NATGEOKIDS.

COM • AUGUST 2023

ECIAL IS
SP SU

E!
MORE THAN

50
Fu
n
Facts!

FACT #1

Leopard cats
have
webbed
WHAT?! feet!

CUTE CUB SHARKS!

 ADVERTISEMENT

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BOOK BREAK! This or
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charts

Checklist
Challenges

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or
False

Multiple
Choice
Questions
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... and a bo
about yourself

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»
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Pounce on these
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 THE VIEW
IS GREAT
Check out these FROM UP
HERE!
outrageous facts.
BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS

AN
ATLANTIC
PUFFIN
CAN HOLD
AS MANY AS
A DOZEN
SMALL FISH
IN ITS BILL
AT ONE
TIME. A GROUP OF
GIRAFFES
IS CALLED
A TOWER.

A HEXAGON-SHAPED HURRICANE

TAMAS NOVAK / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES (GIRAFFES); © DAVID ROBERTSON / ALAMY

HAS HOVERED OVER
SATURN’S NORTH POLE

(PUFFIN); NASA / JPL-CALTECH / SSI / HAMPTON UNIVERSITY (HURRICANE)

FOR AT LEAST
30 YEARS.

The first
MOST SHARKS WOULD SINK baseball caps
IN FRESH WATER. were made from straw.

In Japan, you could buy doughnuts

stuffed with ramen noodles. CHECK OUT
THE BOOK!

4 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

GUINNESS
WORLD
RECORDS BY KAY BOATNER
LET’S GET
READY TO
TUMBLE!

GIANT
No wave is too high for
this surfer. Maya Gabeira of
Brazil holds the record for
the largest wave surfed by
a woman. Gabeira caught
the 73-foot-6-inch wave

WAVE
at Praia do Norte, a beach
in Portugal famous for
its massive waves.(That’s
about the same height as
a seven-story building!)
Surf’s up—way up.

WASHING
MACHINE
TOSS
Maybe this guy just really hates
doing laundry. Johan Espenkrona
of Sweden set the record for the
farthest washing-machine throw
GABEIRA CATCHES after he tossed the nearly hundred-
A 68-FOOT WAVE
AT A BEACH IN pound appliance almost 15 feet.
PORTUGAL IN 2018. Espenkrona outflung Kelvin de
Ruiter, the record holder for the
fastest time to flip a car five times.
We’re hoping for a dryer toss next.

DOG RUNS BASES HOME

RUN, HERE
OK, so this player can’t hold a bat— I COME.
but he sure is speedy. Macho the Jack
Russell terrier is the record holder for
BALLOON
the fastest time for a dog to run all
four baseball bases. He flew around a
baseball diamond in just 21 seconds
at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles,
California. The pooch had help, though:
His owner added balloons to the bases
for the dog to follow. Macho gets our
vote for MVP: Most Valuable Pup!

OCTAVIO PASSOS / GETTY IMAGES (WAVE); GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS, LTD. (ESPENKRONA,
MACHO). INFORMATION PROVIDED BY © 2023 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED. AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 5
Moment of

Aw! These pics will give

you warm fuzzies. BY ALLYSON SHAW

Hey there, brown bear. Both Native to Australia, a baby quokka

Fan
adult bears and cubs, like
this one in Finland, often
lives in its mother’s pouch for its first
six months. Once out, the joey spends
Quick
Cub stand on their hind legs another few months keeping close to Cuddle
to get a better view. Mom for protection, milk, and snuggles.
(Sometimes of you!)

Big Say … spiders! The cute “grin” on a web-footed

gecko is just extra space to gulp up grasshoppers,
Smile crickets, and savory spiders in southern Africa.

For these African fliers, love really is in the air.

Rosy-faced lovebirds form partnerships that
Love
can last throughout their 15 to 25 years of life. Peck

SEE MORE ANIMAL PHOTOS!

natgeokids.com/moment-of

6 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

WOUTER PATTYN / BUITEN BEELD / MINDEN PICTURES (BROWN BEAR); JEAN-PAUL FERRERO / AUSCAPE / MINDEN PICTURES (QUOKKAS);
VINCENT GRAFHORST / MINDEN PICTURES (WEB-FOOTED GECKO); WARD POPPE / SHUTTERSTOCK (ROSY-FACED LOVEBIRDS)
 terrific facts
about tails BY PAIGE TOWLER
1
A spider 2
monkey can use When
its tail as a fifth chasing prey, a
“arm” to cheetah swings
hang from its tail to one side
branches. to balance
while turning
quickly.

