It was October 1, 2009. Our school organised a trip on Children's Day. They wanted to take us to Water World to learn and see the different kinds of fish. On that day I woke up early in the morning. My mother packed some food and drinks for me. I came to school at around half past seven.

At around 8.30 a.m., we lined up and said a prayer. We got into two buses and started our journey. We all sang songs on the way. When we reached Water World we saw a lot of children and some policemen were also there. The Chief Guest was hoisting the flag and we sang the National Anthem and then went inside Water World.

We saw some fishes such as seahorses, goldfish etc. Then we had a break and some children bought food from the canteen. We played in the children's park and then we went to the Bird Park and saw some beautiful birds such as Electus ducks and Kiwi birds. Some teachers and children took videos.

Then it started to rain and we rushed and got inside the bus. When we were going home we wished everyone a 'Happy Children's Day', and we came back to school again. It was a very good trip.

The dog

By Minoshi Sinthaby (13 years), St. Paul's Girls' School, Milagiriya

The dog is an animal. It is kept in our houses as a pet. There are dogs of various colours and sizes. The dog has four legs and a tail. Its legs are called paws. It likes to eat bones and meat. It likes to drink milk mostly.

The dog barks. Its young ones are called puppies. If the dog wants to be friendly, it wags its tail. If it is angry it snarls at people.

There are pure bred dogs and stray dogs. The dog looks after the house by barking at strangers. It warns people if thieves or robbers are about. The dog is a really interesting animal.

My college history

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

My school is St. Joseph's College. Archbishop Rev. Christopher Bonjean suggested on building a Catholic College. A meeting was called on April 2, 1892 and the circulation of lists was the result of the archbishop's timely action.

The foundation stone was laid by Manager Ladislaus Zaleski, Delegate Apostolic, on December 15, 1894. Archbishop Rev. Andrew Melizan and others contributed Rs. 120,000 towards the cost. On November 27, Rev. Fr. Zaleski blessed the building which was opened by Sir Joseph West Ridgeway.

The first rector of our college was Rev. Fr. Charles Collin and there have been 11 more rectors since then.

October

By Adrian Wijeyewickreme (Grade 5), St. Peter's College

October is a very special month. On October 1, we celebrate Children's Day. We also celebrate Elders' Day. October 4 is the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. On October 6 we celebrate Teachers' Day.

My country

By Thihanse Ranaweera (Grade 3), Musaeus College

My country is Sri Lanka. Our country is a developing country. My country is a beautiful country. It is an island. Our country is small but my country has nice sceneries.

India is the nearest country to us. Our staple food is rice. Our national bird is the Jungle Fowl. The main commercial crops in Sri Lanka are tea, rubber and coconuts.I love my country very much.

My sister

By Kavinu Undugodage (7 years), S. Thomas' Preparatory School, Colombo 3

My sister is Minuri Undugodage. She is 11 years old. She goes to Musaeus College. She is in Grade Seven.

She can sing very well and plays the piano. I play Scrabble and cards with her. She likes to eat pizza. She likes to drink orange juice. I love my sister.

A mystery from ancient times

By Mithila Ranaweera (Grade 7), Nalanda College

The Bermuda Triangle has been a mystery from ancient times. It is situated between Miami, San Juan and Bermuda. It is in the Atlantic Ocean. A ship or plane cannot sail or fly in this triangle.

Christopher Columbus said that when he was going to land in America, he sailed through this area and his compass didn't work. In the corner of the horizon he had seen a bright light and it had
fallen into the sea.

Flight 19 was a bomber plane that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle. In 1918, USS Cyclops and her crew also disappeared in this triangle. Some people believe that aliens kidnap planes and ships in this area. Others believe that the lost city of Atlantis is in this area.

In 1991, a group of people searched 600 feet deep in the sea and found five Avenger planes. But Flight 19 was not found. When I grow up I will find out the secret of the Bermuda Triangle.

Ben 10

By Susal Dabarera (7 years), St. Peter's College

Ben was a normal boy. His grandfather gave him a wristwatch as a present for his birthday. There were ten heroes in it. He was known as Ben 10 after that.

The names of the 10 heroes are Fourarms, Greymatter, Excelerate, Wildmutt, Heatblast, Upgrade, Ghostreek, Diamondhead, Stingfly and Ripcord. Whatever hero he needs, he can call them and press the watch and Ben can be that hero in a moment.

