Hey everyone!

Makar Sankranti or Uttarayan or Maghi or simply Sankranti, is a festival day in the Hindu calendar,  dedicated to the deity Surya.

I am so excited to hear how my friends across the world share about how they celebrate the harvest festival.

Here is 5 year old Kiara talking about how she learnt about the festival and celebrated it in New York. Kiara goes to pre  kindergarten at child time, Queensbury, NY.

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Every year, my mom explains to me how she celebrated kite flying festival (Uttarayan) in India. Every year, she makes chikki (sesame cookie) too.

My mom and I make kites. I decorate the kites. My mom tells me they used to go up to the terrace to fly kites and enjoy kite fights. I live in USA and we don’t  have a terrace. So we go to the backyard and fly kites.

I love the sesame chikki. My mom tells me that it is a healthy cookie. I also painted the kite on a canvas with my mom. I practiced few Gujarati words related to Uttarayan.

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! While COVID has locked us in, our imagination can still help us revisit all those lovely holidays! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 

Today’s write up by 10 year old  Aaditri Paul from Kolkata is of a must visit place that is hailed as one of the monumental wonders of the world.

Aaditri is a 10 year girl from Kolkata, full of creativity. She is fond of writing and always tries to share her feelings through writing. She loves dancing and sketching and doodle art too. Aaditri is a student of Chamatkar, organized by Sandhya Maheshwari. She goes to DPS Megacity, Kolkata

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One of the must visit tourist spot in this world is The Great Wall of China. It is  one of the wonders of the world.

The Great Wall of China is mainly located in the Northern China. It is made up  of millions and millions of brick and is also known as, one of the longest man- made structure in the world. It is one of the greatest and longest architecture  of the world.

The Great Wall of China was built by Qin Shi Huang, who was also the first  emperor of China. He was also the founder of Qin dynasty, the first dynasty of  imperial China. Qin Shi Huang was also known as Shihuangndi.

The Great Wall of China was a huge construction which took a period of over 200 years to be completed. The reason behind constructing this wall was to protect China from intruders.  Many workers worked very hard to make this wall and it took tons of money to construct it.

It is believed that about hundreds of thousands of people died during the  construction of The Great Wall of China and many of  them were buried within the wall. The Great Wall of China, frequently billed as the only man-made object visible from space, generally isn’t, at least to the unaided eye in low Earth orbit. It certainly isn’t visible from the Moon, as confirmed by NASA.

The Great Wall of China is over 2000 years old but still is a very famous  tourist place and gets lots of tourist every year. The Great Wall of China also became an UNESCO world heritage in December 1987.

I would recommend everyone to visit The Great Wall of China after this Covid  situation as it is one of the best places to visit. A famous quote on The Great  Wall of China is that “Enemy at the gates! – soldiers below the Great Wall.”

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Enjoyed reading? Have your own travel memory you would like to share and get published? Here is how to go about it-

Hey friends, Sara here! Here is a special eBook, something you won’t have seen before- A compilation of the best newspaper columns by under 16 Bookosmians.

“How did they become young journalists?” you ask.

Through our experiential ‘Be a Journalist’ Workshop with veteran journalists. Book a seat at the next workshop here.

Read this unique compilation below or download your copy Opinionated a free ebook by young journalist Bookosmia

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! While COVID has locked us in, our imagination can still help us revisit all those lovely holidays! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 

Folks, Sara here. I have decided. For my next vacation, I want to go to a prison. Don’t be shocked! For visiting, I mean.

Check this beautiful travelogue of Alcatraz Island by 8 year old Harshika Khanna from Kolkata and you will want to visit prison too!

Harshika is a student of Word Munchers.

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During our last vacation to the U.S.A, we went to many museums and the one that fascinated me the most was the prison museum on Alcatraz Island.

We took a ferry to the island from San Francisco Bay. The rather large prison could be spotted from a distance. We were given a device with earphones attached to it, that would tell us facts about the prison.

I was really excited to explore what was there inside the prison, now converted into a museum.

As we entered, we came across some well-preserved jail cells, a library and some old pictures with information related to it. It was fascinating to see the reading material which was provided to the prisoners in those times.

There were provisions for outdoor sports as well as recreational activities, which clearly explained that the Government was much concerned about the well-being of their inmates. Dummies were placed inside the cells to give the tourists a real life feel of the prison.

There was a separate shower area which could accommodate over twenty prisoners at once. In the cells, they had towels, a sink, a table, a toilet seat and the bed. They had a large dining room were all the staff and the inmates would have three meals a day. All their rations were stored in a large granary. There was a special visitor room where the visitors could come and visit the inmates. However, they could only see each other through a glass window and communicate via an intercom. All their conversations were monitored by the officers.

Sometimes, prisoners tried to escape but none of them was successful because the prison was heavily guarded. Even if the prisoner managed to break through his cell, the only way out of the island was through a ship or air because the water was very cold for swimming and the prisoner would die of the strong water currents. All this information left me restless as I was wondering what kind of a life the prisoners were living here.

The prison had finally closed down in 1963 because it was too expensive to run. My visit to Alcatraz Island was very informative. The island has a very interesting past and everyone should visit this place once in their lifetime.

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Enjoyed reading? Have your own travel memory you would like to share and get published? Here is how to go about it.

Places with Sara: Travel Review Submission Guidelines

Hey everyone! Sara here, bringing you awesome book reviews by young readers just like you and me!

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today, we have a review  by 9 year old Aaradhya S Nair from Chennai for the classic ‘ The owl who was afraid of the dark’ by Jill Tomlinson. Have you read it? Tell us!

Aaradhya is a student of Phonics Power.

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Title – “ The Owl who was afraid of the dark”.

Writer – Jill Tomlinson

Illustrated by – Paul Howard

When I saw the cover page I felt like going to read a story of a cute little owl.

I got this book from school.  The main character of the story was a Barn owl. It was a cute and beautiful owl but was afraid of the dark. The story is about overcoming the fear of darkness.

I was impressed with the writing and illustrations of the story. It was easy to understand. My favourite part of the story was the way in which the Barn owl overcomes his fear of darkness. After reading this story I have understood that if we have some fear of something we have to overcome that.

I have overcome the fear of dogs after reading this story. The best age group for reading this book is 6 to 8 years

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! While COVID has locked us in, our imagination can still help us revisit all those lovely holidays! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 

Today we have 9 year old Devansh from Kolkata writing about his fascination for Dubai. He already knows where he is going to do his MBA from! What a smart guy!

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What a wonderful sight I see right now,
Nothing like this in my small humble town.
Such pretty scenes the habitants see everyday,
Why would these Dubai dwellers ever frown!

Multi-storied buildings overlooking the bay,
Looking like tall missiles jutting into the sky.
This is my definition of paradise, oh Jesus,
What the view must be from up so high!

It looks like strings of lights drape these buildings,
Studying here is better than wearing the crown.
I’ll take a job in Dubai only, no matter what,
And never go back to my quaint little town.

What a wonderful experience it would be,
Doing my MBA here will be absolute bliss.
Imagine seeing this magnificent sight daily,
I’m very sure the entire Dubai is like this.

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Enjoyed reading? Have your own travel memory you would like to share and get published? Here is how to go about it.

Places with Sara: Travel Review Submission Guidelines

Hey everyone! I am so excited to hear about my friends from across the country telling me how they celebrate the harvest festival.

Here’s 7 year old Keshav from Navi Mumbai telling us about the celebrations at his state Maharashtra.

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Hey everyone ! Sara here. Happy Pongal to you all of you!

13 year old Yalini from Chennai shares her cherished memories of celebrating this festival with her beloved family. Tell us about your festival plans!

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Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature.

Today’s write up is an epistolary work, which means in the form of letters by 16 year old Ishita Jain from Kolkata.

Ishita is a 16 year old who loves reading and writing. She is someone who would rather curl up with a book, with a hot cup of tea than go out and socialize. She loves to listen to music as well.