3
One type of
snake has a
tail that looks
like a spider to
4 lure prey
Zebras like birds.
can aim the
tips of their
tails to swat
flies.

5 7
To attract
A giraffe’s
mates, the
superb lyrebird
6 tail can grow up
fans its tail over its head Lions sometimes to 8 feet—
like an umbrella, display friendliness as long as a
then dances by draping their tails surfboard!
and chirps. over each other.
IGNACIO YUFERA / BIOSPHOTO / MINDEN PICTURES AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 7
 BY SARAH WASSNER FLYNN AND
BRITTANY MOYA DEL PINO

1 OPEN WIDE!
Although it could
swallow you whole
with its five-foot-wide
mouth, the whale
shark would never do
that. These gentle
giants grow as big as
a school bus but feed
on plankton and tiny
fish—about three to
six pounds an hour.

MEGAFISH
CHECK OUT SOME OF THE MOST SIZABLE SWIMMERS
LURKING IN OUR OCEANS, RIVERS, AND LAKES.

Paddlefish lived
more than 300
million years ago,
before dinosaurs
roamed the
Earth.

2 ABOUT THAT SNOUT

The Mississippi River watershed is home to seven-foot-long paddlefish, sometimes called
spoonies. Their long snouts—up to a third of their total body length—have organs that
sense electrical fields. That helps the paddlefish find food and map their migration.

8 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

REINHARD DIRSCHERL / ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES (1); MARK CONLIN / ALAMY (2); SERGIO HANQUET / BIOSPHOTO / MINDEN PICTURES (3); ROLAND SEITRE /
NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (4); LEONID SEREBRENNIKOV / ALAMY (5); ANDREY NEKRASOV / ALAMY (6); © ZEB HOGAN (7); © DANIEL BADIA / CATERS NEWS AGENCY (8)
 CHECK
OUT
THE
BOOK!

3 4
SOAK UP THE SUNFISH RIVER
GIANTS
Found worldwide in
temperate and tropical As one of Earth’s biggest
oceans, mola can grow freshwater fish, the
up to 14 feet tall, 10 feet Mekong giant catfish tops
long, and nearly 5,000 out at more than 10 feet
pounds. That’s as heavy long and 650 pounds. Once
as a minivan! Because
5
plentiful, these swimmers
they bask near the are now facing extinction
ocean’s surface, these because of dams and over-
round, bony beasts are
also known as sunfish.
fishing in the Southeast READY FOR
Asian river where they live. BATTLE
The beluga sturgeon,
a saltwater-dwelling
fish, lives for more

6
than 100 years and
protects itself with
thick armored plates.
TREACHEROUS TAIL Adults can grow to
be as long and as
In the sandy, coastal waters of the Indian and Pacific heavy as a 25-foot
oceans, stingrays up to 10 feet long hunt for fish and camper trailer.
invertebrates. They usually leave humans alone, but
watch out! A cowtail stingray can bend its long tail up
over its back and cause serious damage with its knife-
like venomous spine. 8 BIG BITE
A BOY POSES WITH

7 CARP CARE A SMALLER TAGGED

SIAMESE CARP THAT’S
ABOUT TO BE RELEASED.

Great white sharks, the biggest predatory fish on

In Southeast Asia, the nearly 10-foot-long giant Siamese
carp was once part of the local menu. But their numbers
have dropped so quickly that they’re now protected by
local governments. That includes the country of
Cambodia, where this carp is the national fish.
Earth, can grow to around 20 feet long. But what
makes these humongous hunters so successful isn’t
their size—it’s their deadly bite, which scientists
estimate can crush with about two tons of force.
FOR MORE SHARK STATS, CHECK OUT
SHARKFEST ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.
natgeokids.com/august

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 9

AMAZING
ANIMALS
I’M
POOPED. BRICKS MADE FROM POOP

THESE AFRICAN
WILD DONKEYS
“WORK” BY
EATING AND
POOPING! ZOOKEEPERS
SCOOP THE
VALUABLE
DROPPINGS.

