Beverly Cleary has sold 85 million copies of 41 books and — if those numbers weren't impressive enough — she turns 100 on Tuesday. Though the world was a very different place when Cleary was a child, she has always maintained that kids pretty much stay the same — which explains the ongoing popularity of her beloved characters, like Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins and Ralph S. Mouse.

    Cleary was in her early 30s and working part time in a bookstore when she sat down at a typewriter to see if just maybe she could write a book for kids. She had worked as a librarian before World War II, and she wished she'd had books for young readers about children living everyday lives.

    "I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids," she told NPR in 1999. "That's what I wanted to read about when I was growing up. I wanted to read about the sort of boys and girls that I knew in my neighborhood and in my school. ... I think children like to find themselves in books."

    Her first book, Henry Huggins, came out in 1950. Henry had a friend named Beezus, and Beezus had a mischievous（爱恶作剧的） but lovable little sister named Ramona. Over the next five decades, Cleary took Ramona all the way from nursery school （托儿所）to the fourth grade. Cleary says when she was writing Ramona, she took inspiration（灵感） from a little girl who lived in the house behind her as a child.

    Her books have hooked generations（几代） of children, including a young Jeff Kinney, who grew up to become the author of the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

    "I must have been about 8 or 9 years old when I first read Beverly Cleary," Kinney recalls. "The book that really grabbed me was Ramona Quimby, Age 8. She looked feral. I needed to get to know this character."

    "Most kids have parents, teachers, bullies（欺凌） — we all experience these things,"Kinney says. "And Beverly Cleary tapped into that. Her work is still as relevant today as when it first came out."

    Now, generations of children have been fortunate enough to enjoy her stories of Klickitat Street.

    I have just arrived in a country where I don't know the language, where I have no family roots and where I find myself all alone. It may sound frightening. But let me tell you a little secret: it is not.

    When you travel abroad by yourself for whatever reason—exchange program, internship, volunteering, or simply as a tourist—a new and fascinating world will open up for you. A world you would have never been able to see if you had just stayed at home.

    People from a different country are not aliens. They are simply people like you who happened to be born in another region. They have pretty much the same wishes and worries as people from your own country.

    I know that you see a lot of news on TV saying terrible things people do all the time. Your family may have spent a great deal of time telling you not to trust strangers. However, when you travel alone you will realize that people are just as good as you. Everyone is just leading their lives, working, studying and having a good time with their friends. Most people will be happy to help you and get to know you.

    Maybe in the past when you would need months to travel from one place to another, traveling could be expensive. Nowadays, the world is just so connected that it is perfectly possible to find cheap flights, accommodation for all budgets and cheap and quality food.

    You will get lost, but it's fine! I can't even count how many times I didn't know where I was going or how to find the right direction. Everything looks great on Google maps, but sometimes your phone will die or your data will end. Just calm down. Go to a store or stop someone in the street and ask! Or simply walk around and be curious.

    Smart Kids is a collection of one hundred events scheduled in October. This year, it is experimenting with Pay What You Decide (PWYD). That is, you can decide to pay what you want to or can afford, after you have attended an event. You can pre-book events without paying for a ticket in advance. Here are some of the director's picks.

    Walk on the Wild Side

    Not ticketed, Free

Join storyteller Sarah Law to hear science stories about animals. Along the way you'll meet all sorts of beautiful creatures and discover life cycles and food chains. Best suited to children aged 5-9. Children under 8 must be accompanied by an adult.

    Introduction to Waves

    Pre-book, PWYD

    Subjects range from sound waves to gravity waves, and from waves of light to crashing waves on the ocean. Mike Goldsmith explores the fundamental features shared by all waves in the natural world.

Science in the Field

    Not ticketed, Free

This storytelling night features a scientist sharing his favourite memories of gathering first-hand data on various field trips. Come along for inspiring and informative stories straight from the scientist's mouth. Join Mark Samuels to find out more in this fun-filled workshop.

