Many famous puppets will soon call New York...

The Museum of the Moving Image is in a group of buildings that includes the studio where Sesame Street is filmed!

VO C A B U L A RY :

gallery: a room or building to display works of art

artifacts: items or objects that have historic importance

Make your own hand puppet! Draw your character, and then cut it out of felt. Glue the back and front, leaving room for your hand. Decorate it and put on a show!

Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Bert, Ernie, and Elmo. Wouldn’t it be great if they could all hang out together, forever, and you could visit them? Now it looks like that might soon be possible! A brilliant puppeteer named Jim Henson created many of these famous characters. He died in 1990, but his family has recently donated 400 puppets, costumes, props, and other items from his collection to a museum in Queens, New York. The Museum of the Moving Image will create a big, new gallery for the Henson items. About 200 of his most beloved puppets will be there. So will artifacts from Henson’s projects, including The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock. New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the news yesterday with help from Miss Piggy and Oscar the Grouch. Bloomberg said the city would provide $2.75 million for the project. The museum plans to open the new gallery in the winter of 2014–15. By Melissa Kim

The Muppets

Photo Credits: Sesame

Muppets Take New York Many famous puppets will soon call New York home.

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Thursday, May 23 , 2013

Photo Credits: AP ©Press4kids 2013

Queens, New York

Queens is home to the New York Mets baseball team. It’s also where the US Open tennis tournament takes place.


The inventor’s dog, Rocky, is a Chihuahua.

VO C A B U L A RY : device: tool; invention

laser: special, narrow beam of light

Animals without homes need attention too. With a grown-up, visit a local pet shelter to cheer up the animals.

Ever want to play with your pet while you’re away from home? Soon, you will be able to — with a phone and a new device called the Petcube! Inventors showed off the four-inch Petcube last week in Berlin, Germany. It is packed with a video camera, a microphone, a speaker, and even a laser! Users can touch their phones to control the camera, talk and listen to their pets, and play with them using a laser. Don’t worry. The laser won’t hurt pets’ eyes. And pets love chasing the little dot all over the room! Too busy to play? That’s okay. Users can invite friends to “visit” their pets too. They can also share pictures and chat with other pet owners. “I came up with the idea for Petcube when I had a real problem with my dog, Rocky,” inventor Alex Neskin told CNET. Rocky barked constantly whenever Alex was away. “Neighbors were not quite happy.” Petcube will show when Rocky is barking, so Alex can calm Rocky down with a quick hello. By Abigail Mieko Vargus

A dog sitting next to the Petcube

Dog’s Best Friend? A new toy lets people play and talk with pets from far away.

©Press4kids 2013 Photo Credits: Petcube


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Berlin is a very dog-friendly city. One German company even makes frozen yogurt just for dogs.

Photo Credits: Pet Cube


Berlin, Germany

The Oklahoma tornado damaged or destroyed at least 12,000 homes.

VO C A B U L A RY : residents: people who live in a place; citizens

donate: give

devastation: great damage

confident: sure; certain; positive

Talk to your parents to see if you can donate to the Red Cross too. You can raise money in many ways. Adults can even give money with a text message.

On the basketball court, the Oklahoma City Thunder know they can count on superstar teammate Kevin Durant. After Monday’s huge tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, local residents know they can count on him too. On Tuesday, Durant promised to donate $1 million to help Moore after the devastation caused by the tornado. Durant’s money is going to the Red Cross, a group that assists people and places after disasters, such as Hurricane Sandy and Monday’s tornado. Durant hopes his donation will inspire other people to also give money. Durant has lived in Oklahoma and played for the Thunder since 2008. When he watched news reports of the tornado’s destruction, he was very upset. “It hit so close to home,” Durant said. “It was tough to see.” Still, Durant is confident that Moore can rebuild. He said, “We’re going to come together as a city like we always do, and we’re going to bounce back.” Durant planned to visit Moore today to try to cheer up some of the adults and children affected by the tornado.

By Jack Silbert

Kevin Durant points up after making a shot

NBA Star Gives Back Kevin Durant gives $1 million for Oklahoma tornado relief.

©Press4kids 2013 Photo Credits: Getty


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L.A. Dodgers star Matt Kemp, who grew up in Oklahoma, is donating $1,000 for every homerun he hits before July 15.

Moore, Oklahoma

Photo Credits: Getty


Of the 50 schools closing, 49 are elementary schools. Between 30,000 and 46,000 students will be affected.

VO C A B U L A RY : protestors: people who oppose something

status quo: the way things are right now

amenities: things that make life easier

Money is an important reason for these closings. Make a list of ways that your school could save money.

The Chicago Board of Education voted on Wednesday to close 50 schools. Their doors won’t open in September. Their students will go to other schools. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the third-largest school district in the nation, but the number of students is going down. Many schools are more than half empty. By closing the schools, Chicago leaders say it will save $867 million over ten years. That’s a lot of money, but many people still aren’t happy — especially parents, teachers, and students. Nine-year-old Asean Johnson said to a crowd of protestors, “You should be investing in these schools, not closing them. You should be supporting these schools, not closing them.” Board members disagree. “We can no longer embrace the status quo because the status quo is not working for all Chicago school children,” said Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who runs CPS. They believe students will move to better-performing schools with better amenities, like libraries and computer labs. “I know this is difficult,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said. But he believes it leads to “a brighter future.” By Abigail Meiko Vargas

A Chicago school

Photo Credits: Getty

Chicago Schools Shut Down The city of Chicago plans to close 50 schools.

©Press4kids 2013


Photo Credits: npr ©Press4kids 2013

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago has the only post office in the world that you can drive a car through!


In order to climb Mount Everest, climbers spend about seven weeks on the mountain. But only about three of those weeks are spent climbing.

VO C A B U L A RY : illegal: against the law permission: approval; consent; okay conduct: do; act

If you visit a new place, be sure to learn its rules. You don’t want to break the rules by accident!

Daniel Hughes on Sunday climbed Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. And while standing on top wearing a red clown’s nose, he took out his phone and made “the world’s first live video call … from the rooftop of the world!” But he got in big trouble for the call! Mount Everest is partly in the country of Nepal, and the government of Nepal said that Hughes’ call was “illegal.” The British climber called the BBC to give an interview from the 29,029-foot peak of Everest. Nepal says that people need permission “to film, broadcast, or conduct media-related events on Everest,” said a Nepali government worker. Hughes was talking to the news organization in order to help raise money for a charity called Comic Relief. (That’s why he was wearing the red nose!) But he still might get in trouble. The Washington Post says that Hughes could be banned from Nepal for five years — and banned from climbing Mount Everest for 10 years!

By: Russell Kahn

Daniel Hughes at the base of Mount Everest

A Bad Call A British mountain climber gets in trouble for a phone call.

©Press4kids 2013 Photo Credits: Dailymail uk


©Press4kids 2013

The Himalayan Mountains (including Mount Everest) are growing! They grow about two inches per year.

Mount Everest, Nepal

Photo Credits: Dailymail UK


Many famous puppets will soon call New York...

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