SONAS ANNUAL 2015
Are you ready for some Christmas fun with Sonas? As always Sonas is packed full of sports, features, jokes, quizzes, fun facts, games and lots more. There are also some fantastic prizes to be won! Happy Christmas!
ANNUAL
Stories, Puzzles & Fun!
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UEFA Euro 2016 Football Finals Jacqueline Wilson Readers’ Tongue Twisters Readers’ Jokes
Printed in Ireland
Sonas 2015 Cover Template.indd All Pages
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Jacqueline Wilson. Read about the author of over one hundred books for children and teenagers.
The Children of the Easter Rising. In 2016 Ireland will celebrate the centenary of the Easter Rising – read about how children and teenagers were caught up in the conflict.
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Interview with Peter O’Mahony. The Irish rugby star is interviewed by Ross Halpin.
UEFA EURO 2016 Football Finals. France is hosting these finals – impress your friends with some key football terms in French.
Hozier. Find out how in one short year, Hozier has gone from being a relatively unknown musician to an international superstar.
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Avengers – Age of Ultron. Read about The Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Ultron.
54 Hexoku. Can you complete this number puzzle? 4
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You Don’t Appreciate What You Have Until It’s Gone! Read Róisín Mockler’s winning short story. Readers’ Jokes. Have a giggle with these funny jokes sent in by Sonas readers.
10 Happy New Year! Read about new year celebrations around the world. 22 Writing Time. Enter our short story competition and you could win a €100 voucher! 24 Let it Snow. Learn about all things snowy. 27 Readers’ Tongue Twisters. Try out these fantastic tongue twisters sent in by Sonas readers.
57 Irish Word Match. How much Christmas vocabulary do you know in Irish? 62 Bake It! Try out this recipe for Snowy Christmas Cookies. 68 Aimsigh na Difríochtaí. Aimsigh 10 cinn de dhifríochtaí idir na pictiúir. 70 Met Éireann and Weather Warnings. Learn about different categories of weather warnings. 74 Are we there yet? Try out some car games to keep the boredom away! 77 Competition Time. Do not forget to enter our competition and you might win a fantastic prize!
35 Superhero Quiz. How much do you know about superheroes?
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Sydney
Around the world the dawn of a new year is celebrated in many different ways. Celebrations usually begin after dark on New Year’s Eve, and continue past midnight. The Pacific island nation of Kiribati is one of the first places to welcome in the new year, while Honolulu in Hawaii is among the last.
Australia is one of the first countries in the world to celebrate the new year. All over the country, towns celebrate with music and entertainment, and people hold parties in their own homes. The biggest gathering is at Sydney Harbour, where the Sydney Opera House and the boats are all lit up. A countdown to midnight is televised live, and a spectacular fireworks display is held to welcome in the new year. Over two million Australians, and more than a billion people worldwide, tune in to watch the Sydney Harbour celebrations on TV, making it the most popular New Year’s event in the world. The New Year celebrations in Sydney are so elaborate that they are planned at least 16 months in advance. So while people are celebrating the start of 2016, plans will already be well underway for the 2017 event!
Scotland In Scotland, New Year’s Eve is called Hogmanay and it is a huge celebration, traditionally even more important than Christmas. Hogmanay is celebrated with ceilidhs, open-air concerts, street parties and fireworks. One custom associated with Hogmanay is called first footing. This means being the first person to cross the threshold of the home of a friend or neighbour, bringing a gift of whisky, shortbread or fruit cake. Traditionally tall dark men are seen as the luckiest ‘first footers’. The Hogmanay song ‘Auld Lang Syne’, written by Scots poet Robert Burns and based on traditional sources, has become popular in many parts of the world. Singers cross their arms and link hands to sing this song, welcoming in the new year.
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FACT OR
FICTION Can you work out which of these statements are fact and which are fiction?
1. The word ‘muggle’ (a non-magical person in the Harry Potter series) was included in the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003. FACT
5. Children who grow up around pets are more likely to develop allergies.
FICTION
FACT
FICTION
6. Giraffes sleep standing up. FACT
FICTION
2. Jaguars hunt in packs. FACT
FICTION
3. Sea snakes can have poison 10 times more dangerous than a cobra. FACT
4. A forest fire will travel faster uphill than downhill. FACT
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FICTION
7. 420 million years ago mushrooms grew taller than giraffes. FACT
FICTION
FICTION
8. Snakes stick out their tongues to communicate with each other. FACT
FICTION
Q: How do you know when Santa is in the room? A: You can sense his presents!
Conor: Knock, knock! Ross: Who’s there? Conor: Hannah. Ross: Hannah who? Conor: Hannah partridge in a pear tree! Q: What do you get if you cross an iPad with a Christmas tree? A: A pineapple!
Q: What is the best thing to put into a Christmas cake? A: Your teeth!
Q: What kind of motorbike does Santa ride? A: A Holly Davidson!
Q: What did the stamp say to the Christmas card? A: Stick with me and we'll go places! Q: What do elves do after school? A: Their gnome work!
Q: What happened when the snowwoman got angry at the snowman? A: She gave him the cold shoulder! Q: What is the best Christmas present in the world? A: A broken drum – you just can't beat it!
Andrew: Knock, knock! Grace: Who’s there? Andrew: Snow. Grace: Snow who? Andrew: Snow use – I’ve forgotten my name again!
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HOW MANY? How many of each of the items pictured below can you find? Write the number in the box beside each one.
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