She goes to La Martiniere for Girls School and is a student of Word Munchers.

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Dear Aunt, 

Do you remember the day you told me to take time out of my busy schedule from time to time to be in the lap of nature? Well, this December, I got such an opportunity. As a part of a science class activity, I was handed the responsibility of leading a group of juniors on a bird watching expedition. We went to Keoladeo National Park, India’s most famous bird watching park. It is a small wetland in Rajasthan that domiciles over 400 species of birds.

Our science teacher was a retired ornithologist, who helped us throughout the trip. We were told by our guide, to be quiet in order to experience the thrill of observing exotic birds. The group of juniors were very cooperative and understanding; the group touring with us, were an obstreperous lot.

In that tranquil atmosphere in the wilderness, we saw many birds such as painted storks, bar-headed goose and Indian courser. However, the bird that caught my eye the most was the Demoiselle Crane, which is the smallest of the crane species. Their bodies and outer wings are a pale silver-blue in colour and their tails and the underside of their wings, are black in colour. Their necks are black while there are pearly white feathers on the side of their eyes. They also have a mane-like set of feathers on their chest that makes them look graceful and elegant. This attractive bird has red eyes and small, ivory beaks, with grey and pink marks on them. 

Seeing this bird, all of us were left awe-struck and unable to tear our eyes away from it. Their call is like that of a ‘high-pitched trumpet’, as our guide had told us. They are migratory birds who migrate to South-Asia during the breeding season of winter. 

We spent that entire day in awe of the entire park filled with beautiful, exotic birds. I learnt a lot about different kinds of birds that day and I plan on visiting the park along with you next time you are in Rajasthan. 

Yours Lovingly,

Ishita.

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the works of young artists who share their beautiful work and their passion for artwork in form of a write-up!

6 year old Vivaan Srivastava shares a sweet little story with his beautiful artworks.

Vivaan is a student of Indian High School, Dubai.

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One day a girl named Sally was walking in the woods.

Suddenly, she saw two feathers of pink and green colour. She thought “Wow, they are so lovely. Let me take them home and show to my mother.”

She ran home and showed them to her mother. Her mother threw them out of the window thinking they are dirty and full of germs. Sally felt sad. She went to her room and kept crying. After a while she slept. Next morning she woke up and saw many golden feathers in her room. She was overjoyed and thanked God!

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the works of young artists who share their beautiful work and their passion for artwork in form of a write-up!

7 year old Lekishaa Thodda shares important messages for the year 2021 through her beautiful artworks.

Lekishaa is a student  of N.S.N Memorial Higher Secondary School.

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A child’s hands are too small to work,
But they are perfect for holding a pencil.

They have only a few years to be a child.

We the bubbling kids of the future generation feel that literacy is the jump off point from which all of life’s successes take flight.

Here’s to every child in the world – may you always have a chance at being educated.

Our planet’s most valuable resource is water.

If we save water, it will save us. So, preserve water and preserve life

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Hey there, your best friend Sara here! Here is another ‘Best of 2020’ eBook, but this one is on a unique theme – Book Vs Movie Reviews!

Sounds exciting? I loved this theme that my friends at Young Orators had of comparing our favourite books with their movie adaptations. So here it is! The reviews in this eBook are written by young minds, just like you and me.

So read on and send me your own reviews at sara@bookosmia.com

Download Bookosmia’s Book Vs Movie Review

or read the flipbook below-

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the works of young artists who share their beautiful work and their passion for art work in form of a write-up!

9 year old Riddhima shares her favourite artworks with us.

She is a student of Loreto Convent School.

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I myself was not aware that I can paint.  Before lockdown, my father had got canvas at home to gift it to a friend who loves painting, however, due to lockdown my father could not gift it. So I decided to paint on it. While painting I never had any specific idea on what I will paint.

I had once seen a Buddha painting in a restaurant so I made that and when my parents saw they were pleasantly surprised and their words of encouragement, motivated me further in this art journey of mine.

This one is my favorite, as I love to swing and missed it the most during lockdown, so I painted myself imagining swinging and being in the open environment the way I was before covid 19.

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! While COVID has locked us in, our imagination can still help us revisit all those lovely holidays! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 

I can’t wait to pack my bags and head out. Until then lets  read through these wonderful travel memories from kids. Lets keep our wish lists ready!

Ritwik is a Ninth grader studying in Lawrence School , Ooty. He is a simple, friendly, organized and peace loving  boy. He  loves to play all kinds of outdoor sports, however his forte is cricket .His sincerity and dedication in everything that interests him, is commendable. Ritwik is a student of Young Orators.

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If you are wondering what gave Rudyard Kipling the idea of writing the epic The Jungle Book, then the answer is the Kanha Tiger Reserve, also known as  Kanha- Kisli National Park.

The Kanha Tiger Reserve is one of the most famous tiger reserves of India and the largest national park of Madhya Pradesh. Kanha National Park was created on 1 June 1955 and was designated a tiger reserve in 1973 under project tiger  launched by then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi.

Today it encompasses an area of 940kmsq in the two districts Mandla and  Balaghat together with a surrounding buffer zone of 1067kmsq and the  neighbouring 110km sq Phen Sanctuary, it forms the Kanha Tiger Reserve,  which is one of the biggest in the country. This also makes it the largest  national park in Central India.

The park has a large variety of flora and fauna. The park is home to the
fearless Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, sloth bear and the rare Barasingha amongst others. It is also the first reserve in India to have its official mascot,
Bhoorsingh, the Barasingha.

Kanha also hosts around 300 species of birds and the most commonly seen birds are the black ibis, bee-eaters, white-breasted Kingfisher among many more. The flora here includes over 1000 species of flowering plants. The lowland forest is a mixture of Sal and other mixed-forest trees. A notable Indian ghost  tree can also be seen in the dense forest. The view here is breathtaking and it  is always a pleasure to be here among the dense and beautiful forests of Kanha Tiger Reserve.

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Enjoyed reading? Have your own travel memory you would like to share and get published? Here is how to go about it.

The Christmas and New Year festivities helped us make some special memories, to end a grim year.

Here is 10 year old Prachi Kothari from Mumbai, sharing with us what made her year end festivities special.

Prachi Kothari started off, writing a small poem as her homework  and then reached great heights. She now writes poems as well as  fascinating kids stories. She has a passion for writing motivational poems. She has two books, “Rainbow in the sky” and “The blooming flowers.” Prachi is a student of Children’s Academy Group of Schools(Malad)

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Poem-My Special Christmas

In the chilly morning, the shiny blue sky

I went out to play in the snow but something happened as if in a sci-fi,

A golden spot lit as I touched my feet to snow.

I flew far away from that golden glow

I bounced on a roller which had attractive gifts,

And cute little elves were working hard and had red rosy lips

“Ho ho ho,” spoke a voice

While I was still on the roller with no joy.

The voice was Santa Claus’s, wearing his peculiar red cap

And in his hands, a big bag with an arresting wrap,

But in no seconds before I could ask Santa any question,

I reached my home back with popping questions, “Was it fiction?”

The day was Christmas and we kept sock and cookies,

And decorated the Christmas tree.

With shining, dangling bells

And with colourful glistening stars,

I felt this Christmas was the best.

And I slept wondering, what would happen next

I always wished if I had a telescope,

Or a going-to-space rope

The next wintry morning I woke up,

I opened the gift and it was incredible,

I got the telescope I had always wished for.

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the works of young artists who share their beautiful work and their passion for work!

11 year old  Sanjay is highly passionate towards drawing.

Sanjay is a student of N.S.N Memorial ,Chitlapakkam, Chennai.

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I was attracted to drawing from my childhood and started to draw on my own. As my parents felt that I was very good at drawing, they enrolled me for a drawing class.

My drawing teacher who is a master in ‘Fine Arts’ helped me improve my drawing skills.

