Halloo Readers!
We are back this month with a collection of poems, stories and essays. Christmas, Hannukah, New Year and more… What will the festivites and the new year unfold? Here is writing with hope and happiness for a better future. It never ceases to amaze how wise and full of fun Bookosmians are! So, at end of the year, we handing over now to the glamorous Ms Sara, our favourite presenter.
Thank you for the compliment. And our festivities continue into December with more fun and dreams that draw us closer to your fantastic ideas. We start with poetry.
Poetry
10 year old Dhriti Keni from Chennai speaks for so many of us, when she talks of the world books unravels for us.
What I find in books
Travelling throughout the world
Meeting new people
Living the life
Being lost all alone
In a completely new land.
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Seeing the tall and high mountains
The enormous sky
The hot burning lava
Visiting new lands.
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Feeling the happiness
Of reading books
Meeting kings of the past
Saying hello to the green goblins.
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Dancing with princes and princesses
Living at royal castles
Solving new adventures
Swimming through enchanted oceans.
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Opening hidden past lives
Discovering new doors
Solving mysterious adventures.
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Some say reading
Maybe a hobby
But for me it’s my life.
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In unknown lands
There are mysteries
Awaiting to be solved.
Here is a wonderful nature poem on the ‘ Golden Crowned Crane’ by 8 year old Arkendu Banerjee from Kolkata.
Golden Crowned Crane
A bird from the family of crane,
With a grey coloured crown.
We will call it a grey crowned crane,
With a speciality itself in its name.
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A bird with grey crown,
Not found in the Indian town.
It’s the national bird of Uganda,
Not less famous than Anaconda.
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Displays its dance in the rains,
It is omnivorous and eats insects and grains.
And makes a honking sound,
When it moves around.
13 year old Riva Agarwal from Kolkata has something special to say to her dad. Read on.
A father’s love is underrated
We all have seen movies and read books,
On how hard our mothers work and cook.
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It is true, they work hard, but so do our fathers,
Their love should be appreciated more often too.
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I have always wanted to be like my father when I grow,
He makes me see the world with a different view.
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Whenever I have problems he is there to assist,
The ways he has helped me, would make quite a list.
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His wisdom and knowledge has shown me the way,
And I am thankful for him everyday.
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I might not tell him often enough,
But he is the one I truly love.
And here are some interesting stories.
Stories
8 year old S.Sanjana from Chennai shares this powerful story to wake us up to the issues of deforestation.
An Old Neem Tree
“Wake up, you are getting late,” said my Mom.
I am a part of a Science Club in my school and my teachers were planning for a visit to the nearby local forest, to help us learn about plants and insects. All of us were excited!
We reached the forest. Our teacher asked us to pair up and we started walking into the woods. The sad part was that we were not able to see much of trees there. We saw some shrubs, bushes and some butterflies. Here and there, we saw some huge trees.
Suddenly, I heard some noise. When I turned back, I saw a tall old neem tree.I continued walking. Again, I heard the same noise.
With confusion and curiosity, I saw the neem tree weeping. I could not believe my eyes. I went near the tree and asked how could it talk, and what was the reason to cry?
The tree said that a gang of people used to come at night and cut down the trees. The people residing near by were not aware of it. If this continued, the forest will be destroyed. “Please help us!” said the neem tree.
After hearing this, I called my friends and told them what had happened, but no one believed me. So I went and informed some people residing there. I asked them to monitor the forest at night.
Next day the same people came to my house and said that they caught the gang and handed over to the forest department. The people appreciated and thanked me.
Next week I went to the same forest with my parents. The old neem tree was so happy and it shed its leaves and flowers on me.
The neem tree said, “Thank you so much, dear. You saved the forest.”
Even now I can’t believe it happened. Did we become so inattentive as humans, that a tree had to come alive and talk to us, to save our own forest?
Avoid deforestation.
A powerful story by 12-year-old Karthik S from Bangalore gives a perfect lesson as the COVID vaccine seems likely in the near future. Hoping the execution would be smooth and well thought of, leaving our past differences behind!