Poo Powers Zoo

Colden Common, England
The donkeys, zebras, and giraffes at Marwell
Zoo are creating renewable energy—by
pooping! In the past, zookeepers sent off
the animal waste to be composted. “But
then we thought: We might as well use
it!” says Duncan East, the zoo’s head of
sustainability.
Buildings are sometimes heated by
burning oil. But oil is a limited resource
that releases climate-warming carbon
dioxide into the atmosphere. So when this
zoo built a new structure to house tropical
plants and animals, they decided to heat it
with animal poop instead.
Keepers first mix poo from grass-eating
animals with leftover bedding material like
straw and wood. Then they dry and press
the combo into bricks.
They burn the bricks to heat water that
warms a building where sloths, crocodiles,
and lizards live.(The bricks do release car-
bon dioxide when burned, but growing new
plants to feed the animals absorbs carbon,
reducing the environmental impact.)
Zookeeper Zoe Newnham says, “It’s a
good thing the heating doesn’t smell like
the poo!” —Cheryl Maguire

10 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

 WHERE’S
MY
BLANKIE?

A CHEETAH
NAMED
ELTON SITS
UNDER
A SHADE
WHILE HE
WAITS TO
TRAVEL TO
INDIA.

COMEBACK CRITTER:
Cheetahs
Kuno National Park, India
On an 11-hour airplane flight
from the African country of

Dreaming
Namibia, eight young cheetahs
SLEEPING
SPIDER relax in their crates, sometimes
making high-pitched chirps. “It’s
like they’re saying, ‘Hi, where are

Spiders
you?’ to each other,” cheetah expert
Laurie Marker says. She’s helping
relocate these animals to Kuno
National Park in India, a country
where wild cheetahs haven’t been
Trier, Germany seen in 70 years.
Spiders don’t have eyelids, so they can’t close their eyes. But a new study reveals Cheetahs roamed throughout
that arachnids do enter a sleeplike state that might even include dreams. this country for thousands of years.
Behavioral ecologist Daniela Rößler (pronounced RUS-lur) studied fingernail- But when the British began ruling
size jumping spiders while they dangled from a strand of silk at night. Most of the India in 1858, they hunted cheetahs
time, the snoozing spiders stayed still with their legs curled in. But about every for sport until the species was de-
20 minutes, for nearly 80 seconds, their eyes moved around quickly and their clared extinct in the country nearly
bodies made jerky movements. That’s similar to how humans (and some pets!) a hundred years later.
move when they’re dreaming in deep sleep. “The way they twitched just made me Conservationists hope that these
think of dogs and cats dreaming,” Rößler says. eight cheetahs—plus more in the
Before the study, this type of sleep had been observed only in octopuses and future—will breed and create a
animals with backbones, like reptiles, birds, fish, and mammals (including humans). stable population in India. They also
And like people’s shut-eye stories, not all spider dreams are pleasant. expect that the cheetahs will bring
“They’ll be peacefully dangling, legs curled in neatly,” she says, when suddenly, tourist dollars to the park, which
“all the legs get extended at the same time, like aah!” We wonder what kind of will help support the program.
nightmares a spider might have! —Elizabeth Anne Brown Even better:
The work might
also boost the
endangered cats’
SPIDERS numbers overall,
Trier, which might help
Germany keep them from
going extinct.
(Right now, only
about 7,000 ELTON EXPLORES
ZOO ANIMALS cheetahs remain AN ENCLOSURE
Colden Common, in the wild.) We say: Three IN INDIA BEFORE
HE’S RELEASED.
England cheers for cheetahs!
—Cheryl Maguire

CHEETAHS
Kuno National
Check out more stories, tips, and
crafts to help the planet! SAVE
EART
THE

Park, India natgeokids.com/SaveTheEarth

H
“DREAMING SPIDERS” TEXT ADAPTED FROM AN AUGUST 2022 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ONLINE ARTICLE. JASON BROWN / MARWELL ZOO (DONKEYS); PAUL COLLINS / MARWELL ZOO
(BRICKS AND ZOOKEEPERS); ANDY SANDS / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (SPIDER); DANIELA C. RÖSSLER (SLEEPING SPIDER); BARTHÉLÉMY BALLI / CHEETAH CONSERVATION FUND (ELTON, BOTH) NAT GEO KIDS 11
 ES O F
PAGKY, WILD,
WAC
CRA Z Y-C OO L

