I was only a little bird who flew across the sky,
Playing happily with all the birds up high.
It was a great thing to be the only one up there,
As the humans on earth gave a very large stare.

How they wished that they could fly,
Some of them just let out a sigh,
My friends and I would tend to play,
So happily with joy, until one day,

Two people called Wright were there in the ground,
They were making a metal bird
how astonishing it sounds!
It flew up in the sky making a buzz like a bee,
As all, so scared, across the clouds we flee.

Maybe the people found out how we did it,
Its time for us to learn all their habits,
Respect us and love us,
I hope you heard,
That the humans learnt to fly from the amazing bird!

My trip to Trincomalee

By Shenal Fernando (11 years), St. Joseph's College

We started going at 5 in the morning on August 11, 2009. It was nearly 200 kilometres. We started off again from Kurunegala where we had breakfast at one of my father's friend's place. They also joined us on our trip.

We were going to the 4th Regiment Army Camp in Trincomalee. When we were nearing Trincomalee, the surroundings looked like an African forest. We saw deer and peacocks. The temperature at Trincomalee was very humid.

When we came to the camp, we saw the army officers training and marching. There were also friend of my father. We had a barbeque in the night. My sister and I and our friends Gayali and Gayanuka played a lot and when we were tired we went to sleep. It was a wonderful
experience.

I like my English teacher

By Sadaf Yaseen (Grade 7), Hejaaz International School

The teacher I like the most is Miss. Natashya Chamba. She is a very good, kind and understanding teacher. I like the way she teaches us. She teaches us only English. If we don't
understand anything, she explains it many times. She is very helpful to us.

She is friendly. She teaches us good habits and advises us to be good always, to do our work on time and to respect everybody. She tells us interesting stories. She studied at Bishop's College.

She never punishes us. She is very beautiful and fair. Her favourite hobby is reading. She is the best English teacher in the world. I like her very much and I also want to be like her.

Sinharaja Forest

By Rishad Rizan (13 years), D. S. Senanayake College

Sinharaja forest is a national park in Sri Lanka. It is known as an evergreen forest and a biosphere reserve. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989.

In ancient times the forest was known as the 'Kingdom of lions.' It is reported that the largest leopard in South Asia was found in Sinharaja.

It is situated in the south west lowland wet zone, in the districts of Ratnapura, Galle and Matara. The annual temperature is 23 degrees and the annual rainfall is more than 2500mm. Sinharaja forest gets its rainfall during the monsoon.

Sinharaja has tall trees. Plants like Dan, Dipteracarpus, Rhodedendron grow here. The high wind helps the plants to spread and the plants grow in four layers.

Fauna such as leopards, giant squirrels, water monitors and elephants live here. There are more than twenty endemic species in Sinharaja with plants such as Bandura and birds such as jungle fowl, thrush, magpie and small barbet seen here. We must protect Sinharaja forest for the future.

Myself

By Zaeem Rizan (7 years), Wesley College

My name is Zaeem Rizan. I am seven years old. I study at Wesley College. My favourite colour is orange. I like the subject Maths. I live in Wellawatte. I am in Grade Two.

There are seven members in our family. My favourite food is fruit and vegetables. I like to drink Fanta.

Ramazan

By Shamana Bangsajayah (Grade 7), Buddhist Ladies College

The holy month of fasting for Muslims started on August 22, 2009 throughout the world with the beginning of the Islamic month of Shahban (August).

This is the most important month in the Islamic calendar, with the fasting period commencing with the sighting of the new moon. The period of fasting will end in the Islamic month of Ramalan (September).

Ramazan is observed yearly to remind Muslims of the supplication and steadfastness in the belief of the oneness of Almighty Allah. It is during this month that the Holy Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammed (sal).

During the month of Ramazan, Muslims offer additional prayers, read the Quran daily, give charity to the poor (Zakath) and get more merit as well. They do not forget strict self-discipline.

Fasting has always become an important part for Muslims. They fast from dawn to dusk. It is
compulsory for all Muslims to fast (except for infants, sick and lactating mothers) with abstinence from all worldly needs.

The Fairy Queen

By Shenali Liyanage (8 years), Musaeus College

In fairyland, the fairy queen,
Sits upon a glittering throne
She wears a gorgeous, glittering dress
And a perfect diamond crown

She is ever so slim
The prettiest you have ever seen
Fairy cakes and fairy pies
She makes them on her own.

Elves, pixies, gnomes and fairies
They all adore this fairy queen
She's kind, graceful and pretty
Her name is Fairy G!

