Last year during the second term holidays, we went on a trip to Kandalama. My mother, father, sister, grandmother and myself went on the trip.

Kandalama is a very big jungle. Kandalama Hotel is situated deep in the jungle. At night, lots of wild elephants run very fast. We were in the hotel for about three days. It is an Aitken Spence group hotel. Our room number was 355. The hotel food was very tasty. The hotel is a five star hotel.

When we were going on the road to the hotel, we saw monkeys crossing the road. My grandmother kept the balcony door open so the monkeys came and stole some fruits.

We could see the Sigiriya Rock from our room. The Kandalama Lake is very big. This was the best trip I ever had.

My best friend

By Nashwan Rawlins (5 years) Gateway College, Rajagiriya

My best friend's name is Azam. He is five years old. Azam's favourite colour is blue. He likes to play with me on the swing.

Azam's favourite fruits are apples. His favourite drink is Apple Soda. His favourite cartoon is Scooby- Doo. Azam likes to be a doctor.

The bottle which helped me

By Mauli David (Grade 4), St. Bridget's Convent

One day, I came home from school. My parents were at office. I felt like I was sick. My Granny was at home. She said, "We will go to the doctor in the evening."

I slept in my bed. Suddenly, I saw my water bottle wriggling. Then it came down, touched my head and said, "You have a high fever. I will help you. What do you want?"

I said, "I want some water." In five minutes, it came back and poured some water into my mouth.
My fever grew higher and higher. The bottle said, "I will bring you some medicine," and
disappeared. The bottle crept into the doctor's

dispensary and listened to what the doctor said to a patient with fever and brought back the
medicine that the doctor gave the patient.

The bottle came back home and said, "Drink this." The bottle poured the medicine into my mouth.
I drank all of it. I felt much better. I was happy and said; "Thank you for saving my life." "You are welcome. I like to help good children," the bottle said and disappeared.

My parents came home and I told them about the bottle. But they didn't believe me. Maybe I saw it in a dream!

The strawberry buns

By Achini Perera (Grade 7), Our Lady of Victories Convent, Moratuwa

My mother was making my favourite buns on a spring morning. The buns had delicious strawberry pieces and pink topping with currants. She baked the buns and kept them on the window-sill to cool off.

At that moment, our neighbour Jim came along and spotted the lovely strawberry buns. Jim was a greedy boy and can you believe it, he sneaked in and stole five buns! When my mother returned, she found that five of the strawberry buns had vanished into thin air. She was sure that she had made ten buns. How could they disappear within

fifteen minutes? Suddenly she saw Jim go past our house and realised what had happened.
The next day she baked again and made sure to put sticky glue on the buns instead of strawberry
topping. She kept them on the window-sill and waited. Jim appeared again and stole the buns.

He started eating, his hands and mouth got stuck together and he couldn't get his hands free!
My mother saw him struggling in the garden and laughed and laughed until tears came to her eyes. Wasn't it a good way to catch a thief? Jim learnt his lesson and never looked at strawberry buns again!

The morale of this story is "Don't be greedy and don't take what does not belong to you!"

Reading books is my hobby

By Shahama Hasheem (Grade 8), Muslim Ladies College

If you read books you can gain a lot of knowledge by learning new words and facts about the world around us; different countries, people, culture and so on. There are many important things you can learn from books.

Reading is my hobby and I have read many books. I also have lots of books which
I keep on a book shelf in my room. I enjoy reading these books. When I read a book, I write down all the information that I gather from it.

I like reading Secret Seven and Famous Five by Enid Blyton, even though they are not educational books I can still learn new words from them and also improve my reading ability. I also read many books about geography and the natural world.

I enjoy reading about sharks and dinosaurs. I learn a lot by reading these books and
various other books too.

My teacher

By Husna Jameel (8 years), Harrow International College

My teacher's name is Sarah Farook. She is in charge of my class. She teaches us Science, English, Mathematics and Social Studies. She is kind but also punishes us when we are naughty. She advises us and corrects us when we are wrong.

She is beautiful and wears pretty dresses. She always has time to listen to us. I love my teacher. May God bless her always.

Myself

By Wimandhya Abeysooriya (Grade 2), Lyceum International School, Nugegoda

I am a good girl. My name is Wimandhya Abeysooriya. I am seven years old. My school is Lyceum International School. I am in Grade 2E.

I like red colour. My favourite subject is Maths. I like to eat mangoes. I like to drink milk. I want to learn to be a lawyer.