The brains of some small spiders

spill over into their legs.
A CAT
IN RUSSIA IRUS MAKES
E V
ON
BARKED
SO
O KNOTS

ME SNAK
T
LIKE A DOG. N .
ELV I
ES

ES
TWIS MS
T THE
LEATHERBACK
SEA TURTLES
CAN SWIM IN A OLD TERMITES WILL
STRAIGHT LINE EXPLODE TO PROTECT THEIR
NESTS.
FOR THOUSANDS
OF miles.
12 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023
 AN
RATS can ELEPHANT
LEARNED TO
IMITATE THE WORDS
"HELLO"
AND
their "SIT DOWN"
EYES out of their
IN KOREAN.

CHINESE
SOFT-SHELLED
SOCKETS.
VAMPIRE URINATE THROUGH THEIR MOUTHS.
SQUID
EMIT FLASHES OF
LIGHT TO CONFUSE
PREDATORS.

GET MORE WEIRD BUT TRUE FACTS!

natgeokids.com/wbt

MARTIN GARNHAM / DREAMSTIME (CAT); JUERGEN FREUND / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (LEATHERBACK SEA
TURTLE); DON JOHNSTON / GETTY IMAGES (SPIDER); GEORGETTE DOUWMA / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY

13
(TERMITES); VITER8 / DREAMSTIME (RAT); STEVE DOWNER / ARDEA (VAMPIRE SQUID); DONGSHAN
CHEN / ALAMY (ELEPHANT); KAMPEE PATISENA / DREAMSTIME (CHINESE SOFT-SHELLED TURTLE) AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS
 Taste
Buds

Your brain
can identify

er in .0015 second,
fast than th
eb
link of an eye.
14 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023 JGI / JAMIE GRILL / GETTY IMAGES
TASTY SECRETS REVEALED!
The little bumps all over your tongue are covered
with taste buds—special cells that sense flavor. And
they’re not just on your tongue: They cover the roof
of your mouth and the back of your throat. Some are
even inside your nose!
These taste buds can sense five basic tastes:
sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and savory. The flavor of food
comes from a combination of these tastes, plus the
aromas that you smell while you’re eating.(That’s why
food tastes less flavorful when you have a stuffy nose.)
Your taste buds are what make food yummy. But
they also act as a warning system for your body. If your
taste buds sense a gross or toxic flavor, they can let
your brain know in just .0015 second. That way, you can
spit out the bad food and stay safe. Thanks, taste buds!

CHECK
OUT
THE
BOOK!

NAT GEO KIDS 15

 A BODY OF WATER LIES DEEP
BELOW EARTH’S SURFACE—
IT’S 3 TIMES LARGER THAN
ALL OF EARTH’S OCEANS
Awesome PUT TOGETHER.
Underground

THE NEAR
BELIZE IS AN
CAVE

UNDERWATER
GREAT SINKHOLE
LOOK LIKE A STARRY SKY.

BLUE
IN A NEW ZEALAND
GLOWWORMS

feet

HOLE DEEP.
THOUSANDS OF

A CALIFORNIA
YOU CAN RIDE COUPLE ONCE FOUND
A FERRIS
WHEEL
UNDERGROUND
$10,000
IN ROMANIA. WORTH OF GOLD IN
THEIR BACKYARD.
16 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023
 SAMPLES.

LIVE IN UNDERGROUND
DUGOUTS IN COOBER PEDY, AUSTRALIA.
A MOUNTAIN VAULT IN NORWAY STORES
SEED A CHAPEL
WAS BUILT
443 feet

SOME 3,500 PEOPLE

1.1 MILLION
DEEP
IN A

POLISH
SALT MINE.

AFTER A FIRE IN 1889, STREETS IN

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, WERE
BUILT UP TO 30 FEET HIGHER.
TODAY YOU CAN TOUR PART OF
THE OLD CITY UNDERGROUND.