My parents

By Lakindu Matharaarachchi (6 years), Royal Institute International School, Nugegoda

My parents are good. They look after us. They give us food. When we are sick, they take us to the doctor. They help us in our studies. When our parents get sick and old we should look after them well.

Diversity of plants and trees

By Lilantha Tiran (12 years) Holy Cross College, Kalutara

Plants and trees are very essential to human beings and animals. Diversity of plants and trees are in the environment. We must protect the plants and trees. They give us things for our day to day life. They are medicine, shade, food, wind and many more things. Some plants are herbal and important to human beings.

Green plants make their food by photosynthesis. That is green plants use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into a complex substance which is food for plants. The plants inhale
oxygen in the night and carbon dioxide during the day time. Therefore in the night we have to put domestic plants out from our houses.

Every living being totally depends on plants and trees. Therefore everybody must do a lot of planting and protect plants and trees.

A trip to the east

By Heshan Perera (Grade 4), Matale International School, Matale

We went on a trip to the east with some of our family friends. On the 23rd at about 7 o'clock in the morning we started our trip from Matale, in a bus.

On the way we had our breakfast. Then we went to Pasikudah beach. The sea is not deep there, so we played and bathed in the sea. We had lunch and ate ice-cream.

In the evening we went to Aralanwila and spent the night there. Next morning we saw a stag and a number of peacocks in the paddy fields. There were so many wild flowers too.

We travelled to Batticaloa and went to a children's park and played. In the night we had a barbecue party.

Next day we went to Arugam Bay. It is the most beautiful beach in Sri Lanka. The waves were very huge and so many tourists were surfing in the sea. In the evening we started our trip back to Matale. We arrived at Matale at about 3 o'clock in the morning.

The trip was very interesting. We enjoyed it very much.

My trip to Sri Lanka

By Ranali Ranasinghe (6 years), New York

This summer I went to Sri Lanka for a vacation. It was great. I love it because there are a lot of people to play with. I love Kandy the most. I didn't like Colombo because it's hot.

We went to a lot of beautiful hotels and pools. We went to Athammi's house. We saw Athammis' flower garden. I like spending time with my Athammi and Seeya.

We went to see the perahera and the carnival. We went to a lot of temples. I was sad to leave my cousins and family. I wish we could live in Sri Lanka for ever.

Big cats

By Samith Ailapperuma (10 years), Trinity College, Kandy

There are seven kinds of big cats. They are lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, cougars and panthers. They have sharp claws and teeth. These animals eat the flesh of other animals.

Big cats such as lions are pack hunters but big cats such as tigers are lone hunters. Every big cat except the lion lives alone but some lions live in prides. Big cats never hunt animals like elephants and rhinoceros.

These animals bite the neck of their prey and kill it before eating. Big cats normally hunt at night-time. The biggest of the big cats are tigers. The smallest is the leopard. The only man-eater is the tiger but the other big cats attack humans rarely.

The fastest big cat is the cheetah. Cheetahs never attack humans. When there is no food for big cats they sometimes come to the village in search of food.

A little room for us children

By Rashmi Perera (11 years), Girls' High School, Kandy

I'm still a small child. There are so many children like me. In a small child's mind there is always a thought to play, dance, draw, read stories or to stay free for a short time. But we have to go to extra classes, come back and have to do homework that is given by the school.

There is no time to play for us, because after school is over, we must go to extra classes till night. On weekends, the whole days are used for extra classes.

Our small mind and brain can't bear these things. So it gets difficult to remember or understand the lessons.

Our health condition deteriorates because we are not able to play well or have food at a correct time. Another thing is carrying a large size bag full of books to school and back home, we get tired and get backaches.

Because adults do not take any notice of this we are getting into a great trouble. Dear adults, we are still small children. Please give a little room for children, then our future will be bright.

The night

By Chamodi Tharukshika (11 years), Sangamitta Girls' College, Galle

The day time is over,
The sun set from the west,
The moon is shining,
People are in bed.

And the bats are flying,
The owls are hooting,
Sepalikas blooming,
But mimosa sleeping.

The sky is full of stars,
The town is full of lights,
If these two get together,
We can see a concert.

My pet

By Maleesha Gunasekara (9 years), Ave Maria Convent, Negombo

My pet is a cat. Its name is Meeko. It is very beautiful. It likes to eat fish with rice. It likes to drink milk. Meeko is sad when we are not at home.

I like to play with Meeko very much. It likes to sleep in my bed. I love Meeko very much and Meeko loves me.