National Geographic Kids USA – September 2026

Summary

National Geographic Kids USA (September 2026) opens with "Growing Up Lion" — a six-page cover feature tracking how lion cubs learn to hunt through play. Inside, a palaeontologist reveals how she digs up dinosaurs (p.14), sloths demonstrate their upside-down life (p.20), a whale-sounds feature decodes what 52-hertz calls mean (p.24), and Explorer HQ (p.28) serves puzzles and reader letters.

The lion cub feature (p.4) follows a pride in Botswana's Okavango Delta, where cubs spend 18 months practising stalking, pouncing and bite-inhibition before they can kill effectively. "Weird But True!" (p.12) delivers ten outrageous facts including that a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance. "How I Dig Up Dinos" (p.14) profiles a female palaeontologist who discovered a new species of horned dinosaur. "You Wanna Be a What?!" (p.18) interviews a professional sloth researcher. "Hanging With Sloths" (p.20) covers three-toed sloth biology — they climb down from trees once weekly to defecate. "What Do Whale Sounds Mean?" (p.24) decodes humpback song patterns and orca dialect differences. A bonus story on beach-hunting lions in Namibia's Skeleton Coast closes the feature section.

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Content Guide

▸ Cover Story

p.4 · Growing Up Lion
Lion cubs in Botswana's Okavango Delta spend 18 months learning through play: stalk practice, paw-swats and bite-inhibition games with littermates. Females do 90% of the hunting, and cubs begin joining kills at 11 months. The photo sequence shows a cub missing its target by inches — a daily reality that builds persistence. Watch a house cat stalk a toy — every crouch, wiggle and pounce mirrors the lion cub sequence on these pages.

▸ Features

p.14 · How I Dig Up Dinos
Palaeontologist Dr. Niza Ibrahim describes discovering a new horned dinosaur in Morocco: a five-metre, two-tonne plant-eater no one had seen before. The dig site required hiking 20 kilometres into the Sahara each day with pickaxes and plaster. The article lists three ways a kid can become a palaeontologist today — start by fossil-hunting in your own local quarry or riverbed.

p.18 · You Wanna Be a What?!
A professional sloth researcher explains her daily routine: tracking radio-collared three-toed sloths in Costa Rica's rainforest, analysing their gut bacteria and measuring how often they descend to the forest floor. Sloths defecate once every seven to 10 days — that single trip uses 8% of their daily energy. Set a timer for seven days and mark the date — that is how long a sloth goes between bathroom breaks.

p.20 · Hanging With Sloths
Three-toed sloths hang upside-down from branches for up to 18 hours a day. Their fur hosts algae that provides camouflage — green-tinted sloth fur is harder for harpy eagles to spot. The algae also feeds moths that live exclusively in sloth fur. Hang a green scarf from a ceiling hook and spin it slowly — that is a sloth's-eye view of the rainforest.

p.24 · What Do Whale Sounds Mean?
Humpback whale songs change every breeding season — males in the same population learn the new tune from each other. Orca pods speak distinct dialects that differ by family group. A lone orca recorded off the US West Coast calls at 52 hertz — a frequency no other whale uses, earning it the name "the world's loneliest whale." Record your own voice and compare the pitch — 52 hertz is too low for human ears to hear naturally.

▸ Regulars

p.12 · Weird But True!
Ten facts: a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance; octopuses have three hearts; a single strand of spider silk is stronger than steel of the same thickness; honey never spoils. Memorise the honey fact — it is the one children repeat most to their parents at dinner.

p.28 · Explorer HQ
Puzzles, crafts and reader letters. The featured activity: building a paper lion mask with predrawn templates, scissors and elastic string. The mask takes 15 minutes to assemble and uses materials found at home.

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Editor's Take

National Geographic Kids USA September 2026 is a well-balanced issue that gives equal weight to mammals (lions, sloths), dinosaurs (new horned species) and marine life (whale songs). The lion cub cover feature is the stand-out — the 18-month learning period and 90%-female-hunting statistic provide concrete numbers that readers aged 7 to 12 can process. The sloth researcher interview (p.18) is the issue's most surprising piece: the once-every-seven-days bathroom routine is the kind of detail that circulates in school playgrounds. The Namibia beach-lion bonus story is short but conceptually strong — lions hunting seals instead of antelope. The "Weird But True!" page (p.12) pulls its weight with the flamboyance and three-hearted-octopus facts. Weakest element is "Explorer HQ" (p.28), which offers a paper lion mask — a craft that is both age-generic and disconnected from the issue's stronger science content.

Strengths
• Lion cub 18-month learning period and 90%-female-hunting statistic are concrete and memorable
• Sloth researcher interview reveals the once-every-seven-days bathroom detail
• Whale-song article teaches orca dialects and the 52-hertz loneliest whale

Weaknesses
• Explorer HQ paper lion mask is disconnected from the issue's stronger science
• Namibia beach-lion bonus story is too short to develop its concept

Verdict: Recommended — Strong lion cover and sloth researcher interview anchor a well-rounded animal science issue. (17 words)