OVER 2,000
YEARS AGO,
PEOPLE IN CAPPADOCIA, TURKEY,
LIVED INSIDE TOWERS OF ROCK.
© SOLVIN ZANKL / VISUALS UNLIMITED / CORBIS AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 17
 THE HIMBA PEOPLE IN NAMIBIA, AFRICA,
DO NOT HAVE
A WORD
FOR THE
Cool COLOR
Colors
THE sky ON
Venus IS
orange-red.
WATERMELONS
CAN BE YELLOW
INSIDE. “NATIONAL SCHOOL BUS
GLOSSY YELLOW”
SOME PEOPLE SEE ONLY IN IS THE ACTUAL NAME OF
THE PAINT COLOR USED ON

BLACK, SCHOOL BUSES IN THE

UNITED STATES AND CANADA.

WHITE ,
18
GRAY.
AND
NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023
AMAZON
RIVER
DOLPHINS
Chicken
ARE
SOMETIMES
eggshave
can
PINK.
red yolks.
NO
COUNTRY
HAS A FLAG
THAT'S MOSTLY PINK.

MOOD
RINGS
CHANGE COLOR
because of TEMPERATURE,
not

MOOD.
WATCH WEIRD BUT TRUE VIDEOS!
natgeokids.com/wbt

ANTHONY-MASTERSON / GETTY IMAGES (WATERMELON); ANGELIKA WARMUTH / AFP / GETTY IMAGES

(VENUS); KRISCHAM / DREAMSTIME (SCHOOL BUS); MARK CARWARDINE / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (AMAZON
RIVER DOLPHIN); BURAZIN / GETTY IMAGES (CHICKEN); SHANNON WEST / SHUTTERSTOCK (MOOD RING) AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 19
Strange
Nature
 This 2,000-foot-tall
waterfall appears to be

ON
FIRE
for two weeks
every year.

FIRE SECRETS REVEALED!

A waterfall made of flames? This amazing optical
illusion is one of the most popular attractions
in California’s Yosemite National Park. For 11
and a half months, a small waterfall called
Horsetail Fall goes mostly unnoticed. It flows
down the side of the rock formation known as El
Capitan. But in the last two weeks of February,
if the sky is clear and the water is flowing, the
setting sun lights up this spot. The waterfall
glows bright orange as if it’s on fire! The amazing
sight known as a “firefall” attracts visitors and
photographers from all around the world.

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS

21
FRACTAL7 / SHUTTERSTOCK
 THE WORLD’S SHORTEST
ALPHABET
r
HAS
Word 12 LETTERS;
Powe THE WORLD’S LONGEST
HAS 74 LETTERS.
WORLDWIDE.
LANGUAGES

N|uu, A SOUTHERN AFRICAN LANGUAGE, USES

SPOKEN

CLICKING
ARE

SOUNDS
FOR ITS
AROUND

CONSONANTS.
SINCE LANGUAGES
HAVE BECOME
THE EXTINCT IN THE
1500s, UNITED STATES.
22 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023
ABOUT 15
PERCENT
OF THE WORLD’S
POPULATION A CHINESE
SPEAKS LANGUAGE.

2,300
AT LEAST OF THE WORLD’S
LANGUAGES
ARE
SPOKEN

12 LANGUAGES
IN

USE THE WORD

TO EXPRESS CONFUSION.

THE WORD “SET” HAS

ENGLISH
IS AN OFFICIAL
DEFINITIONS LANGUAGE OF MORE THAN
IN THE
OXFORD
ENGLISH
50 COUNTRIES.
PLAY A WEIRD BUT TRUE PUZZLE GAME!
DICTIONARY. natgeokids.com/august

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 23

 Minke Whale
Minke whales are common in the waters around Antarctica, but that
doesn’t mean they’re easy to track. These small whales speed through
the water so quickly that scientists have a hard time studying them.
Minkes are half the length of humpback whales and weigh under 10 tons.
(Humpbacks weigh 40 tons.) These whales mostly travel alone or in small
groups, but you’ll definitely hear them coming—their vocalizations can
be up to 152 decibels. That’s as loud as a jet plane taking off!