I made this cartoon Ganesha on Ganesha Festival 

I really enjoy drawing vehicles.

I am inspired by the YouTube channel ‘Sway’ for learning to draw them.

Drawing helps me improve my imagination and creativity.

Here are some of my favourite drawings of vehicles :

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Here is a simple and good read by 8 year old Aisha Mehta from Gurgaon, of a visit to the museum.

Aisha has an inquisitive mind and is often able to find answers to many questions by her own observations. Her parents find her more independent than they would ordinarily expect children her age. She loves art and craft.
Aisha goes to Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurgaon and is a student of Word Munchers.

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Last year I visited the Transport Museum in Gurugram with my family. It was an enormous museum, a  phenomenal place and an absolute delight to see. It is a great place for learning about the transport culture of India from the beginning.  It showed how in the olden days we had wooden wheels and now  we have countless rockets, double decker planes and fascinating cars.

It was a beautifully designed and well-organized museum. At the entrance,   there was a map which showed the layout of the museum. It spread over 4  floors, was spaciously built with lifts and easy ramps to walk. One section that was my favorite was the wheel section. There were more than hundred different types of wheels. They all were placed very carefully according to the  years they were invented in.

There were not many people in the museum, it was quite `peaceful. Next, we came to a section with a large double decker van. Inside there were very  fragile objects and lots of artifacts.

We spent a couple of hours exploring the museum. The museum was really a  big inspiration for all of us. It showed the evolution of transportation from horse-carts and carriages, to fancy cars and big vehicles like airplanes
and rockets.

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Enjoyed reading? Have your own travel memory you would like to share and get published? Here is how to go about it.

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the works of young artists who  share their beautiful work and their passion for work!

13 year old Neshaa from Chennai loves drawing and it shows! Neshaa is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chennai.

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I love drawing, especially pencil shading .

I started drawing when I was 11. I saw my neighbors drawings and was impressed by it. I took to it.

I love to draw and dance. These are some of my drawings.

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Hey, your best friend Sara here. Very often we are called kids and asked not to talk about important and serious world issues, but I am here to change that.

It is extremely important for young voices to understand, process and communicate the reality of the world they are inheriting. Let us  ‘Be the change.’

This eBook is a collection of 5powerful essays, written by young writers, just like you and me. Come on, give them a read, tell me what you feel and don’t forget to send me your own write ups at sara@bookosmia.com

Download Powerful Young Voices by Bookosmia or read the flipbook here

Sara here friends. Wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year !

Here is a jolly poem talking of a jolly time, by 9 year old Noah Batolar from Gurgaon. Noah is a student of Kathavachak, Not Just Tales.

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Christmas is a jolly time of year

Where everyone opens up to good times and cheer

Nothing can stop this holiday

Almost everyone celebrates this day.

All negative thoughts are thrown into a pit

Christmassssssssssssss, what a jolly time

Put up the decorations

Light up the fireplace

Sing the carols and

All of that is just the beginning for a cheerful new year!

Happy New Year friends, Sara here! Here is hoping 2021 will be nothing like 2020. Read this wonderful essay by 9 year old Sia Patel from Ranchi about how she is ready with fresh positivity to greet the new year, even after a very tough 2020.

Sia Loves reading books and writing short stories. Her dream is to publish her book of short stories for kids and become a famous writer. She loves dancing and plays squash. She is a student Loreto Convent, Ranchi

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2020 wasn’t as exciting as I thought. It was more like a prison but it was good spending quality time with my parents, my sister and my pet dog. In this pandemic I hardly bothered about day, date, and month because everyday seemed the same to me.

Soon online classes started. Initially, it was boring as no one understood the instructions given by the teachers. They did not mute themselves and time was wasted. We could not talk to our friends which was the worst part. If it  would have been school I could have played with them at lunch break but there was no school so no playing and mostly no talking.
Soon we made a friends group on mobile and we started doing zoom meetings but that also did not happen often as our parents restricted our screen time. Because of this pandemic, I wasn’t able to meet my new class teacher or my  new friends in the class.

I did get to learn many new things while staying at home like  doodling from a  book by Liz Pichon known as TOM Gates. I read lots of books, yes, a total of 31 books! Few things were really fun doing while staying at home.

What I missed most was celebrating festivals like we did earlier and vacations to a new place. Everything was restricted with a limited number of friends and relatives. I even lost my grandfather in September this year due to his illness. I miss him so much. He loved and pampered my sister and me a lot.

The only thing that was good this year was I got my first pet dog, Bingo.  He is very cute and mostly a good friend of mine. I had so many plans for 2020 with my friends. We had already discussed our ideas for celebrating our birthday parties with different themes but nothing could be executed because of  coronavirus. We did most of the celebrations virtually this year.

Now that it’s time for the year end of 2020 so let’s welcome 2021 and say goodbye to 2020. Let’s  stay strong for facing all the problems in future and  hope that 2021 brings lots of good time and positivity to everyone.

Hey, your best friend Sara here! Do you know that everyday children from across the world share with me, the stories they wrote on their own? I love them and am sure you would love them too!

Here is a year end gift from me to you- the best of of Thriller Stories by Young Writers in 2020! Ready? Go on and get spooked!

or download the pdf Bookosmia’s Thriller Stories

Hey, your best friend Sara here. Is there any chance we can end THIS year with a smile?

You bet! To our rescue are the young writers from across the world, who shared their humorous write-ups and managed to make us grin, cheek to cheek. My friend Ditto and I pulled together the best of 2020.

The uplifting writings in this book, have been written by young writers, just like you and me. Come on, give them a read and don’t forget to send your own stories to me at sara@bookosmia.com.

Download here Bookosmia Humour by young writers with Sara

Once upon a Christmas, Mother Mary was creating cookies for the man in red and white. You guessed it! SANTA!  Father Filch was decorating the tree and I was doing the best thing a child could do! Sitting in bed with my laptop playing  Roblox with my friends. I was in the middle of killing people in BIG! Paintball to launch my first nuke when my father told me that I had to make cookies.

I was about to say no but my father gave me the look. I had no choice but to  make cookies with my mother. I made a special Rudolph cookie. It was looking soooooooo delicious. I was about to eat it when my mother told me to go to my room and get ready for bed. I did as my mother asked. I was lying in bed and fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, the gingerbread Rudolph WOKE ME UP. He said,”Do not worry. I am not here to hurt you. I am here to help you to achieve your  dream of meeting Santa Claus!” I was not surprised because I swear I saw an eye movement in the oven but SANTA CLAUS!!! I AM SO EXCITED.

I quietly went outside the house. I was already taking driving lessons so I quickly took the van and carrying snacks like Takis, marshmallows, sores, chips and my laptop we went on and on until we reached a stop.  It was Christmas night. Rudolph said, “Saint Nick and Saint Vera, it is your Rudolph cookie who wishes to visit you, please”. Suddenly a man with red clothes, a black belt with a golden belt-buckle, a snow-white collar, and black shoes appeared.

He shouted in a very deep voice, “HO HO HO! MERRY CHRISTMAS LITTLE WESSIE.” I was surprised Santa knew my name. “What brings you here today? What wish do you wish from my wishing stock?” Santa asked.

I enquired, “Can I see your village?”

“HO HO HO, your wish is my command, my lady”, replied Santa.

After seeing a huge village filled with elves and reindeer, I asked for one last wish, “May I go home, and with a snap of a finger, I did! Was it all a dream? Then I saw my answer. I saw the Rudolph the red-nosed gingerbread on a plate in front of me.

Samaira Bhansali studies at the Cathedral School in Mumbai.  Her passion is writing and journalism, because it helps her connect with  herself. She usually writes autobiographies on exciting incidents that she has been through. She is a student of Little Kathakar Writers’ Club sessions at Not Just Tales.

