Rupert Skelton is an illustrator and animator currently based in Bath, UK. Working mostly from imagination, his highly distinctive style draws inspiration from the weird and wonderful with eclectic themes including architecture, people, nightlife and

Have you ever grown your own food? Sometimes we become so used to buying our groceries from the supermarket that we forget how they came to be there in the first place. Today we import our food from all over the world, from South American avocados to

What is the future? In purely practical terms it is tomorrow, next week, next year and onwards. It is the time yet to arrive and it is a time that we can imagine and dream about. The present has been a challenge for us all this year but, fortunately,

In the future I hope that we will live in a world of peace, and there will be nothing that can hurt the earth. I picture compostable plastic, endangered species repopulating and sea levels at a reasonable height. I also imagine vehicles that don’t pr

When drinking loose-leaf tea, some of the leaves inevitably stick to the bottom and sides of the cup. Tasseography involves ‘reading’ the shapes formed by these leaves to predict the tea drinker’s future – an angel, for example, means good news is on

First up, weighing in at thirty-five books including the bestselling World of Norm series, JONATHAN MERES. What equipment will you need to go camping in the year 3000? Future tents I wrote a joke about the future. No one laughed. But they will …

Dear Reading Doctor, Last week at school, we had to imagine what the world might be like in 100 years. Loads of people drew pictures of robots and floating cities and other stuff like that. It was really cool. I drew a picture of a time machine becau

by Laura Dockrill and illustrated by Gwen Millward Piccadilly Press, £9.99 Review by Esmeralda, age eight This story is called Butterfly Brain. It is written in verse, and it is about a little boy called Asparagus – or Gus for short – who always

Mrs Grimes hesitated in the doorway. She glanced nervously at the man in the dark suit, then at Andrew Caufield, who was one of her Year 6 students. He looked at her imploringly. ‘We wouldn’t usually leave a pupil alone in these circumstances, Mr Ste

Guy Bass, Herbie Brennan, Joe Cowley, Rachel Delahaye, Tom Easton, The Etherington Brothers and David Follett, Philippa Forrester, Allen Fatimaharan, Tiffany Francis-Baker, Joe Haddow, Beatrix Hatcher, Jenny Jacoby, Gareth P Jones, Jonathan Meres, Sa

A Very Special Announcement! The Scoop (our shiny new podcast) A listening treat for Scoop readers all about our favourite authors and books. Our first episode is hosted by Radio 2 DJ JOE HADDOW and features guests LIZ PICHON (of Tom Gates fame

Smog filled skies and poison cars And natures beauty behind bars Can we do what is right Before day turns to night Before it all ends Can we make amends After all said Will it be dead But we can turn it around And clean up the ground Fix what we’ve d

All the pupils at Westbourne House School have loved editing this issue about the future and you’ll never guess what … our Year Eights have been so inspired by the creative process that they are going to create their own school magazine. Every pupil

Millions of noisy tourists no longer drove through America’s huge national parks. Their wild animals, from bears to bobcats, emerged from their hiding places and roamed freely. Thousands of rare pink dolphins returned to play in the usually busy wate

I’m so thrilled to be the guest editor of your Black History Month issue. Its pages are bursting with wonderment and brilliance from Black people living in Britain today. I hope you love reading it as much as I loved being part of it. Black History M

John Blanke, featured on our front cover, was a musician in the court of Henry VIII Scoop . He is one of the first recorded Black people in Britain, at least since the Roman times. Read all about his story in the cartoon on pages 18-19. ■