By Gihindu Jeerasinghe (Grade 1), Royal Institute, Nugegoda

My name is Gihindu. I am six years old. I live in Rajagiriya. I'm in Grade One. My school is Royal Institute.
My father's name is Manjula. My mother's name is Dilrukshi. My best friend is Sheranga. I like
chocolate ice-cream. My favourite colour is red. I'm a good boy.

My holiday to India

By Radha Ikshitha (Primary 4), Asian International School

One day, I went on a holiday to India. I went to my Aunt's house in Trichy. I stayed there for two days and then my uncle, aunt and my parents decided to go to Veegaland in Cochin and the next day they planned to go to a city called Valpara.

The next morning we all went to Veegaland in a huge bus. My cousin brother and I were drawing pictures on the way. We stopped at a restaurant and had lunch and then went to Veegaland. There were water and land games there.

In the evening we went to Madurai but we all slept. So, our parents decided to stop at a hotel in Madurai but there were no rooms. So we went to the next city and at last we got a room.

The next day on our way there was a waterfall named Monkey Falls. We had a good bath there and next to it was a restaurant. We had breakfast there. After nine hours we reached Vallpara.

We stayed in a hotel there for two days. My cousins and I played happily. It was also cold there.
After we returned to Trichy, my parents, my sister and I had to go to Vellore. There we went to the Golden Temple. The next day we went to Chennai to my aunt's house. Then from there it was time for us to return to Sri Lanka. We had a nice time in India.

Khadija

By Yumna Mushtaq (6 years), Minaret High School

Khadija is my sister. She is four years old. She is thin and has curly hair. Khadija goes to Minaret High School. She loves to go swimming. She plays with me. I love my sweet sister very much.

My favourite book

By Afrah Amsudeen (13 years), Aba beel International College

Reading books is very important for children like us. "Reading maketh a full man." My favourite book is about Harry Potter. It is written by J.K. Rowling. This book is an adventure story. It is about a talented boy and his friends and their school of magic.

The main characters in this story are Harry Potter, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore. I like these characters because they are very good and clever. Voldermort is the evil character in the story.

This story is very interesting. After reading this I learnt to stay without fear and it helped develop my reading. I got a lot of entertainment from this story. This is the best book that I have read.

The Harry Potter story has shown me a path to success for my future life.

It was dark…

By Mithila Ranaweera (13 years), Nalanda College

I was reading a book when suddenly there was complete darkness. Suddenly weird ideas came to my head about burglars. My parents had gone out. I waited for five minutes. Suddenly I heard a noise.
Then a scene from a book that I had read came to my head. It was about a professor who opened King Tutankamun's tomb.

It is said that he died mysteriously two months later. It is said that he was staying at a hotel in Cairo and at the moment he died the whole city of Cairo had its power cut off.

Egyptians say that it was Tutankamun's curse. I slowly took my torch. Then I crept out of the room and searched in all the rooms in the upper floor. Then I went downstairs. I heard the noise again. I switched my torch on and searched again. Suddenly I saw two hands. I called the police. At that moment the lights came back on. It was just a portrait of Mona Lisa.

The police arrived. I was in a real soup. I made up a story and said that when the lights came back the two burglars had run away. The police went to search for them. After about 10 minutes they came back with two people they arrested. They confessed that they were in my house when the lights were out!
I was really glad about making the story up!

My brother

By Alana Kariyawasam (Grade 6), St. Bridget's Convent

Rakhil is my brother
He loves Ben10 like no other!
He goes to school with me
And under the table he'll be!

Running up and down
Scaring the girls' and pulling their gowns!
The teacher always
complains
That he is the naughty one.

He likes to eat rice
And munches on the
biscuit 'Munchee Nice'
The Bluebell van makes him scream
And he buys buns with extra cream!

He loves cars
And he always laughs!
I love my brother
Though sometimes he is a trouble maker
He loves me like I do!

My hobby

By Tarini Abayasekara (Grade 2), Ladies College

My hobby is riding my bicycle. I got my bicycle for my birthday. It's pink and white. I learnt to ride it from my cousin brother during the April holidays. Whilst learning to ride, I fell many times and got hurt. But now I can ride very well. Every evening I worry my mother to take me riding. I love my bicycle a lot.

Games

By Aruni Lasanthika (Grade 9) Good Shepherd Convent M.V., Nayakkanda

There is a great truth in the saying, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Games are necessary for health and proper development of the body. Games keep us bodily fit and free from disease or illness. We learn to remain active and smart by playing.

All parts of the human body are dependent on one another. A diseased body cannot have a healthy mind. So while games give us good bodily health they give us a sound mind.

Qualities of leadership and team work are developed best on the playground. It is here that we learn our first lessons in mutual co-operation and obedience. It is here again that the leader gets his first lessons, develops his ability to command. Duke Wellington rightly said, "Waterloo was won on the volleyball fields of Eton."

A sportsman learns to accept defeat as part of the game. This attitude helps him when he enters life.
In life we do not always succeed. If we extend the sportsman spirit to other spheres of life we shall see how it makes our living smooth.

Games are catalysts that promote our health and help in the all-round development of our
personality.

From an overseas member

Singapore – a bustling city

By Nuha Zulfi (Grade 4), Sri Lankan International School, Saudi Arabia

A muddy mangrove – swampy islet nobody wanted to live in 1819. But now Singapore is a leading Asian city-state with one of the highest standard of living in the world. Singapore was established as a free trading port and settlement in the 19th century.

The population of Singapore is 4,426,000. During the Second World War, Singapore was invaded by the Japanese. The main religions are Buddhism and Islam. There are also Hindu minorities. There are also Chinese, Malays, Indians and westerners living in Singapore.

There is a culture club where you peek into the wonders of Arab Street, Little India and China Town. Singapore is also a wonderful place to do your shopping.

Singapore is also known as a celebration city, because there are so many festivals and events. Dragon boats, food festivals and hungry ghosts are celebrated from June to August. From May to August the Singapore Arts Festival and the National Day is celebrated making four exciting months.

The food in Singapore is really delicious. There is a restaurant called the Seafood Galore where you can eat some red-hot pepper crabs barbecued in style. There is also Singapore fried rice etc., which are really
appetizing. I wish to go to Singapore to do my higher studies.