How to Impress Santa:

Ingredients –
1 teaspoon of promises
1 tablespoon of prayers
1/2 a cup of discipline
1 cup of understanding
5 cups of chores
4 cups of listening
8 ladles of love
25 cups of goodness
3 cups of manners
50 cups of laughter

Directions –

1] Finish your homework, brush your hair, have a shower, show love and care.

2] Wake up fresh, do your chores,  don’t forget to sweep the floors.

3] Attend school, pay attention, do not get yourself into detention.

4] Help out, keep your promise, clean up, show your goodness.
5] Go to bed, say your prayers, don’t forget to show good manners

6] Always keep discipline, show that you are listening.

7] To your friends, show understanding, always continue being outstanding.

8] Laugh out loud, celebrate, make sure you finish all the cake.

9] Joke about, there’s no limit, run around, keep up the spirit

Hey, your best friend Sara here! Do you know that everyday children from across the world share with me, the stories they wrote on their own? I love them and am sure you would love them too!

Here is a year end gift from me to you- a collection of stories by young writers, under 10 years of age. Perfect way to end a difficult year 

Shout out to Word Munchers for mentoring these wonderful minds.

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At the stroke of midnight, I woke up to the sudden sound of a whistle. I went  outside and saw a train. There was a man with glasses. He said to me, “Are you coming to Santa’s workshop?”

I excitedly replied, “Yes. I would love to.” The train was red, green, white and  black in colour. We reached Santa’s workshop in about twenty minutes. We  were greeted by Rudolph, Dasher, Cupid, Vixen, Blitzen, Donner, Comet and  Prancer.

Santa’s toy factory was enormous and was sprawling over acres of land. At the  entrance I saw a forest where elves were holding bows and arrows, guarding  Santa’s workshop. As I entered, I saw other elves making lots of toys, video   games and sport sets. It was fascinating to see the elves use magic to create  gifts for children of the world. They were extremely quick and efficient and were really working hard, day and night.

Soon I met Santa Claus and Mrs Claus. I asked Santa if I could help the elves in  packing the gifts. But the elves were much quicker than me. I asked Santa if I  too could be as efficient as the elves. He then flicked his fingers and granted  me the power that the house elves had. Soon I was quicker than the house  elves in packing the gifts. I managed to pack thousands of gifts.

At the end Santa gave me an extra gift for Christmas. He gifted me a bell that  would always keep me happy!

11 year old Prahas Balaji from Mysore shares this action packed thriller, based in a freezing region that is Santa’s home. Prahas goes to Excel Public School, Mysore and is a student of The Hobby Place.

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I sat on my comfortable chair in the Winter Grand Resort, a resort that had just come up recently. It was perfect for winter. I wiggled my toes to feel the  warmth of the fire in the chimney. I wore a comfortable black coat with cyan frost designs on it.

It was then that the fire sputtered out of life. I spun around, all the light had  turned to darkness as a swirling vortex of snow and ice burst into my room and a man stepped out. He was wearing the exact same coat as me but he had an ice crown and icy blue eyes and walked with regal grace. He offered his hands towards me but I noticed the tips of his fingers were frozen. I got up myself. “I see you too bought your coat in the human trading palace,” he said in an icy tone. “I think you mean the mall,” I said, shivering.

“Yes, yes, whatever,” he placed his hands on his head and spoke again.
“I am Vulmir the frost king. I live in the north pole. I believe you have heard of one of my citizens ,Santa Claus?”

“Yeah, but I did not know he lives in a kingdom,” I replied.

“In winter, the entire world is my kingdom, however that is not the point. I am part of the Seasons Council and as the name suggests we govern the seasons. However we have a enemy known as Inthe. We banished him long ago and continued governing the seasons and of course he had to bombard MY season,” he let a sigh and a cloud of frost left his mouth.

“So what do you want me to do? “I asked.

“I need you to defeat him of course! Humans are his weakness.”

“Why don’t you ask your council?” I questioned again.

“Because I don’t want to burden them with the problem of my festival, so are you coming?” he said as he waved his hands and the portal of ice and snow opened again. I stepped through the portal.

I found myself in what I guessed was the North Pole. It was surprisingly warm. I figured it was some winter magic. There was a vast kingdom below the snow hill and was made out of ice!! There were snow fairies, ice dwarfs, elves and more living in the houses below. A large castle of ice loomed in the center.

Behind me was a gingerbread village and elves were wearing Christmas colors. “Is that Santa’s village,” I asked.

“Yes it is. He, after all is the highlight of my season.” Then he looked down at the snow and blew at it. The snow swirled away revealing a ice door facing  downwards. Vulmir bent down and opened the door. It opened into a black void and Vulmir jumped through. I followed.

We were in an ice cave. There were icicles hanging from the ceiling and in the  center of the room there was a large ice crystal, glowing with energy. Vulmir  spoke, “This is the heart of winter which gives it, its magic. It has been tainted and you will remove the mark of evil that has befallen this beautiful crystal.”

He waved his hand and a glowing sword appeared in his hands. It was made of gold and what looked like fire. It stood out against the blueness of the  cave. “This is the sword that was used to banish Inthe and now you wield it. Defeat him and return.” With that I disappeared in a puff of cyan smoke.

I found myself in an icy wasteland. Nothing was in sight. The ice below me was smooth. I would have frozen if not for the fire sword. I heard a deep laughter and spun around. There he was, in an armour of black metal and a black scythe in hand. He was laughing like I was a comedy film and it filled me with hatred.

I said, “What is so funny?”

“The fact that Vulmir sent a human to defeat me,” he said.

“Well, we’ll see about that,” I said and lunged at him with my sword. He sidestepped me and thrust his hand, as I felt an invisible force push me to the  ground.

He loomed above me and said, “All hope is lost for you.” I balled my hands into fists and said in a determined voice, “No hope is not lost. Hope cannot be lost  as long as you believe in it. Humans are better.”

I rose to my feet and looked him in the eye. “We can love, create, have  compassion but you and your magic is nothing compared to the strength that I have. That is what make us your greatest weakness. I may not have magic but I have strength, in ways you cannot imagine.” With that I pushed him to the icy  ground and touched the sword to his temple and with that he disappeared in a vortex of golden light blinding me.

I was back at the LODGE and I looked around to see if the whole thing had  been true. I looked up and saw a sleigh in the sky pulled by reindeers and I  smiled.

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Christmas is here and I love the festive cheer in the air.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Is now a red masked one,
He who once had a round flashlight in the middle of his face
Now seems to have none.

On 24 December 2020
He was flying Santa’s sleigh at a great pace,
So fast that when a strong wind blew
It blew Rudolph’s mask into his face.

He shrieked and cried, “Wait, my mask flew off!!!”
He panicked and could not fly
The wind blew hard and threw him, Santa and the sleigh
Across the cloudy sky.

The Sleigh crashed on a roof
Rudolph toppled and hit a wooden chimney
Which caused the sleigh to rise
And launched Santa into the sky. He cried, “Help me!!!!!”
Luckily Santa did not get hurt
When he landed on the fluffy snow
But Rudolph now knows that
Flying with a mask on, is not as easy as it looks so.

Suhani has great enthusiasm for writing, reading, baking, travelling, and listening to music. Her favorite book series are Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes. She goes to Our Lady Queen of the Missions School Salt Lake, Kolkata and is a student of Word Munchers.

Dear Santa Claus,
I hope I am on your nice list,
But this year I don’t ask for gifts,
I want to learn some values instead.

All I want is a talk with you
To learn lessons as I grow up,
So, I know where to stand up
I want to know your life view.

Life has ups and downs,
Could you teach me how to be strong?
How to correct myself when I am wrong?
When you come to my town.

I hope to meet you soon,
And talk sitting by the fire,
In a perfect Christmas attire,
Oh! what a boon.

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also passionately ‘express’ art.

Aarav is a 9 year old boy who loves art. Just give him a paper and see his magic. His parents are super proud of him. Aarav is in 4th grade and lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA.

