of science books. Looking for science gift ideas for children, science books for kids or Christmas present ideas for young scientists? You’ve come to the right place!
Here’s our list of our top curiosity-awakening, fact-packed, inspiring science reads…
Moth: An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas
“This is a story of light and dark… Against a lush backdrop of lichen-covered trees, the peppered moth lies hidden. Until the world begins to change. Along come people with their magnificent machines which stain the land with soot. In a beautiful landscape changed by humans, how will the little moth survive?”
Moth: An Evolution Story by Isabel Thomas
OK, so we’re a little bit biased, but Isabel Thomas (writer of many of Whizz Pop Bang’s features) is just brilliant at communicating complicated ideas to children. Moth is a beautifully-illustrated picture book that explains evolution through the story of the peppered moth. It has recently been shortlisted on the Children’s Science Picture Book Award and included on the New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2019 list!
The Professor Astro Cat series
Meet Professor Astro Cat: “the world’s smartest and bravest feline scientific explorer and he wants to recruit you! Together with Felicity (also a cat) and Astro Mouse, they are always ready to take you on mind bogglingly brilliant adventures into the incredible world of science.” With books covering Space, the Human Body, Physics and more, our Editor Tammy says “We love them!”
The Whizz Pop Bang Science Joke Book by Tara Pardo
Did you hear the joke about the germ? Never mind, I don’t want to spread it around!
How does the Moon cut his hair? E-clipse it!
What’s a scientist’s favourite dog? A lab!
The Whizz Pop Bang Science Joke Book by Tara Pardo
Packed with super-silly science giggles and fantastic facts, the Whizz Pop Bang Science Joke Book is not only a team favourite – Assistant Editor, Tara, wrote it! We can honestly say that every single one of our children love it, too.
Owling: Enter the World of the Mysterious Birds of the Night by Mark Wilson
“My daughter is a very big owl lover so she absolutely adores it,” says Editor-in-chief, Jenny. “It contains loads of information about an assortment of owls, as well as general owl info – pellets, behaviour, abilities and so on. It’s a shame that it’s based on the common owls in North America, rather than in the UK (no tawny owls), but that still includes barn owls and it also includes Emily’s favourite, snowy owls!”
On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne
This is another of Editor Tammy’s family’s favourite science stories. “A boy rides a bicycle down a dusty road. But in his mind, he envisions himself traveling at a speed beyond imagining, on a beam of light. This brilliant mind will one day offer up some of the most revolutionary ideas ever conceived. From a boy endlessly fascinated by the wonders around him, Albert Einstein ultimately grows into a man of genius recognized the world over for profoundly illuminating our understanding of the universe,” says Chronicle Books, publisher of this beautiful book.
Audrey the Amazing Inventor by Rachel Valentine
“Audrey was the most inquisitive girl you could hope to meet…”
Audrey the Amazing Inventor by Rachel Valentine
begins this tale of questions, fiddling and fixing, suitable for curious children aged 3+ “My daughter adores this book and often reaches for it at bedtime,” says Whizz Pop Bang’s Schools co-ordinator, Libby.
Women in Science by Rachel Ignotofsky
Celebrate some incredible women in STEM with this beautiful book. Rachel Ignotofsky’s gorgeous illustrations bring the stories of 50 inspirational women in science to life. It’s another one that our Editor, Tammy, recommends for people looking for great science books for kids.
The Infinite Lives of Maisie Day by Christopher Edge
Editor-in-Chief, Jenny, says that this is one of her daughter’s favourites: “It’s about a girl genius who is studying science and maths and whose world gets turned upside down when she wakes on her birthday to find herself in a weird and scary world. It’s full of intriguing and challenging scientific concepts, like infinity, relativity and entropy, and it gets you thinking about the possibility of parallel universes. Probably best for ages 9+”
You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey
“If you were a planet, you’d be a lot like the Earth. Rainforests on land and ale in the oceans are the Earth’s lungs,”
You Are Stardust by Elin Kelsey
This intriguing book draws connections between people and the natural world – and it’s another of Editor Tammy’s top science books.