    Festival Dinner

Pre-book, £25 per person

Whether you want to explore more about food, or just fancy a talk over a meal, join us to mark the first science festival in London. Which foods should you eat to trick your brain into thinking that you are full? Find out more from Tom Crawford.

    When men get together, they seldom talk about their feelings or inner thoughts. However, they talk about a lot, like their newest computer, how to repair their car, or even business.

    Talk might move to the best place to find fish or women, jump to computer games, then continue to the sport of the season. They also like to tell jokes each other and spend a fair amount of time playing one-up and boasting (吹牛). Men seldom call each other to chat.

    When man meets woman, he usually wants to make a good impression. Many single men try hard to carry on amusing, fun, and pleasant conversations. They use conversation to discover her interests and feelings in order to learn how to be attractive to her.

    Some men, either out of nervousness or ignorance, spend most of the time talking about themselves, often appearing to brag about their achievements or talk endlessly about their problems or work. Even the quietest man talks to his woman when love is new.

    When women get together, they talk about feelings and relationships, their work and their family. They enjoy talking but also want the give and take of talk, then listen. Women often call each other to chat. Conversation is an important part of most women's lives.

    As relationships progress, however, many a man turns on the television and forgets how to talk. This raises anger and cry from his woman partner who says, "You never talk to me anymore." Some men start talking. Many, however, mainly discuss their own achievements and problems.

    When the woman starts talking about her favorite subjects: feelings, family, relationships, friends and her work, many men lose interest or bring the conversation back to themselves. Pretty soon, the man is back to staring at the television each night, wondering where his relationship has gone. The woman is talking to her friends, mom, sister, or neighbor, often about that very relationship and how she is hurting.

    Some educators told us that more years of school could help students get higher scores on intelligence tests. That was a finding of a study of teenage males in some countries. Now, another research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes.

    The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education. They are using the time instead for academic(学术的) subjects like math and reading. The studies appeared between 2008 and 2014. They included more than 55,000 children, aged 6 to 18.

    Amika Singh: "According to the results of our study, we can conclude that being physically active is beneficial for academic performance. There are, first, Physiological explanations, like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain. Being physically active means there are more hormones(荷尔蒙) produced like endorphins(内啡肽). And endorphins make your stress level lower and your mood improved, which means you also perform better."

    Also, students taking part in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them. This could improve their classroom behavior and help them keep their mind on their work.

    The study leaves some questions unanswered, however Ms Stash says it is not possible to say whether the amount or kind of activity affected the level of academic improvement. This is because of differences among the studies.

    The researchers said they found only two high­quality studies. They needed more high­quality studies to confirm(证实) their findings. They also pointed out that "results for other parts of the world may be quite different".

    Still, the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school. Ms Singh says schools should consider that finding before they cut physical education programs. Her paper on "Physical Activity and Performance at School" is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

Even though it is just a few years old, the comic strip, Cul de Sac, has already won many fans through its characters. So when cartoonist, Richard Thompson, announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, his fans sat up and took notice.

One of the fans was Chris Sparks, a designer and web developer in North Carolina. Sparks was building a website for Thompson when the cartoonist announced his disease. He started reading more about Parkinson's disease through books and websites. There he found that people could form public fund-raising teams to raise money for Parkinson's research. He quickly decided to form his own team: Team Cul de Sac.

However, Sparks decided to take a different path. He has contacted dozens of cartoonists around the world, who will contribute artworks inspired by the Cul de Sac strip. Thompson's publisher, Andrews Mcmeel, has agreed to release them in a book next year. Some of the profits from the book will go to the research. And after the book is released, the artworks will be auctioned off. All profits will go to the research team. The aim is to raise $450,000 for the foundation. "We've already had around 80 people who say they are interested in contributing", says Sparks.

Although many people with Parkinson's disease are private about their condition, Thompson is not one of them. He's happy to put his support behind the project. "I think we can make a difference," says Sparks, who points out that his love of comics inspired him. "I've been reading comics since I was 5 years old, and most of the cartoonists I've met have been wonderful human beings,"he says. "They've made a difference in my life, and I hope to make a difference as well."