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Hey everyone, Hey friends, Sara here! Can you feel the chill in the wind? 0 year old Lakshyan Raj from Mysore, talks about all that the chill of winter brings, including Christmas…yipppeee!

Winter, winter pleasant and cold
Winter, winter Gingerbread mould
Winter is when Christmas comes
Winter is when Santa Claus bumps

It is when we stay in
It is when togetherness begins
The polar bear has thick fur
It helps it to avoid cold that makes us go burr!!!

Mom makes us some hot chocolate
That makes us warm
And my mom does not let me go to the big farm!
I like snow but before I play,
My dad has to plow the snow .

It’s time for cakes, carols and lights,
No grownups and children will fight.
Its time to spread happiness and joy,
As Santa is giving us toys.
It is a very beautiful sight.

Rudolph had a red nose,
On Christmas eve he comes in his pose.
The sleigh is loaded with goodies,
Santa is ready with his hoodie.
Its so cold, frozen are all the hose.

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It was two days before Christmas in the North Pole and I, Rudolf the red nosed  reindeer, was trotting happily and returning to my stable.

Before leaping onto my sweet smelling hay bed, I decided to visit Santa Claus,  my master, the world’s best toy-maker, who is so large-hearted that he  distributes it among the children of the world, free of cost, from his  humongous factory.

When I went in, all was going well and the elves and penguins were working on the last gifts. I went to see my master; and as he was always outside his office  when the penguins wrapped the gifts. I also wanted to ask him why he wasn’t out right now. Humming my own Christmas carol along the way, I reached  Santa’s office and knocked. No answer! Now this was really weird, Santa never stays quiet when someone knocks at his door. I pushed the door with my antlers and entered, Santa wasn’t there! I examined the whole room and searched for clues about where Santa had disappeared. After a while I saw a large green paper which read, “Santa is gone. There will be no Christmas  ANYMORE!” ~ The Grinch.

Who was this Grinch? I had no idea, but I had to go and save Santa- and Christmas. Then it struck me and I remembered we have CCTV cameras, of course! I saw the CCTV footage and saw that the Grinch was actually Radar, an evil reindeer who hates Christmas for no reason. The good news was that I  knew where he lived, which was in a small cottage near the Santa’s toy factory.

After a few minutes, I had made up my mind to go and defeat Radar. Luckily, I  was able to fly unlike normal reindeer and I reached my destination speedily.  When I reached the cottage, I saw that it was locked from the outside and the  key was nowhere to be seen. Although it was such an unfortunate situation, I  had a solution to the problem. I knew how to pick locks with a hairpin, and sometimes even with a thin stick. I rummaged around in the snow looking for a thin and sharp object. After a while I found one and quickly unlocked the  cottage’s door.

I tiptoed in, and saw that Santa was tied up with thick and strong ropes firmly  to a chair. When I looked closely, I saw that they were not ropes but only a few  branches tucked together! With the help of my antlers, I broke them and led  Santa to safety.

When we got back to the factory, all was going well. Santa thanked me with all  his heart and rewarded me by giving me a present! It ended happily after all!

It would have been a calm Christmas Eve, had it not been for the trolls, who had invaded Santa’s toy factory, destroying the toy making machine.

I am Ivan, half human and half fairy. My fairy mother is Santa’s sister and when I am not in school, I help Santa in his factory. I do all jobs: bathe the reindeers,  give Santa milk and cookies and keep an eye on the elves so that they don’t get naughty.

That day was devastating. We were just putting the metal to make last 100  toys in the machine when the roof collapsed and a bunch of Trolls jumped in, breaking the machine while landing.

“Hurray! We have destroyed the machine! Now, no more Christmas and no more happiness,” said the Trolls and fled away.

On seeing this, Santa broke down. “Oh no! The last batches of toys were for the poor children! It is the most important part of Christmas for me! Now what will I do? I cannot break the hearts of those innocent kids!” Santa sobbed.

I felt bad on seeing Santa cry, for he was a very jolly man. I stepped up and  offered a solution.

“Santa, I can get all my toys from home and you can give those to the poor children. I am sure they would like them.”

On hearing this Santa was very happy and hugged me tightly and said, “What would I have done without you? You have lifted a burden from my heart!”

In the end, everything was right and Christmas was saved.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”

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Christmas is here
All the towns with holiday cheer!
Santa and his elves
With the cookies to themselves.

The snow and the ice
The nutcracker and mice,
All the colorful lights
They shine so bright.

The gingerbread spice
Oh! It smells so nice
All kids with their toys
They are filled with joys.

Santa comes through the full moon
With all surprises and boon.
The star on the tree
Oh Christmas! You have some glee.

In a small town in the Laplands of Finland, I am an elf called Genome. I work in Santa’s Toy Factory and I am the chief of the elves.

Siddharth is 9 yrs of age. His current favourite hobbies are reading Harry Potter books and watching the recent English Premier League football matches which have resumed after the Covid crisis.

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The day before Christmas Eve, there was chaos in the factory. The incident  was that Santa Claus’s evil, almost identical twin brother had tricked Santa into making him the owner of the factory. This Santa was acting strange and was  accompanied by naughty little goblins and imps. He was rude to us and asked  us all to leave the Room of Gifts. I suspected that this was someone else and  not the real Santa.

We could hear a lot of activity in that room. As I peeked inside the room, I saw that these naughty men were packing up all the toys in lots of bags. I was  horrified and had to act fast. What followed was a scuffle between the two groups . But this Santa had some magical powers too. He cast a spell and my  elves and I, we all fainted. When we regained consciousness we were  devastated. An old elf remembered that a long time back Santa had told him  about his evil brother, The Fiend Patrik. He wanted to steal the happiness of  people but Santa had banished him to the mythical world of nightmares where  he stayed with Satan. He had returned to cause this misfortune.

Alas! we had to find the real Santa because Christmas was around the corner. I  sent out search parties to look for Santa. We found Santa’s broken sleigh as  we went inside the snow covered dangerous forest. The reindeers were  nowhere to be seen. As we moved along we heard muffled noises but couldn’t  see anything. Suddenly I stumbled over something. I couldn’t see anyone but I  felt something. There was a big rock . The muffled noise was definitely coming from under it. With all our elf power and light from the lanterns, we moved the  rock and dug into the deep snow. There was Santa, barely breathing and  almost frozen.

We took him to the factory and and warmed him up. Now we  had to get back the stolen gifts. We knew where the houses of these naughty  goblins were. We reached there to find them all making merry and eating and drinking. We sprayed the entire area with a gas which would put them off to sleep in minutes. With masks on our nose, we crept upto the houses and retrieved all  our lost bags of toys and returned to the factory . The fiend Patrick was tied up and produced before Santa. This time he was banished never to be seen again.

At last happiness reigned . It was Christmas Eve. We were ready to deliver the gifts to all the children who had written letters to Santa , all who had hung up  their stockings as well as to all the children who had been good over the year.

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing your art.’

Today’s thoughtful artwork has been shared by 10 year old Manini from Noida.

Manini likes to read and draw besides playing badminton and riding a bicycle.

She is a student of Sarla Chopra D.A.V Public School, Noida.

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I like all kinds of drawings.

Especially when they all have different perspectives. I am sharing a few thoughts behind some of my favourite artwork.

Happy Cow – The happy cow, really happily, is looking towards the beautiful sky.

Lost in space – The space drawing has a perspective of a lost astronaut  floating away in space and it’s even out of our solar system!

Sunset – Looking at the sunset is such a wonderful view.

Tree – The great tree swirling in the wind at midnight.

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Hurray!! December is here which means Christmas and New Year festivities.

Here is hoping that the next year will be nothing like this one.

6 year old Reyaansh Jhawar from Kolkata imagines every little detail of what it would be like to meet Santa!

 

Reyaansh goes to La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata and is a student of Word Munchers.

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It was Christmas eve. I was excited to get gifts.

