The Story Corner (issue 12)

The Story Corner A gift of stories and games for you to share and enjoy

INSIDE: lots of fun for ages 5-10 Stories, games and activities Enter our competition to win a prize bundle!

Issue 12

Changing lives through a love of books and reading

World Book Day® is a charity sponsored by

This Story is a Lie is not suitable for younger readers.

Fox & Son Tailers and Ag Buzzáil sa Ghairdín are exclusive to Ireland Gwyrdd ein Byd is exclusive to Wales

View the full line-up at worldbookday.com/books

SWAP YOUR £1 TOKEN AT A BOOKSHOP ChOOSe yOur £1 bOOk fOr FrEe

BLUEY TM and BLUEY character logos TM & © Ludo Studio Pty Ltd 2018. Licensed by BBC Studios. BBC logo TM & © BBC 1996 © P&Co. Ltd./SC 2024. Licensed on behalf of Studiocanal S.A.S by Copyrights Group. ©2025 Pokémon. ©1995–2025 Nintendo / Creatures Inc. / GAME FREAK inc. TM, ® , and character names are trademarks of Nintendo. ©2025 The LEGO Group

Valid from 13 February – 23 March 2025

£1 book token

CHILDREN, FAMILIES & EDUCATORS: This token is for single-use only and entitles children (under 18) to ONE FREE WORLD BOOK DAY 2025 BOOK or £1 off a book or audiobook costing £2.99 or more in participating booksellers only, subject to stock availability. Find your nearest participating bookseller at worldbookday. com/participating-retailers.

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Remember to use your token by 23rd March!

PROMOTER: World Book Day is co-ordinated by World Book Day Ltd, registered charity 1079257 (England and Wales), registered company 03783095 (UK). World Book Day and the associated logo are the registered trademarks of World Book Day Limited.

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Read for Fun this World Book Day®!

Reading is a never-ending adventure for you to enjoy! Reading can be funny or scary, stories or science, fairies or football – it’s up to you how, what and where you choose to read for fun. Sometimes it can feel like we need to do things a certain way, but there is no set or right way to read. This World Book Day explore what works best for you.

You could read a chapter book, picture book, comic book, listen to an audiobook in a secret den, in a treehouse or even on the loo! It could be reading with your family or friends or reading by yourself. It could be being read to or reading to others, even to a hamster! Reading is all about having fun and discovering the magic of stories, adventures, or facts in your own way.

You can choose one of the special World Book Day books for free with your £1/ €1.50 token. Dive into the pages to discover something new or different, or revisit characters you already love. You might encounter a Magic Balloon, the wonders of space, forest creatures, or even Paddington bear!

Choose the book you want to read the most– don’t worry about what other people think! You might like Tom Palmer’s book ‘The Soccer Diaries: Rocky Takes the Lead’ or Stephen and Anita Mangan’s book ‘The Fart that Broke World Book Day’, or a book about LEGO® or Pokémon, you’ve got the power to choose. You could even pick your favourite World Book Day books with your friends and swap it and discover even more fantastic reads together!

Choose your free book!

Just cut out and use the token to choose your World Book Day £1/€1.50 book for FREE from 13th February until 23rd of March. If none of the £1/€1.50 books take your fancy, then you can use your book token to get £1/€1.50 off a book or audiobook costing £2.99/€3.99 or more and choose the book you want the most! We can’t wait to see what you choose to read!

www.worldbookday.com

World Book Day® is a registered charity, company and trademark.

pring

all refreshed, s with brand new life; arts to linger.

mmer

ms with work; ggles up noses. up the sun.

tumn

g in puddles, ching through leaves: ’s reminders.

inter

k, chilly nights arm with hot cocoa; e is frozen.

Hello you! My name is Leigh Hodgkinson and I LOVE creating picture books for children (and adults!) to enjoy. I have always been passionate about drawing, writing stories and making things. I am autistic and also have ADHD so my brain is VERY busy. This can be overwhelming in a world that is very busy too. I think that creativity helps me make sense of my thoughts and feelings.. It helps me understand how I fit in - that I belong. (This is VERY important, as we need to feel safe and happy and loved. To be able to shine and be who we really are). Through my drawings and stories - I share ideas and find connection with other people all around the world.

See a map on the next page!

The Martha Maps books I have made are really special to me as they are about this extraordinary spinning planet that we live on… Earth! Each one of us is SO tiny compared to the Earth, the Solar System, the Universe… SPACE! This thought COULD make you feel unimportant and small… but you are not. There is NOBODY like you ON EARTH… and there will NEVER be another you on Earth… EVER! You are AMAZING! This is what my book “Martha Maps it Out” is all about.

