My hobby is reading storybooks. I have read many books. Some of them are; The Caravan Children, Harry Potter, The Peace Ring, Mr. Meddle's Bicycle, etc. most of the stories which I have read are written by Enid Blyton. Her stories are the best.

The Caravan Children is the book that I enjoyed the most. It is about how some children spend their holiday at a farm. The children in the story, milk cows, make butter out of milk and also go harvesting.

When you read different books you feel that you too are in the story. It also helps you to gain a good knowledge to create your own stories.

We have a small library in our class. There are different types of books in it. This gives us a chance to share our books with our friends and learn a lot.

I think reading is a good hobby. It doesn't have any age category and anyone can enjoy reading according to their

interest. I hope to read more and more as I grow older.

My best friend

By Jessica Pietersz St. Lawrence' School, Wellawatte

My best friend is Purni. She is thirteen years old. Her school is St. Lawrence School. In the morning we both go in the same van.

Her favourite drink is chocolate milkshake and her favourite foods are pizza and chocolates. Her favourite movie is Matrix. Her favourite Sinhala song is 'Namal Mittak.' She likes to wear short skirts with long T-Shirts. Her favourite sport is tennis.

Purni likes to be a Lab Scientist when she grows up. I wish that our friendship will be with us everyday.

My favourite sport

By Sheshini Dasanayake (11 years), Visakha Vidyalaya

My favourite sport is swimming. I started swimming when I was 10 years old. Swimming is an interesting game. There are four strokes in swimming.

They are the freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and dolphin. Swimming is very useful for us because in an emergency we can make use of it. It is useful to save our lives as well as others.

Diving is also a part of swimming. Scuba diving can be very interesting for nature lovers. Swimming is a very popular sport in the world.

Happy to be a Sri Lankan

By Teshani Attanayake (Grade 5), Bishop's College

Being a Sri Lankan, I thank the President for bringing us peace. I am ten years old now. When I was small, I could not understand anything about the war, but as I grew up I was able to see and hear about the war.

During the past, we were so scared to go out because of the bomb threats. When I was in Grade Two, there was an explosion close to our school. We were shocked by the noise. Our parents were scared to send us to school.

Due to the war, thousands of innocent people and many soldiers were killed. There was much damage to public property. Everybody lived in fear. I have many Tamil friends at school. I learn under some Tamil teachers as well. I still cannot understand as to why there was such a war.

Thanks to the security forces, the war is over and our country is now under one flag. We are happy to be able to live together in peace always.

Myself

By Niran Warawita (7 years), S. Thomas' Preparatory School

My name is Niran. I am seven years old. I am in Grade Three. I have one sister. I like to play cricket. I am a good boy.

Cricket oh cricket

By Ayesha Wijesekera (9 years), Surrey, UK

Cricket oh cricket,
Just spin the spin,
Then you will win.
When you feel small,
Just try the fast ball,
Then you'll feel fine,
That's why cricket is so divine.

Cricket oh cricket,
Just spin to the wicket.
It's a wonderful game,
With a wonderful name.

Cricket oh cricket,
Just hit the ball to the end,
Make sure it doesn't bend.
Hit the ball with the bat,
Like slapping a great furry cat.

Cricket oh cricket,
Sit behind the stumps,
Mumbling about lumps and rumps
When you see the ball,
It seems so small,
But before you now, you've made a catch,
With such a snatch.

My favourite subject

By Rukaiya Reeza, Kurunegala

My favourite subject is English. I like it because it is an international language and an
interesting one too. English is called a link language and a commercial language in the world. It is easy to learn because there are only 26 letters in the English alphabet. English is the second language in our country.

Peace

By Kasun Samaradiwakara (Grade 6), R/Dharmaloka Navodya Vidyalaya, Pelmadulla

All children of this great land
Both in low and high land
As one and a single piece
Mass together for its growth
and peace

My favourite author

By Kavisha Amarathunga (Grade 4), Little Flower Convent Bandarawela

My favourite author is Charles Dickens. He was born on February 7, 1812. He was the second son in his family. His father was a Navy clerk in the Naval Pay office.

Charles Dickens wrote many, many stories. He wrote Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickelby, A Tale of Two Cities and lots of stories. He married Maria Bednell, the daughter of a banker.

Oliver Twist was published in 1837. His last novel was Edwin Drood. He died on June 8, 1870. Charles Dickens is a great author.

The stag

By Samith Ailapperuma (Grade 5), Trinity College, Kandy

The stag is also known as the sambur. The male stag has a beautiful pair of horns but the female does not. Its colour is dark brown.

The stag lives in herds but they do not have such big herds like deer. Stags have only about five in a herd.

In Sri Lanka stags can mostly be found in Sinharaja forest, Yala and Horton Plains. Because male stags are large in size and have a large pair of horns it is difficult for small predators to catch them.

Only a large tiger can kill a male stag. It's life span is about 18 years.

The day I flew a kite

By Rovina Fernando (Year 2), Gateway College, Kandy

My brother and I made a kite. Then I flew the kite on the beach. The colour is red, white, purple and green.

It was a windy day. My kite is very big and beautiful. My kite flew very high. Lots of children flew kites on the beach. All the kites are going high up. I was sad because my kite thread was broken. The day I flew a kite was sad.

The Avatar

By Kshemaka Gunawardena (7 years), Lyceum International School, Wattala

My favourite cartoon is Avatar. He knows air-bending, water-bending, earth-bending and fire-bending. But he doesn't know metal bending. There are two Avatars. Avatar Roku and Avatar Ang.