COVID Vaccine for Animals
Far, far away in the Gir forest in Gujarat, there lived animals and they all had a meeting for settling the issue of creatures panicking because of COVID-19 and the lockdown started by King Simba in the forest of Gir. So, some animals came and asked for the vaccine.
King Simba announced a forest meeting at his den near the big rock and asked the royal messenger, Mr. Ping to spread the message to the respective administrators– Mr. Sharko, administrator for the sea; Mr. Oogway, Minister of the sea; Mr. Toadhog, administrator for the amphibians; Ms. Bunny, Minister of rodents; Mr. Jerry, Administrator of the farms; Mr. Pete-Administrator of the sky and Ms. Buzz- Administrator of the insects.
At last he called his royal priest, Mr. Ellyvant and his royal minister for the meeting, Ms .Pam Pam. Mr. Goat, who had spoken against King Simba last time was not invited.
They all sat down comfortably near a tree and started discussing the issue.
Elephant: Where is King Simba?
Panda: Yeah! Where is he?
Shark: We are where he told us to come.
Turtle: Let us wait. I think he is getting ready.
Lion: ROAR!!!!! I am here.
Parrot: At last he is here.
Rabbit: King Simba, what were you doing all this time?
Mouse: Everyone is getting scared of going out.
Camel: No one is coming out for water because of the fear of this virus. We need water supply and the canal is a little far.
Bee: None of the insects are coming out. Bees are not making honey as they cannot go out to collect nectar.
Lion: Yes, I understand all your concerns and that’s why I have brought Mr. Ellyvant the elephant. Mr. Ellyvant knows about Ayurveda and he has prepared a vaccine for us. Is it ready Mr. Ellyvant?
Elephant: Yes! Of course, I have prepared it so we can overcome this virus anytime but there is a problem. This medicine needs tulsi leaves and I do not have any. The animals were unsure of what to do. Some of them got scared.
Goat: Wait, there is a small tulsi plant near the farm.
Everyone looked at Mr. Goat in surprise. Wasn’t he banned from the meeting?
King Simba walked slowly towards the goat. The animals were sure the goat would be punished.
Lion: What are we waiting for then? Let us go.
The animals were relieved.
Some things are more important than small fights. They all sat in a nice car and went to the farm for the tulsi leaves. Soon the vaccine got invented and they happily lived ever after.
Here is yet another imaginative story by 8 year old Dia Nanavati from Ahmedabad.
A kingfisher named Lucy
Once upon a time in a forest called Congo, there was a Kingfisher named Lucy. She was the smartest kingfisher in the forest. Her friend was a hedgehog called Hosko. One day Lucy and Hosko went to play in the forest. While they were playing, it started getting dark and they got lost.
Hosko said, “We are lost and we don’t know where to go!” Lucy said, “Don’t worry, we will think of something.”
Suddenly they saw something sparkle like a star on the ground. Lucy picked it up to see what it was and realised it was a magic mirror. “Oh wow!” exclaimed Lucy. “Maybe we can use this magic mirror to home!”, said Lucy. But how?
Suddenly the mirror sparkled and a unicorn came out of it! The unicorn said it was sent by the magic mirror’s fairy God mother. Lucy and Hosko sat on the unicorn and reached home. They were tired so they went to sleep.
Another one of Lucy’s friends Sammy the parrot was passing by when he saw something strange on Lucy’s window. He peeked through Lucy’s window and saw a unicorn! He woke Lucy up excitedly and said, “Why is there a unicorn in your room?”.
Lucy said in a sleepy voice, “How will I know? Let’s ask the unicorn what she is doing here.”
The unicorn told Lucy, “My name is Holly and I’ve come to help you become the smartest kingfisher in the forest.” Lucy was thrilled until she realised, she already was the smartest kingfisher in the forest!
7 year old Ayaansh Patni from Kolkata is taking us off on a creative voyage, to Mars, no less. Vroooom!