The next book “Martha Maps it Out in Time” is about TIME. It takes us through the incredible journey that our Earth has been on and how lucky we are to be here, RIGHT NOW, to share it together. In these books there’s a little girl called Martha who loves drawing maps. And the stories are told through these maps.

I love maps! Maps aren’t just for boring things like motorways and roundabouts. Maps are just stories that you can see and they can take you in lots of different directions. Also, did you know that maps can be of things you can’t even see?! Like thoughts, ideas, feelings, your imagination and other stuff in your mind.

Have you ever drawn a map? If not you should DEFINITELY try it!

Bye for now!

Contents Martha Maps it Out

How the Earth Works

.............................................. p.2

................................................. p.13

Signs of Spring

A Very Important Tree

The Earth’s Essential Rainforests

............................................. p.4

................................................. p.14

The first signs of spring make a wonderful game; Nature’s treasure hunt begins.

See which you find while you’re out and about – The first one to spot them all wins!

In ponds and in ditches or slow-moving streams, Tadpoles are wriggling like jellies.

But if you go looking for newts and frogspawn, You mustn’t forget your wellies!

Bounding through meadows and curled up in fields, Woolly, white lambs can be found.

While you are watching them, why don’t you try to Copy their bleating sound?

Poem - Seasons Haikus

Planet Earth Puzzles

.................................................... p.7

.............................................. p.16

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You might see a songbird building her nest If in trees and hedges you peek.

Her wings on the breeze, she whistles a tune, Or holds insects and twigs in her beak.

While you walk, do be careful and watch where you tread, As new life grows under your feet.

Look for daffodils, primroses, beautiful bluebells And snowdrops, their fragrance so sweet.

A Year in Nature

My Wild Weather

............................................... p.8

.............................................. p.18

Grandpa Farouk’s Garden

Enter our Competition

.................................................. p.10

........................................... p.20

How many sights, smells and sounds did you find That show winter has turned to spring?

Look out for the clues that will help you discover The treasures that summer will bring!

Content curated and adapted by Bookmark Reading Charity for The Story Corner magazine.

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Special thanks to all our contributors | Front cover artwork © Sarah Harrison Illustration 2025 www.harrisonillustration.com

By Leigh Hodgkinson

Where would you like to visit?

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Why?

How many of these can you spot...

Land animals

Animals

with feathers

Sea animals

Can you find....

Arctic Ocean

beluga whale

poison dart frog

Rocky mountains Uluru

lynx cat

Martha Maps It Out © Leigh Hodgkinson, Oxford University Press 2022

Colour them in!

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A Very Important Tree Illustrated by Liam Longland Written by Elana Bregin Designed by Heni Andrag Edited by Carla Lever Published by Book Dash

This is a WORDLESS PICTURE BOOK Follow the pictures to help write your own story underneath

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Follow from left to right

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A Very Important Tree, originally published by Book Dash 2021 under a Creative Commons License BY 4.0. (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Find out more at bookdash.org. Editorial and design changes have been made by Bookmark Reading Charity for The Story Corner magazine.

This type of poetry is Haiku.

Each Haiku only has three lines.

Haiku poetry is traditional in Japan. The lines follow a pattern of syllables, 5-7-5

POEM

Seasons Haikus

Draw a line to match the seasons with the pictures

Try writing your own Haiku!

From

’s Poetry Collection. Read more with a 30-day free trial at twinkl.co.uk/originals

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A Year in Nature Explore the Countryside, Month by Month - by René Mettler

January

February

March

July

August

September

Can you draw a place that you know through the seasons?

Your home, the school playground or somewhere from your imagination…

SPRING

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SUMMER

A Year in Nature by René Mettler reproduced with the kind permission of Post Wave Children’s Books © Gallimard Jeunesse, France, 1997

April

May

June

October

November

December

AUTUMN

WINTER

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Read from left to right

Deep in the city, surrounded by houses and bricks and tar, you’ll find Grandpa Farouk’s garden.

Grandpa Farouk’s Garden Illustrated by Sam van Riet Written by Matthew Kalil Designed by Nina Lewis Edited by Ingrid Nye Published by Book Dash

“My garden is dying,” replied Grandpa.

When they finish, they feast on a harvest of fruit. One day, Grandpa didn’t eat his pear.

“What’s wrong?” asked Amir.

For a whole week, Amir looked and searched and collected.

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“Why?” asked Amir.

“Look closely,” said Grandpa.

“Some pests are eating the plants.”

He found one ladybird on the sports field.

Amir visits Grandpa once a week. He loves the leaves and flowers and trees.

“We need ladybirds!” said Grandpa.

“They are the bugs that eat the pests that kill the plants. Without ladybirds, the garden will die.”

Two more at the shop.

Three at the park.

Amir helps to water the plants.

He helps with the compost, and works with his Grandpa all day.

“I’ll bring you a bug or two,” said Amir.