Amazing
Ocean

SCALES

Scale Worm
Wave hello to the Antarctic scale worm! This marine worm is
named after the protective scales covering its back. And those
golden bristles on the sides of its body? Scientists think they help
the worm move along the ocean floor and swim. This eight-inch-
long worm also has a jaw full of spiky teeth. That means it could be
a predator or scavenger.

SOLVIN ZANKL / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (SCALE WORM); STEFAN CHRISTMANN / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (MINKE

24 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

WHALE); NOAA (GLASS SPONGE); MARTIN ZWICK / ROBERT HARDING (ELEPHANT SEAL); SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY /
EYE OF SCIENCE (TARDIGRADE); BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY (COMB JELLY)
 Glass Sponge
Found deep down on the seafloor,
the glass sponge is a living creature
with a skeleton made out of silica—
the sand used to make glass.
Although they’re fragile, these
sponges have a needlelike
sharpness. So watch out!

Elephant Seal
Elephant seals can grow up to 20 feet
long and weigh 4.4 tons—that’s as
heavy as an Asian elephant! And it’s not
just their size that makes them elephant-
like. These animals are named for the
male elephant seal’s nose, which looks
a bit like a trunk. They use these big
snouts to make loud and threatening
noises that ward off other males.

Tardigrade
These microscopic animals are tiny but tough. They can
thrive in the most extreme environments, both below-
zero temperatures and boiling water. Plus, they can
live for 30 years without food! Most often found living
in water on lichens and mosses, they’re sometimes
called “water bears” and “moss piglets.”

Comb Jelly
These jellyfish-like creatures are named for the
rows of comb-shaped structures that pulse to
help them move through the water. The struc-
tures, called cilia, run up and down the comb jelly’s
body. The cilia are too small to see here, but
check out those rainbows of color: That’s where
light is traveling through the tiny combs. Talk
about a light show!

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 25

 Sixty
tons of
Star
Stuff

fa
ll
s
to
Earth
each day.
THE MILKY WAY
APPEARS OVER
THE HIMALAYAN
MOUNTAINS IN
NEPAL.

26 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

 SPACE SECRETS REVEALED!
Got a dusty bookshelf? Consider this: That dusty
stuff is made up of teeny pieces of dirt, leaves,
dead skin cells (ew), and even material from space.
This space dust is made of very small pieces of
meteors, debris from ancient comet collisions, and
leftovers from the formation of the planets. The
star stuff floats through the universe, and some
of it ends up in our atmosphere before falling to
Earth’s surface.
Scientists have known about cosmic dust for
a long time, but until 2014, they didn’t know how
much of it might be reaching us. By measuring the
ingredients in our atmosphere, they came up with
a shocking estimate: 60 tons a day—the weight of
about five school buses! But don’t get out the dust-
cloth just yet: In the atmosphere, the cosmic dust
helps form clouds; on Earth, it feeds tiny sea-dwelling
plankton in Antarctica.

PARENTS! Go online for a

chance to win a Weird But True
prize pack for your kid.
natgeokids.com/giveaways
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Begins on 7/10/23 at
8 a.m. ET and ends on 7/17/23 at 11:59 p.m. ET or until
10 eligible entrants are verified, whichever is earlier. First come, first
served. Open to 50 U.S./D.C.; 18+; with children ages 6-14. SUBMISSIONS
MUST BE EMAILED BY YOUR PARENT/LEGAL GUARDIAN. Void where
prohibited. Sponsor: National Geographic Partners, LLC, 1145 17th St., NW,
Washington, DC 20036. Rules/odds: https://natgeokids.com/giveaways

STOCKTREK IMAGES / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 27
 STUFF
GAMES,
LAUGHS,
AND LOTS
TO DO!
PLAY!

SURF’S UP!
Something totally gnarly is happening at the
Supreme Surfing Tournament in South Africa,
where ocean animals show off their natural
bodysurfing talents. Find 20 things wrong at
this kooky competition. ANSWERS ON PAGE 32

28 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023 JAMES YAMASAKI (ART); RUTH A. MUSGRAVE (CONCEPT)
AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 29
 Animal
BLOOPERS
YOU
Animals make ARE ONE
mistakes, too! FUNNY
BUNNY!
BY ALLYSON SHAW

European rabbits
RANGE Native to Europe and
northwest Africa; today they’re
found on every continent
except Antarctica
SLIPUP SPOT 0kunoshima, Japan
PHOTO FAIL Young rabbits play
together by nipping at each other
and then hopping backward. These
two jumped way back.