Rain

By Shaariqah Ismath (8 years), Minaret High School

When rain comes
Plants are happy
Birds are happy
Animals are happy
But I am not happy
Because I will get wet!

Trip to Pinnawala

By Wasana Tennakoon (Grade 4) Lyceum International School, Ratnapura

It was a happy day for me because our school was planning to take us to Pinnawala. It was a Friday. All Grade Three and Four classes were taken to Pinnawala in two buses. My friends and I danced and sang songs. We were keen to see the elephants.

We reached Pinnawala at 11 a.m. At that time the elephants were bathing in the river. The day was an unforgettable day for me because on that day a baby elephant was born. We saw the newly born elephant. We all felt happy.

Not only that, we saw Raja. Raja is an elephant. Raja can stay like a statue. It has long tusks. We all love Raja. We came to know how happily the elephants live there. They love to bathe and play with mud. We saw many elephants and how they were treated. According to me Pinnawala is a kingdom for many orphan elephants.

I thank all of them because they conserve our elephants. I must thank our school because I learnt many things about elephants.

My favourite TV programme

By Bhagya Mallawaarachchie (13 years) Lexicon International School, Kandy

My favourite TV programme is Shadow Star, which is telecast on Swarnavahini every Wednesday at 9.30 p.m. This programme is very attractive and very popular among the spectators.

The competitors imitate very famous people. Among those competitors my favourite is Anuruddha Fonseka who imitates the shadow of Michael Jackson. His dances, dresses, face, body structure and hair style are very similar to Michael Jackson.

The judges in this competition give a good judgment for these competitors. All of my family members enjoy watching this programme.

If I could be like the Famous Five

BY Dinali Wijayasooriya (13 years), Kekirawa Central College

It is so interesting to find something new and search for a mystery. Walk and search about old ruined castles, old wrecked ships, ghost trains and others.

Oh! It's so marvellous. If I could to join with George, Anne, Julian, Dick and their cute little dog Timmy, I can gain a lot of experiences that I have never got, solving the problems that have sunk years ago. By sharing their own ideas they can solve them easily. That is real team work. That's why I like it.

Secretly, they go finding new adventures. If I have an island of my own, with rabbits and species of butterflies everywhere, I also like to find new adventures. But if my parents let me do such things that is the best thing.

My Grandpa

By Mohammed Hisham (Grade 2), Uva College, Badulla

My Grandpa's name is Mohammed Farouk. He is very tall and fair. I go to see him during the school holidays. He loves me a lot as I'm his eldest grandson. And I love him too.

Butterflies

By Nethmini Wattetenna (8 years), St. Anthony's B.M.C., Kandy

Butterflies are very beautiful. Butterflies like honey. Butterflies come to my garden. Children like butterflies. I love butterflies very much.

King of Pop - Michael Jackson

By Kalani Rathnaweera (13 years), Holy Cross College, Gampaha

June 25 was a tragic day for all the fans of M J because it was the day that Michael Jackson died at 50. Who is Michael Jackson? Let's peep into MJ's world to find out a little information about him.

MJ's full name was Michael Joseph Jackson. He was born on August 29, 1958, in America. He was the youngest boy in his family. His father Joe Jackson made a band named 'Jackson 5'. Little Michael was the main singer in it.

He entered the musical world in 1979 with his first album named 'Off the Wall.' His most famous music album was 'Thriller.' After that he could amuse his fans with his albums named 'Dangerous', 'Bad', 'Invincible', 'History' etc.

Michael Jackson sang songs for adults, young ones, children, and the environment. 'We don't care about us', 'Earth Song', 'Heal the World', are examples of it. MJ's beautiful and unbelievable performances helped him to become a person who remains in our hearts forever.

In his song 'Heal the World' he says, "Make a better place for you and for me". So it is his wish. We have to make a better world as Michael Jackson wished.

Peacock

By Chaveen Dias (7 + years), Richmond College, Galle

Peacock is a bird. It is beautiful. Peacock has beautiful feathers. I like the peacock's feathers.
It can dance nicely. It lives in the jungle. The female peacock is called a peahen.

My super hero

By Chandula Jayakody (Grade 4) Ceylinco Sussex College, Kurunegala

My super hero is Batman. He is braver than a lion. He is faster than a cheetah. He is bigger than a horse. He is smarter than a wolf. But he is smaller than an elephant.