I was not sure that Santa Claus would meet me. I did not even think of sleeping that night. I sat on the sofa and switched on the television. Till midnight, I was  watching television.

Suddenly at a distance I heard footsteps on the stairs. I quietly went  downstairs to check and I was surprised to see Santa Claus standing there. I  was overjoyed and ran downstairs to hug him.

I invited him into my house and gave Santa some hot chocolate to drink. I asked him some questions about himself. We spoke about ourselves for a while. After that, I asked Santa if I could get a short ride on his sleigh.

‘Ho…ho…ho..’ said Santa and he said, I could get a ride.

After the ride was over, Santa gave me a fire engine truck as my gift and I was very happy receiving it as I had wanted it for quite some time. After sometime, Santa got up and said goodbye. Then he went downstairs and got into his  sleigh. Then he went with a zoom into the sky and went away.

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Dear Santa,

MERRY CHIRSTMAS!! I know you would be very busy in your factory. Please convey my wishes to your little helpers, the Elves. They would also be busy, I
think. You should also take care of yourselves. We must be very careful. I hope we have a better CHIRSTMAS next year.

I know you love to make children happy right. I ask you a very small gift. Please
spread your happiness all over the world and. I also love your reindeers and  how they can fly in the sky. I only have one small question.

Won’t you get sick while flying in that cold night?

You are the only one who lives in the North Pole. Do you enjoy yourself there and how do you manage all the naughty elves? They look so cute and they are very helpful. I know I asked you a lot of questions!

I would love to share some things with you. Can you please help the poor  people who have been cold and have no food?

I love your factory. I wish I could be there. I love your costume. It is so pretty.

Every CHIRSTMAS I would wait for you but would fall asleep and you would put my gifts in my stocking and go away. I wonder if I should give you something so you would also have a present. You must also be very hungry from all that work. I will also keep some nice treats, so you can take some to your little  workers and your flying reindeers.

Hope you and your workers enjoy it. And one last question. Why do you always come at night and don’t you get sleepy or tired? OK, that’s two questions. I think you should also take rest after CHIRSTMAS and take care of yourself.

You know my favourite thing about CHIRSTMAS is enjoying with my family by  playing games, singing, dancing and so on. My sister and I love to sing carols for our family. Hope you also enjoy with your family.

I also love the way you laugh Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho. MERRY CHIRSTMAS once again. I hope you have time to read my letter. Enjoy your day Santa.

Love you lots!!
Ananya

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Hurray!! December is here which means Christmas and New Year festivities. Here is hoping that the next year will be nothing like this one.

11 year old Prahas Balaji from Mysore shares this heartfelt letter to Santa this year. Prahas goes to Excel Public School, Mysore and is a student of The Hobby Place.

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Dear Santa,

It has been a rough year. Pandemic followed by lockdown and then online school instead of regular ones!

But of course it is that time of the year again, the legendary Christmas. I hope you have prepared to lift everyone’s moods up. They are after all looking forward to the festival seasons. I hope I have been in your good books because this letter is one for a wish list. Let’s get into it then. Over the past years, I have got many gifts so I do not know what to ask of you. 

Maybe let’s start with the gifts I need you to give to others. Every year I ask of a gift of the erosion of poverty yet that is one of the few gifts you can not seem to give. Isn’t it funny how the most important gifts are the ones you can not deliver? I request of you to provide all those children who are yet to experience the magic of Christmas, their own miracle. Grant the earth’s wish for humans to evolve. And finally my wish for the peace of the world.

Hoping this letter finds you in your toy factory working away and a thank you on behalf of all the children in the world.

Prahas Balaji

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Hurray!! December is here which means Christmas and New Year festivities. Here is hoping that the next year will be nothing like this one.

Today’s write up by 8 year old Nirav Prakash from Kolkata imagines him being hired as Santa’s helper and what that will entail 🙂

Nirav is a happy go lucky child. He is an observant child who uses his daily events around him and creates wonderful stories out of them. He loves to read books as well as newspaper. He likes adventure travel and takes lot of photos. A collector of transformers robots and likes to watch Marvels Avenger and Disney’s cartoons. Nirav goes to La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata and is a student of Word Munchers.

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Last year, when I wrote a letter to the Santa, I expressed my desire to work for
him. I was overwhelmed when this year, I heard from Santa.

He wanted to hire me. I am very creative and amazing in making animal figures so Santa gave me the job of making different animal toy figures.

When I entered the factory, I was  amazed by seeing the huge architecture with little elves working diligently on   their designated spots. On my first day  of the job, I made a beautiful bird by toothpicks. Santa was impressed and  many elves who were so far distant, became co-operative after seeing my creative work. A few became my good friends too.

After every hour, we got a break and one of my elf friend suggested that we  should go out of the factory to feed some cookies to Santa’s reindeers and to  my surprise, the reindeers loved eating cookies. The moment we stepped out  of the factory, I nearly froze as the weather was nippy. We quickly met and fed  the reindeers and rushed inside the factory and I drank two glasses of hot  cider.

I made a lot of toy animals and Santa was extremely happy seeing my creative work. Before leaving, I requested Santa if he could hire me again next year. I  would come up with more creative and amazing toys as this was my most  memorable experience.

Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in.

If you were a bird in a zoo, how would you feel? Would you love it? Would you  rather be free?

9 year old Atreyo Bhattacharyya from Kolkata shares his perspective, in this epistolary (letter writing) piece. Atreyo goes to The Heritage School and is a student of Word Munchers.

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Dear Grandpa,
I am very sad as I have been locked up in this cage. I am in an enclosure named The Egrets. But people still admire me for my beautiful snow white plumage.

We have cages that restrain a bird from flying away. I was brought to this zoo by a man named Kalan. He first dug a big hole and then covered it with leaves. Without seeing properly, I stepped on that and fell into it. I miss my freedom and how I used to roam around and jump from one tree to the other.

But the advantages of this zoo are that I regularly get good food to eat and big bowls of water everyday. My life in this zoo is comfortable because the people give me food and water at the right time and take care of me properly.

But I feel lonely here because I can’t talk to my friends. Slowly, I am forgetting  how to fly as this is a small cage, nor do they allow us to fly. My flight feathers are becoming of no use. I miss my freedom and abhor this life of a prisoner.

Hope I could fly back to you whenever I wish as I used to do….

Miss you Grandpa
Yours lovingly,
Jack

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Read more at the Britannica here – https://www.britannica.com/animal/egret

2. The great egret faced near extinction and is a conservation success story

Nearly wiped out in the United States in the late 1800s, when its plumes were sought for use in fashion, the Great Egret made a comeback after early conservationists put a stop to the slaughter and protected its colonies; as a result, this bird became the symbol of the National Audubon Society. The great egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society and represents a conservation success story.  The birds have enjoyed legal protection over the last century, and their numbers have increased substantially. 

Read more at Audubon here

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Hurray!! December is here which means Christmas and New Year festivities.

Here is hoping that the next year will more than make up for the last one 🙂

When Santa takes ill, who would rescue Christmas? Today’s exciting write up is by 12 year old Arav Barmecha from Mumbai.  Arav studies at Ascend International School, Mumbai .

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“Santa! Santa! Are you ok?” Ms. Clause asks.

“I think I have fallen ill from all the soot in the chimneys that I deliver gifts from,” Santa says as he sneezes on his napkin and stares at the black powder from his lungs.

“No, No, you can’t be sick today. It is Christmas Eve! You have to deliver all the gifts today!” Ms. Clause exclaims.

“I am getting too old and sick from all that soot!”  Santa says.

“What will happen to Christmas if Santa is sick?” Ms. Clause asks worryingly.

“You must save Christmas, you must!” Santa exclaimed.

Ms. Clause calls three elves and tells them to get Santa’s supplies and get the sledge ready. She summons two more elves and tells them to keep an eye on Santa, just in case.