ROTFL!

Galápagos tortoise
RANGE Galápagos Islands,
Ecuador
HEY‚ SLIPUP SPOT Isabela Island
WHO’S PHOTO FAIL This tortoise’s
STEPPING long neck can stretch upward to
ON MY
NECK? grab tasty leaves … as long as it
doesn’t get all twisted up!

I
DIDN’T
SAY I
WANTED A
WATERBED!

Bearded seal
RANGE Arctic Ocean
SLIPUP SPOT Near Spitsbergen,
Norway
PHOTO FAIL Bearded seals often
rest on stable ice floes before they
feed, but it looks like this frozen raft
is getting a little off-balance.

30 NAT GEO KIDS

YUKIHIRO FUKUDA / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (RABBITS); TUI DE ROY /
MINDEN PICTURES (TORTOISE); CAROL WALKER / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (SEAL)
 TOP ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): R RIZVANOV / SHUTTERSTOCK; LASZLO PODOR / GETTY IMAGES; © GLOWIMAGES / ALAMY.
MIDDLE ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): © KEITH ERSKINE / ALAMY; © BRENDAN MCDERMID / REUTERS; MARAZE / SHUTTERSTOCK.
BOTTOM ROW (LEFT TO RIGHT): © GLASSHOUSE IMAGES / SUPERSTOCK; © INGRAM PUBLISHING / SUPERSTOCK; © PETER ALVEY / ALAMY.

ESUHOS
S LY B C C I E
LFUOESWSNR
E S PA

MDOSNEOI
GA RC H I N M N A B D
GET IN LINE

AC S R

I AT N P T S E
These photographs show close-up

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS

and faraway views of objects in rows.

A U S M T D I AT S E S
in each picture. ANSWERS ON PAGE 32

31
Unscramble the letters to identify what’s
BACK
TALK
FROM THE NOVEMBER 2022 ISSUE
Do you want to go
swimming with me?
Liam M., 10
Oakland, California
Are you my mother?
Coby B., 12
New York City, New York
I slept on my neck funny!
Jailyn W., 11
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin
Watch out! There’s an
orca behind you!
Shelby C., 9
Mason, Michigan
32 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023
1. Fill in the thought balloon.
2. Cut out the entire picture (or make a photocopy of it).
3. Mail it along with your name, address, phone number, and date of birth
to Nat Geo Kids, Back Talk, P.O. Box 96000, Washington, DC 20090-6000.
Selection for publication in a future issue will be at the discretion of Nat Geo Kids.
What do
YOU think this
wood duck is
thinking?
Are you here for breakfast?
ANTARCTIC FUR SEAL Savannah H., 7
Bozeman, Montana
stadium seats.
paint set. Bottom row: houses, dominoes,
Middle row: bicycles, marching band,
Top row: sunflowers, peas, cars.
FLIP DE NOOYER / MINDEN PICTURES (PENGUIN AND SEAL)
MARIE READ / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (WOOD DUCKS);
“What in the World?” (page 31):
KING PENGUIN
What happened to Psst! Want to hear
your beak? a secret?
Kate D., 9 Evan C., 7
Granbury, Texas Seal Rock, Oregon “Surf’s Up!” (pages 28-29):
Answers
 MAX TOPCHII / SHUTTERSTOCK (SWIMMING POOL); ZHANG WEI /
CHINA NEWS SERVICE VIA GETTY IMAGES (WATER PARK); YEW!
IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES (OCEAN); THOMAS BARWICK / GETTY
IMAGES (RIVER); ELISABETH SCHMITT / GETTY IMAGES (LAKE)

15
Whatcha

THE OCE
%
AN
A SW I
18
POOL
MMIN
%
G

spot

7%
A RIVER
watery
A WATER PARK
52%

A LAKE
8%
Check out how Nat Geo Kids

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS

readers responded to this poll!

33
 1 2

3 4 5

34 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2023

7 8 9

10

11 12

13

AUGUST 2023 • NAT GEO KIDS 35

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