May 24 Holiday

Yippee, it’s a holiday! It’s the Victoria Day Long Weekend. But do you know what we’re celebrating? What is May 24, really?

Other than an excuse to watch fireworks and stay home from school.

It’s Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday. But only kind of.

Queen Elizabeth was born on April 21, but her official birthday is on May 24. Kings and queens in Britain, where the Queen lives, usually have two birthdays: one just for them and their families, and a second one for the public. That’s what May 24 is: Queen Elizabeth II’s second birthday.

Two birthdays sounds pretty great, right? It gets better: in Britain, the Queen’s official birthday is in June. That brings the birthday count up to three. SO MANY BIRTHDAYS.

Think of all the cake!

You may have heard that today is Queen Victoria’s birthday. That’s also true! Queen Victoria actually was born on May 24, all the way back in 1819. That’s where this holiday gets its official name, Victoria Day.

But at the end of the day (literally! Ha ha!), we’re just here for the fireworks. If you don’t get fireworks in your area, you can check out a cool fireworks vid below:

How do you celebrate May 24, readers? Let us know in the comments!

-Katie, owlblog@owlkids.com

Canada-Wide Science Fair: 2016 Edition

In our May issue we introduced you to Marcus Deans, one of the winners of last year’s Canada-Wide Science Fair. Say hi, Marcus!

“Hi, Marcus!”

Now 2016’s CWSF is revving up at McGill University in Montreal. Hard-working students from across the country are coming together to present their projects to family, friends, visitors, and judges. Some examples from this year:

• E-cigarettes: A Risk Factor for ALS?
• Worm Wars: The Soil Awakens
• The Dog Intelligence Test
• Print vs. Screens – Old School vs. Tech

Click here to see a list of all the 2016 projects.

That’s a lot of science.

Have you ever been to a science fair, readers? Tell us all about it in the comments!

Read on,

-Katie, owlblog@owlkids.com

Frog Month Facts

Did you know April is Frog Month? Frogs can get a pretty bad rap from humans, but we think they’re fantastic.

“Slimy?” How about “extremely incredibly unbelievably cute?”

To celebrate Frog Month, here are our five favourite frog facts:

1. Frogs don’t need to drink. They can absorb water right through their skin. If a human could do this, we’d give them a superhero cape and call them whenever the city needed saving.
2. A frog can literally push its whole stomach right out of its mouth. They do this sometimes when they’ve eaten something nasty and need to vomit. Know who else vomits by spitting out their entire stomach? Sharks.
3. A group of frogs is called an army. Other animals hang out in schools or herds. But frogs? Frogs hang out in armies. Watch out, world.
4. Heget, the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility and life, was a frog. Ancient Egypt didn’t get a lot of rain, so they relied on the annual flooding of the Nile River to water their crops. And when it flooded, frogs would appear! But here’s the ultimate question: did the floods bring the frogs, or did the frogs bring the floods? Hmm…
5. All frogs are secretly princes. Source: every fairytale ever.*

What do you think, reader? Are you a frog fan? Let us know in the comments!

-Katie, owlblog@owlkids.com

*This last fact may not be true. But we can always pretend it is!

TIFF Kids Movie Review: Little Door Gods

The TIFF Kids International Film Festival is happening right now in Toronto until April 24. I decided to check out a movie from China called Little Door Gods, and I’m glad I did!

In this movie, gods and spirits are losing their jobs because people don’t believe in them anymore. So one god comes up with a risky plan: unleash a terrifying monster into the human world. Then humans will turn to the spirit world for protection, and they’ll be back in business! What could possibly go wrong?

The film was tons of fun, with bright colours and amazing animation. You’ll probably like it if you’re a big fan of Chinese myths and legends, or if you just like fantasy adventure stories.

Did you check out any of the films playing at TIFF Kids this year? Which ones do you want to see? Let us know in the comments!

Bye for now,

-Katie, owlblog@owlkids.com

Dear Young Writers

Hey readers,

Today is Encourage a Young Writer Day, so if you like to write, we here at OWL have a Very Important Message for you:

YOU CAN DO IT!

Read a lot, write a lot, and never give up. We believe in you!

What kind of stuff do you like to write? Let us know in the comments.

-Katie, owlblog@owlkids.com