Ms. Clause wore Santa’s extra suit, beard, belt, hat, and even his boots. Ms. Clause was getting ready to board the magic sledge when the voice of Santa broke through, “You forgot to take the gifts bag.”

Ms. Clause ran towards the living room and picked up the huge bag full of gifts with the help of a total of 15 elves. She dumped the bag in the back of the  sledge and began to take off.

Ms. Clause rode above the clouds to a place called Kolkata, where there were so many lights that she would have been blinded if she stared any longer. She started dropping gifts through chimneys and windows where the Christmas trees were. In two minutes, she was finished with the blinding place and went off. She kept at it all night, almost till day broke.

The last stop was a strange place called Mumbai, where it was so hot that she would have burned up in the suit, if not for the AC in the sledge.

After two hours of hard work, she was finally done and she began to return home. As she was approaching the North Pole, she got a call that it was not  safe to travel outside any longer, due to a large number of people getting up in the morning. She told them that she was coming home soon and that she was safe.

When she reached she went straight to Santa and told him Christmas was saved!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! While COVID has locked us in, our imagination can still help us revisit all those lovely holidays! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 

I cant wait to pack my bags and head out. Until then lets  read through these wonderful travel memories from kids. Lets keep our wish lists ready!

Today’s write up by 17 year old Shritij Beriwal from Kolkata is about his own home town and the beautiful, city of joy- Kolkata!

Shritij is fond of reading books and writing essays. He is an honest person and loves to explore different places. He is a student of La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata and Word Munchers. 

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Kolkata or Calcutta is the second largest city in India and one of the four metros in India. It was the capital of India during the British rule from 1772 to 1911. 

Kolkata is nicknamed as the city of joy and how true that is! Each day in Kolkata is a festival. Durga Pooja is the most important festival where people light their houses with bright lamps and get dressed in new clothes. They go to the pandals, worship the mother Durga and pray for the betterment of their family. 

In Kolkata, each person can afford food at a minimum rate of Rs 4 compared to other megacities.

Kolkata has various modes of transport, from hand pulled rickshaws to autos to buses and taxis, metros and the unique trams.

It is also famous for delicious desserts and sweets such as Sandesh, Mishti Doi and Rossogullas. People can also buy mouthwatering jhal muri and puchkas at just Rs 10. I recommend Russell Street for this.

The river Ganga flows through the city. It provides for its people. If you like shopping you will enjoy our many markets like Newmarket, AC market, South City mall and Quest mall. People also visit Park Street and Bara Bazaar and enjoy a delicious variety of restaurants. 

In the field of education there are many schools such as La Martiniere, Don Bosco, Modern High School and many more which have excelled in academies as well as school curricular activities. Kolkata has also produced many great writers such as Rabindranath Tagore.

Places such as the Botanical Garden, Science City, Nicco park, South city mall, the Howrah bridge and the Victoria Memorial are a must-visit.

For the fitness enthusiast, there are many clubs in Kolkata for swimming, table tennis and lawn tennis. The food of these clubs is also very delicious. Our IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders is one of the best teams in the competition. 

I like living in Kolkata not only because it is my hometown but also because of it being a hub of culture. My Kolkata is a city like no other! 

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Enjoyed reading? Have your own travel memory you would like to share and get published? Here is how to go about it.

Places with Sara: Travel Review Submission Guidelines

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

How does a 12 year old interpret and process the Bhagawad Gita, an iconic book that transcends boundaries of philosophy, spirituality and literature?

Today’s review by 12 year old Yashvi Jalan from Kolkata is unique, in its choice of book and what it means to millions of people- The Bhagavad Gita.

Yashvi loves reading mysterious and adventurous books. She always try to improve her creative writing skills.

Yashvi goes to Sushila Birla Girls’ School, Kolkata and is a student of Word Munchers.

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What if a book came to life?

The Bhagvad Gita, often referred to as the Gita, was a 700 verse Hindu scripture that was a major part of the epic Mahabharata. The Gita was a set framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince, Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Krishna. At the start of the Dharma Yudha between the Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna, a great warrior, was filled with moral dilemma and despair about the violence and death the war would cause in the battle against his own kin. He seeks Krishna’s counsel, whose answers constituted the holy book Gita. Krishna encourages Arjuna to uphold his duty through selfless action.

In today’s world it is important to have guides like Krishna to clear the misconception of today’s youngsters who will become our future generation. I always wished to be a part of the holy moment when Krishna counsels Arjuna and reminds him of his duty. 

As I was completely immersed into my eclectic thoughts, I heard a strange voice and I went to check the common room on the first floor. I was alone in my home that day as all my family members had gone to attend a wedding. I wasn’t feeling well so I preferred staying back at home. As I opened the door of the common room, I stood thunderstruck. I felt that my feet were glued to the ground and my eyes were stuck on the magnificent and unbelievable scene I saw. I pinched myself several times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. 

During that golden moment the only thing I remembered was the famous quote said by Paulo Coelho that ‘When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.’

In front of my eyes was Lord Krishna standing on the golden chariot and Arjuna stood on the ground with his one knee touching the floor and both his hands folded and his eyes facing Lord Krishna with a spark of charm, respect and eagerness of learning a new lesson of life. Bright yellow light sprang out from this holy scene and ended up spreading in all the four directions and lighting up the dark room. Without knowing what to do, I lay down to touch Shri Krishna’s feet. In an instant both of them got up from their idyllic position with a smile and indicated to me to get up. Krishna said that seeing my devotion they had come to give me my answers.

He said that he knew that people read and respected Gita as a holy book but they never understood its soul. Arjuna added that they had come to teach me all the shlokas to tell people the importance of life. I kneeled on the floor and heard all of Krishna’s preaching with utmost attention.   

Love is the prime element of living. Lord Krishna said that even Brahma could be achieved with love. Sages have said that love opens all the doors. We make enemies with emotions like hate, anger, vengeance and other such feelings. People have to understand that we can win people to our sides by spreading love and losing such negative emotions. He reminded me of the famous quote-

‘Do everything you have to,

But not with greed,

Not with ego,

Not with envy,

But love, compassion, humility and devotion’ 

Just like that I sat there for hours and hours hearing Krishna’s lessons of life. 

Finally I felt enlightened and my eyes fell on the clock. I was shocked as when Lord Krishna explained to Arjuna the Bhagavad Gita in Mahabharata, time had stopped too. In a blink of an eye Lord Krishna along with Arjuna had disappeared. In front of my eyes I could see the Bhagvad Gita lay open on the study table with the same bright yellow light diminishing into it and slowly the book closed and I joined my hands. 

It is not possible to change the world in a month or so but with the enlightening experience I had, I will try to do my best. 

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Hurray!! December is here which means Christmas and New Year festivities. Here is hoping that the next year will be nothing like this one.

Today’s write up by 8 year old Pehar Kaur from Kolkata is endearing, in its intent of doing for someone, whom we usually take for granted.

Pehar is an 8 year old fun loving vivacious kid who loves art and craft.She strongly believes in the magic of Santa Claus and always wants to be on his “nice” list.

Pehar is a student of Little Readers’ Nook, Ballygunge, Kolkata

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Dear Santa,

Merry Christmas!

Delivering letters, giving gifts,  working hard….

Why don’t you get a present for a change?

Why don’t I give you a present this year?

You can catch a break. 

Instead of giving a present, you get one!

Now that’s a bonus! I hope you enjoy the gifts I give you.

This is what I am getting you-

Hand embroidered face mask for Santa

Hair bow for Mrs. Santa

Love,

Pehar

Kolkata, India

13/5b Chowringhee Terrace, Kolkata-20

Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in.

Dont miss the accompanying cool facts.

Today’s lovely poem on the significance of birds is written by 9 year old Aashritha Surya Prakash from Bangalore.

Aashritha goes to Vidya Niketan School, Bangalore and is a student of Talespin.

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There go the ducks, “Quack, quack, quack”
There go the robins, “Chack, chack, chack”
There go the eagles, soaring through the sky
There go the vultures, flying ever so high.