A science competition, on MARS!
It was a science competition like no other. The location was Mars!
My friend and I went to Mars in a spaceship. When we landed, we wore a suit so that we would get oxygen and we would not fly away due to lack of gravity. The competition was happening in an alien school.
We showed off our invention- a dustbin that collected all the waste materials automatically. Then we all went to eat in the hostel and the aliens offered me to eat. I bit it and screamed as it hurt my tooth. It was a stone! What strange things aliens eat!
In their city, there were different types of animals that had big noses and ears. Even the sunset and sunrise were very different. Later we both saw something unusual. Plants were walking and talking!
On the trees there were many fruits , chocolates and candies. By just standing under the tree we got one chocolate in our mouth. Candies tasted like juicy fruit in our mouth. The red soil made all the plants, trees bright red. It looked beautiful.
The alien school taught us many different dances and instruments to play music. We were given a translation machine to understand them in a better way. We really enjoyed Mars. It was time for us to come back to Earth. The aliens gave us a lift. We thank our school for giving us this marvelous experience.
Now for some essays…
Essays
What do you want to be when you grow up? 13 year old Moksh Jain from Surat has a ready answer. Read on.
If I Were An Engineer
If I were an engineer, I would be wearing a long, white lab coat with M.E.O. written on it.
M.E.O is the full form of the company I am planning to create- Moksh’s Engineering Organisation. I would also be wearing those weird lightweight plastic glasses that people often wear in labs.
If I were an engineer, would work for the environment. I would make boats with magnets that would calibrate with the earth’s magnetic field and help them propel from one location to another. Think of how much the environment will benefit since no fossil fuels will be burnt!
Next, I would make a device that would absorb greenhouse gases and convert it into oxygen. This device can be used in hospitals for patients on ventilators who require oxygen to breathe.
I would also make a spaceship that would be protected against radiation as the biggest challenge in covering planetary distances is radiation. My idea is to put in a machine that vibrates in a loop and produces electricity which will give it enough power to travel in outer space.
So this in short, is what I would do, if I become an engineer.
13 year old Gofiaa from Chennai writes on Christmas. Gofiaa is a person who loves to explore new things. She always likes to be unique in whatever she does. Her hobby is learning new languages.
All about Christmas
Hurray! December has finally come, which means Christmas time!
This is a joyful time where we give, receive presents, have big feasts, decorate our home with lights and bells, having a wonderful time with our family and friends and of course receiving presents from Santa Claus and singing classic carols like jingle bells.
It reminds us of the importance of sharing, caring, living in peace and harmony with our loved ones. Now, let’s go back and see how it all started. During 6th century B.C in Bethlehem, a baby boy was born in a barn in humble conditions.
Guess who it was? Yes, it was Jesus Christ. So we celebrate Christmas on account of Lord Jesus’s birth. The celebration of Christmas started from Rome but it didn’t become a major Christian festival. Many Christmas traditions started spreading little by little until 9th century. After that it became a major Christian festival.
Now let’s talk about Santa Claus, every kid’s favourite person! It is believed that there lived a monk named St. Nicholas. He gave away all his inherited wealth and started helping the sick and the poor and buying gifts for children during Christmas. He became popular for his kindness. Many people got inspired by him and started helping poor and buying gifts for children. That is where the Santa Claus tradition began.
At first, when Christmas celebrations were started, it was only amongst Christians but now it is celebrated by everyone, no matter who they are or what religion they belong to. On Christmas Eve, preparations are made like Christmas dinner, decorations, buying gifts etc. It is the best time of the year for both kids and adults.
Christmas’s true message is to give up one’s very self, think of only of others, bringing the greatest happiness to others and to unite with every human being around the world. As the pandemic is here, let’s share our wishes and presents from safer distance.
Let us celebrate this Christmas safely and happily.
So, here is Sara wishing you all a fabulous Hannukah, Christmas & New Year! See you again in 2021
( This section is hosted by Bookosmia)
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