My grandfather

By Abdul Zalmy (Grade 1), Royal Institute

My grandfather's name is Rawoof Pasha. He is sixty three years old. He likes to eat mangoes and chocolate. He wears white sarongs and white shirts.

He is my father's father. When he is free he will watch TV. He will get up in the morning and then go to office. He is very fair. I love my grandfather and he loves me too.

The Pinnawela Elephant Orphange

By Fahmiya Lafeer (Grade 5), Gampola International School

The Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage is in the Kegalle district. The road that leads to the orphanage is about two kilometres from Kegalle town, on the Kandy road.

It was started in 1975. There are baby and adult elephants in the orphanage. They are all rescued elephants. Farmers shoot at elephants when they come to their villages. Some elephants fall into pits, wells and water holes, when they come in search of water in the dry season.

Some injured elephants fall on the way. They cannot get up because of pain, hunger and thirst. Such elephants are brought to the orphanage.

Every morning the elephants walk in a line to the Maha Oya for bathing. They love to be in the water for a long time.

The baby elephants below one year are infants. Those between one year and five years are calves. The male adults are bulls and the female adults are cows. The adults eat coconut leaves, jak leaves and kithul trunks. You can spend hours and hours watching them.

My favourite author

By Kavindya Karunathilake (11 years), Lexicon International School, Kandy

My favourite author is Enid Blyton. I like to read her books. They are wonderful. Out of all I like the Secret Seven and Famous Five books.

When I'm reading her books, I feel as if I'm in the story too. Those books are very attractive. Her books are mostly based on adventures.

As my mother said, the stories she told her children were not adapted from books; but she told her own stories to her children. Later she started to write story books which were especially meant for children and they are very affable. So that's why I chose Enid Blyton as my favourite author.

A trip to the moon

By Akif Ameer (Grade 6), Hillburn International College, Balangoda

One day I went on a trip to the moon in a rocket. When I started to go, a big crowd was cheering at me. I was happy and scared.

The rocket went very fast. I was in the universe now. I could see the planets, sun and the moon. The half of the earth had light and the other was dark. The countries were very small. I couldn't see the sun because it was like a fireball. Then the rocket landed on the moon.

The moon was round. I was wearing a white spacesuit and carrying an oxygen tank. I was covering my face with a glass helmet. The moon was like a white sand ball. It had holes on it. I went jumping and kept the Sri Lankan flag near the American flag, but it didn't fly because there is no air in the moon. I came home happily and proud to be the first Sri Lankan to step on the moon.

My village

By Tharindu Madushanka (Grade 6), Kuruwita Central College

The name of my village is Kadangoda. It is a small village. It is situated two miles from Kuruwita. The famous Bopath waterfall is close to my village.

There are about sixty families living in my village. Tea is a famous cultivation in my village. All the people living in my village are Sinhalese and Buddhists. I love my village very much.

A rainy day

By Maneka Wijesundara (12 years), Ecole Internationale, Digana

I hope all of us have enjoyed a rainy day. But I enjoyed it rather fantastically. It was a great day filled with fun.

At once dark fluffy clouds appeared. Birds faced towards their homes and it started to drizzle. Within some time it started to rain cats and dogs.

People were having brisk walks with umbrellas, raincoats, heavy boots, caps and hats. Some were cuddling up like cold statues inside bus halts. But I thought staying like this was rather silly.

So I happily took off my raincoat and played in the rain, splashed in huge puddles which threw water all over my body. It was really cool! I saw office workers running with their briefcases and handkerchiefs on their heads.

Almost all the people were trying to get rid of the rain. But I played happily with loads and loads of fun, which was missed by others who tried their best to get out of the rain.

After the rain stopped, I was soaked like a wet piece of wool. But I had a fantastic time with the marvellous rain!

The barking deer

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

The barking deer is a small deer which is 20 inches tall. It is known as a mammal. It lives in
Sri Lanka and India.

This animal roams at night. A person can see him only in the morning at about 5 a.m., and in the evening at about 6 p.m. It normally does not live in herds. It is brown in colour. Even though most of the male deer have a beautiful pair of horns, the male barking deer does not.

It eats grass, undupiyali and does not eat leaves on trees. When a female barking deer and a male barking deer mate, it does not leave its mate until they get another fawn.

The female barking deer is smaller than the male. The barking deer lives about seven years.

Peace

By Saduni Wanniarachchi (9 years), Lyceum International School, Panadura

Peace is what we need
Everybody needs love
And let's pray to our religion above
Criminals make the world a nightmare
Earth should be a place of joy, love and care.