Look Inside How Things Work by Rob Lloyd Jones
“This was very popular with my boys!” says our Customer Service Advisor, Hennie.
“Have you ever wondered how cars roar along roads, or planes soar into the sky? Discover how all sorts of amazing things work, from fire engines and submarines to dishwashers and vacuum cleaners, in this exciting introduction to engineering for young children, with over 70 flaps to lift.”
Explanatorium of Nature by DK
Editor Tammy’s son loves the Explanatorium books (which includes an edition about Science by Robert Winston) and the DK Knowledge Encyclopedias, but the Explanatorium of Nature is his favourite.
It’s DAY FOUR of WHIZZ POP BANG’s SEVEN DAYS OF PRIZES!
This month’s Whizz Pop Bang magazine is all about SCIENCE SUPERPOWERS, so we’ve arranged a competition that is all about a real-life superhero who wants to save the Earth: Greta Thunberg!
We’ve got six copies of We Are All Greta by Valentina Gianella to give away! This beautifully illustrated book will take you on a journey of hope, resilience and curiosity as we take a a look inside Greta’s life. From drinking water to fossil fuels, from hashtags to education, the book is packed with scientific facts and ideas of things we can all do to help protect our planet.
Just answer this question in the comments to be in with a chance of winning one of six copies!
How many trees are cut down every year?*
1. 15 2. Around 15 million 3. Up to 15 billion
*According to figures reported by WWF
This competition closes on 31st December 2019. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms
If you’ve read the SCIENCE HEROES feature in WHIZZ POP BANG: SCIENCE SUPERPOWERS, you’ll know all about Professor E. Paul Zehr. He’s a neuroscientist, author and martial artist who studies the adaptability of the human body at the University of Victoria, Canada.
We’ve got two of Paul’s books about the science behind superpowers to give away. PROJECT SUPERHERO is aimed at readers aged 8 – 12, while CHASING CAPTAIN AMERICA is for adults, so here’s a prize you can share with your parents, grandparents, Scout leader, next-door neighbour, or any other grown up superhero fans you know!
PROJECT SUPERHERO is the diary of Jessie, a 13 year old girl who is doing project on superheroes. Read advice from real-life heroes (including Olympian Clara Hughes, sailor Jessica Watson and Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue De Connick) as one ordinary girl investigates what it would take to be Batgirl.
CHASING CAPTAIN AMERICA: How advances in science, engineering, and biotechnology will produce a superhuman is a book for adults about whether we can create a real-life superhuman by changing human biology itself!
To be in with a chance of winning these two books, just answer this question in the comments:
How long can a naked mole rat survive without any oxygen?
18 seconds
18 minutes
18 hours
This competition closes at midnight on 31st December 2019. For full terms and conditions visit whizzpopbang.com/terms
When it comes to brains, there’s one brain in particular that we associate with brilliance… and that’s scientist Albert Einstein’s. To accompany the Brilliant Brains issue of Whizz Pop Bang, we’ve got five copies of this brand new book ‘Max Einstein The Genius Experiment’ to give away!
To enter simply answer this question in the comments box below:
Where are bits of Albert Einstein’s brain?
a) In a secret safe
b) In space
c) In a US museum
Hint: find the answer in the Brilliant Brains, issue 38 of Whizz Pop Bang science magazine for kids! Deadline to enter is 30/9/18
Notes from the publisher:
James Patterson has teamed up with the world’s most famous genius to entertain and inspire a generation of children – with the first and only kids’ book series officially approved by the Albert Einstein Archives.
Twelve-year-old orphan Max Einstein is not your typical genius. Max hacks the computer system at NYU in order to attend college courses (even though she hates tests), builds homemade inventions to help the homeless, and plays speed chess in the park. Her not-so-normal life is crazy but predictable until…
Max is recruited by a mysterious organisation! Their mission: solve some of the world’s toughest problems using science. She’s helped by a diverse group of young geniuses from around the globe as they invent new ways to power the farthest reaches of the planet. But that’s only if the sinister outfit known only as The Corporation doesn’t get to her first…