And four behind the TV.

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Next week, Amir went to visit Grandpa Farouk, and showed him his jar of bugs.

How many ladybirds did Amir collect?

Can you draw them in the jar?

How many other garden creatures can you find in the story?

“You’ve done well, oh my boy, you’ve done well,” Grandpa said, with a tear in his eye.

Grandpa was very happy.

The ladybirds were very hungry!

The ladybirds ate the pests, and the garden blossomed.

From that day on, Grandpa Farouk’s garden did what gardens should do.

It grew and grew and grew.

12 Grandpa Farouk’s Garden, originally published by Book Dash 2018 under a Creative Commons License BY 4.0. (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Find out more at bookdash.org. Editorial and design changes have been made by Bookmark Reading Charity for The Story Corner magazine.

HOW THE EARTH WORKS: INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT EARTH

by Dr Lucía Pérez-Díaz

Earth is BIG! Compared to us tiny people, Earth is really big! If you could walk all the way to the centre of the planet, you’d need to walk for 8 hours a day… for over two whole years!

Earth is like a big cake! Earth has layers, kind of like a cake. The outer layer, called the crust, is quite thin. If Earth were the size of an apple, the crust (with all life as we know it on it) would be as thin as the apple’s skin!

Only 1% is drinkable! Most of Earth is covered by water, but only 1% of it is fresh and drinkable. The rest is salty or frozen in ice.

Earth’s core is HOT! The Earth’s centre, called the core, is as hot as the surface of the Sun - about 5000 degrees celsius.

No sandy feet. Did you know there isn’t a single grain of sand on the world’s biggest desert? It’s Antarctica! Instead of sand, it’s covered in snow and ice!

Earth has an invisible shield. It’s called a magnetic field, and it acts like a giant invisible shield, protecting us from harmful space radiation.

The Sun is HUGE. From here, the Sun might look small, but it’s actually so big that you could fit over a million Earths inside it! That’s one massive neighbour in space.

We’re zooming through space! Earth orbits the Sun really fast. In fact, in the time it takes you to read these facts, you’ve already traveled over 5,000 miles through space! Isn’t that cool?!

Tectonic plates are always on the move. Earth’s outer layer is broken up into pieces called tectonic plates. They’re always slowly moving—about as fast as your fingernails grow!

These moving plates are why the Earth has mountains, oceans, earthquakes, and even volcanoes! © Illustrations from Dr Lucía Pérez-Díaz, How the Earth Works, DK, £16.99. Out Now.

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written by Isabel Thomas, illustrated by Octavia Bromell, Crissie Rodda and Ana Seixas, published by Oxford University Press 2023

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Find the group of weather symbols that matches the one on the right.

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Help this explorer safely back to base during the polar night. Watch out for rocks, wolves and polar bears!

Extracts from Nature Puzzles & Planet Earth Puzzles by Vicky Barker and Ste Johnson from the Brain Booster series published by b small

Unscramble these words to reveal the names of each of the seven continents

Busy beehive word search! Find all of these words in the grid below.

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An extract from Planet Earth: My Life So Far: An Autobiography of Our World, written by Mike Barfield, illustrated by Jess Bradley, published by Buster Books 2024 (an imprint of Michael O’Mara Books) | www.mombooks.com

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Enter our Competition!

🍁 🍂 🍀 Design your own Plant 🍀 🍂 🍁

What grows on your plant?

What size is your plant?

What do the seeds look like?

What is special about your plant?

Name of Plant ............................................................

HOW TO ENTER

Your Name ................................... Age ..........

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Once you have finished, ask a grown-up to take a picture of your plant. Send it to: thestorycorner@bookmarkreading.org

GROWN-UPS terms/conditions, including closing date, available on our website:

bookmarkreading.org/the-story-corner

The Story Corner (issue 10) ‘Draw your own Graphic Novel character’ competition!

🌟WINNER!🌟

WINNER!

Nachoship

Going to: Pizza Planet Powered by: Hot Sauce On board: Nina Nacho

by Leyan, age 7

Sam the Sock

by Charlotte age 10

Drawing Competition Winners!

Issue 11 - Design your own Spaceship

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PR ssue I Z 12 ES !

BOOK BUNDLE + £20 voucher for winner, £5 voucher for 2 runners-up

Beeverse

2nd place Ava, AKA Element Girl

by Lorelai age 10

Going to: Neptune Powered by: bees and honeycomb (fire too!)

On board: Bees, aliens

by Nu’Aymah, age 10

Pocket Rocket

3rd place Ninja Fish

by Reuben age 8

Going to: Mars Powered by: Love On board: Mr Mini (human)

by Amelie, age 9

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Thank you!

The Story Corner A gift of stories and games for you to share and enjoy

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This magazine is designed to last. Please read me, share me, keep me.