Kid News fans we know your kids and students love being in the know, so why not double down with another screen-free news source?
The Week Junior is a news magazine that lands in mailboxes every week, chock full of interesting stories and fascinating facts.
Did you know grizzly bears can run as fast as a racehorse?
We didn't either.
Like kid news, the week juniors got it.
Science, tech, sports, history, news from around the world and across the nation.
Plus stunning nature photos and book reviews, all written to be absolutely irresistible to kids ages 8 to 14.
And it makes an awesome gift.
This holiday season, give your newshound the joy of reading and the confidence of knowledge.
Visit theweekjunior.com slash fun facts and try six issues.
That's theweekjunior.com slash fun facts.
Good morning and welcome to Kid News.
I'm Kim.
Today is Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025. also known as Giving Tuesday.
And we begin with the mouse roaring at the movies.
Disney's Zootopia 2 scored huge at the box office over the holiday, earning 556 million globally during its five-day Thanksgiving opening weekend.
That's the biggest worldwide launch ever for an animated film.
The sequel performed particularly well in China, where US films have been lagging lately.
It became the top animated film opening of all time there.
Reviews have been good as well.
Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 91% fresh rating.
Meanwhile, Wicked for Good continued its strong performance as well.
Both hits come after a relatively rough year for movies, with many big-budget films that were expected to be hits not pleasing audiences.
If you're a sky watcher, set your alarms for 6.15 p.m.
Eastern Time on Thursday.
That's when the third and final supermoon of the year will reach peak bigness and peak brightness, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
A full moon gets supermoon status when it's at its closest point to Earth.
This one, on December 4th, is known as the cold moon, courtesy of the Mohawk tribe, which named it for the frigid temperatures that tend to accompany it.
If you miss this last supermoon of 2025, USA Today reports you'll have three chances next year to catch one.
He's probably not on any of your playlists, but Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most important musicians in the era of classical music, and he's still influencing many kinds of music today, from rock to rap.
His heyday was in the late 1600s to early 1700s, but it took until 1992 to uncover two new pieces and another 23 years for music historian Peter Walny to confirm them as authentic Bach.
Mr. Walney believes the famous composer was at most 18 years old when he wrote them.
On November 17th in Germany, the two pieces were performed for the first time in over 300 years.
The performance took place at Leipzig's St.
Thomas Church where Bach once worked.
A chance discovery on Mars has confirmed a decades-old theory.
NASA's Mars rover Perseverance accidentally found that many lightning strikes happened during dust devil storms on the red planet.
Dust devils are spinning columns of dirt that sweep across the Martian surface, sort of like mini tornadoes.
For a long time, scientists have wondered if Mars had lightning, and now they finally know.
But Mars' lightning is much weaker than lightning on Earth.
It's only a few centimeters long but it makes crackling sounds and little sparks, kind of like when you touch a doorknob after walking on carpet in winter.
The rover's microphone heard 55 of these sparks over two martian years.
Scientists say the discovery might explain why an old Russian spaceship stopped working after landing on Mars during one of the largest dust storms on record way back in 1971.
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade brought in the biggest numbers of all time for NBC and its streaming service, Peacock.
And it was a big leap, too.
34.3 million people watched the festivities on TV.
That outperformed last year's parade by...
8%, which amounts to an extra 2.5 million people.
And while each age group that watched increased from a year ago, younger viewers were up significantly more than 20 for viewers under 25.
Count on an extra special broadcast next year because it will be a milestone event the 100th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Still to come, from stomach growl to Grubhub.
Pretty Much, the new wearable device that orders food before you even realize you're hungry.
But first we want to wish a happy 10th birthday to Caroline Brevorka-Wells of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Your Bama Bapa, Aunt Jenny, Uncle Jason and younger brother Peter are so proud of your hard work in the pool, at tennis and when you're singing and acting in drama productions.
Even better, they tell us you are wonderful and kind.
Happy double digits, Caroline.
Now, today's Kid News quiz.
What Disney movie had the strongest opening weekend ever for an animated film, both in the US and China?
Zootopia 2.
What earthly weather phenomenon has now been observed on Mars?
Lightning.
Two pieces of music written by which famous composer when he was a teenager were recently performed for the first time in more than 300 years.
Johann Sebastian Bach.
What day and time is peak illumination for the third and final supermoon of 2025?
This Thursday at 6 15 p.m.
Eastern.
In today's Kid News Kicker, a young inventor from India, has created an AI-powered gadget that will ensure you never go hungry again.
When it hears growling sounds coming from your stomach, it automatically orders food.
Souhan Rai from Mangalore created the device which clips to your belt and is called MOM for Meal Ordering Module.
It uses a stethoscope and connects to Clawed AI to gauge how hungry the wearer is.
Then it calls an Indian delivery service called Zomato to order grub.
Social media reactions to this creation have been mixed, with some expressing curiosity and the others dismissing it as a bit over the top.
This isn't Saohan's first experience with food and tech.
He previously went viral for delivering food using a self-made autonomous drone, while working as a Zomato delivery person himself in 2023.
Thanks again to the Brevorkas of Greensboro, North Carolina for sponsoring today's quiz.
Happy birthday to Caroline and hello to all her friends listening in Mr B's social studies class at Greensboro Day School.
And shout outs for our other Kid News classrooms.
Miss Minson and her geckos at Tanca Verde in Tucson, Arizona.
Ms.
Kerr and her cougars at Ruby Drive in Placentia, California.
Ms.
Stewart and her wildcats at Blair Taylor in Blair, Wisconsin.
And Mrs. Stevens and her bulldogs at Painesville School in Painesville, Minnesota.
As we mentioned at the top of the podcast, today is Giving Tuesday.
All donations, big and small, are appreciated.
Go right back into producing our daily episodes and can be made on our website at kidnews.org.
Thank you in advance, and we'll see you back here for more Kid News tomorrow morning.