Over hills and dales
And woodland pines
Over hidden caves
And huge gold mines

Never faulting
Never halting
Till they find a warmer place
Clever people call it migrating.

They are wonderful creatures
They truly care
But who are their enemies?
An elephant or a hare?

Then I wonder,
“Who could it be?”
It’s nobody else,
Just you and me.

Yes, we are the ones
Invading their homes
But what harm have they done?
The answer is none.

On the contrary,
They help us a lot
Pollinating seeds in little pots

So stop cutting trees
And let them be free.

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Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in.

Dont miss the accompanying cool facts.

Today’s write up is an epistolary work, which means in the form of letters by 10 year old Devaanshi Nathany from Kolkata.

Devaanshi studies in Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata. The magical book  of spells, Harry Potter is her favorite. She likes to run and play but not studying. Without mischief there is nothing for her to do.

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Dear Uncle,

Your previous letter is still with me. Apologies for not responding as I was busy  with my trip. It’s so lovely in South America that I don’t get time to see the  letters.

By the way, do you know that when I went to the jungle for studying the  animals with my mates, we saw the most unusual bird! Oilbird was the  creature’s name. It was mainly reddish brown with white spots on its nape and  wings. Its lower parts were cinnamon-buff with white diamond shaped spots  edged in black. These spots started to decrease towards the throat and grew  bigger as they reached the back.

Their stiff tail feathers were rich brown spotted with white on either side. I  came to know that they are a small nocturnal cave-dwelling creature, which  hunts its food by echolocation just like bats and dolphins do. It is also the only  flying, fruit- eating nocturnal bird in the world.

The oilbirds forage at night, with specially adapted eyesight. When I searched  about them in google, I found out that they favor oily, fatty wax palm and avocado fruits, which they pluck from trees with their formidable-looking  hooked beaks. I am not sure whether they migrate but they surely aren’t in broods. And do you know that the oil birds are so oily that people used to boil  them to extract their oil and use it as a fuel! It was a strange observation!

It was a jolly good experience knowing about the bird.

Yours Loving
Devaanshi

Read more about it at Audobon here

Cool Fact #2: Oilbird’s body enables it to move around in the dark

Their retinas pack one million rods per millimeter—the highest rod density recorded in any vertebrate—which allows their eyes to take in more light than any other bird’s. And those whiskers, pathetic looking though they might be, actually serve a purpose, providing additional sensory cues that help the Oilbird get around, not unlike many mammals.

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 11 year old Adwaith S Menon from Chennai is of The One and Only Ivan, a children’s novel written in first person from the point of view of Ivan, a gorilla.

Adwaith S Menon is 11 years old and a student in Grade-6 at NSN Memorial School, Chennai. He is an avid reader and has developed a love for writing short stories as well. His other interests include sports and playing video games.

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Title of the Book: The One and Only Ivan       

Name of the Author: Katherine Applegate

The story is about Ivan, a gorilla who lived in the forest with his family was caught by humans who killed Ivan’s family. Ivan was then brought to a circus where he was taught to perform tricks. After being taught too, Ivan did not excel at this. Thus the head of the circus sold him to an old person called Mack who ran a small arcade. Thinking of what to do with Ivan, Mack gave Ivan a home, A fully covered glass room with a built in pool  and a basket ball. Ivan had two friends in there bob a street dog and a elephant called ruby.

After 27 years of being stared at by spectators Ivan was taken to a zoo where he met a few other gorillas like him and continued to live like this till his last breath… 

Ivan is the protagonist of the story. A gorilla who never disagreed with the  humans and obeyed them and tried his best to fulfill its masters dream. 

Ruby is the baby elephant who lost her family because of humans. Bob is a street dog who never liked a home but is forced to go into one.

The setting is mostly in the cold and dark place where the animals were held during the time of Mack’s ownership and even the plush green zoo.

I give this book a  5 star rating

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Hurray!! December is here which means Christmas and New Year festivities. Here is hoping that the next year will be nothing like this one.

Today’s write up by 13 year old Gofiaa from Chennai is a must read on Christmas to know everything about its origins, as well as significance today.

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.

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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.

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! While COVID has locked us in, our imagination can still help us revisit all those lovely holidays! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 

I cant wait to pack my bags and head out. Until then lets  read through these wonderful travel memories from kids. Lets keep our wish lists ready!

Today’s place review is by 13 year old Nikhitha Sristi from Bangalore. Nikitha is studying in class 7, Delhi Public School Whitefield, Bangalore.

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I always look forward to summer vacations with my family as they enrich me  with amazing experiences. Every vacation I go to some or the other place, last  year I visited the best place ever! It was Perth, a city located in Western Australia.

I was too eager to visit an enjoyable a unique place. Perth is the most  spectacular place I have ever gone to. This city attracts us towards it, through  its natural beauty and amazing sceneries. All of it making the city worth visiting.

We went there on a plane. It was a pretty long journey. However, it was an amazing experience. There was even a transit at the best airport in the world, the Changi Airport in Singapore! Then, at last, we arrived in Perth.

First few days, my family and I had a few glimpses of the streets of Perth and discovered new places near our hotel, like The Pedestrian Street. The first few glimpses of this street made us fall in love with it, as it is a shopping area and  one can enjoy street performances while walking down the street.

Then we went on to explore further to the amazing wildlife park called the Kohunu Koala Park to meet the galloping kangaroos and the little koalas. My mom cuddled the cute bear and we even fed the kangaroos. It was an amazing experience.

Then we had an incredible time walking through the fabulous  coast of The Bathers Beach. It was fun splashing in the waters and playing with the ocean waves.

We visited another wildlife park called the Caversham Wildlife Park which was much bigger compared to the other one. There were enormous kangaroos around. It was awesome feeding them and taking selfies with them.

Later, we went to visit a science museum. Visiting this museum was a fascinating experience as we could do several science experiments and also  experienced a wonderful planetarium. Then we visited the magnificent Elizabeth Quay, which had all amazing stuff,  from eating ice cream to boating, camel riding and so on!

This twenty days trip was nothing but an unforgettable experience, with all
sorts of places I had never visited before. This city has its unique specialties, which made me fall in love with it. If you really want to spend some time with  kangaroos and koalas, and want to have natural and beautiful experience this  place is a must in your travel destination list.

Mostly when  we visit Australia our first preferences are Sydney or Melbourne,  but Perth is also an amazing place to visit. I highly recommend this place for  visiting.

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Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

Places with Sara: Travel Review Submission Guidelines

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 13 year old E.GAYATHRI of Chennai is of The Magic Shop, a wonderful piece of fantasy writing by the renowned writer H G Wells.

E.GAYATHRI is a 13 year old from Chennai, studying in NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chitlapakkam. Her hobbies are drawing and reading books especially mysterious stories

My ratings for the book is  4/5* 

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The Eagle

Often, they feed on rabbits, hare, sea birds and even on dead animals.

Occasionally, it can be seen on Discovery Channel from which I gained the knowledge.

Cool Fact#2 : The largest bird’s nest was built by a pair of bald eagles.

Eagles have got into the Guinness book of world records!! The largest bird’s nest was built by a pair of bald eagles and possibly their successors, near St Petersburg, Florida, USA. It measured  9 ft. 6 in wide and 20 ft. deep. It was examined in 1963 and was estimated to weigh more than two tonnes (4,409 lb).

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today’s review by 13 year old Taneesha Seth from Singapore, is of a book that is a New York Times Bestseller and adapted into a movie.

Apart from art, reading, writing, and playing various sports such as basketball and badminton, Taneesha loves taking part in social activities. Taneesha studies in 8th grade in Singapore American School. She is a student of Young Orators.

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Imagine a world where you work tirelessly all day and night and despite your hard work and endeavors, you are only able to serve your family one meal a day!

Imagine a world where a drought resulted in the extreme scarcity of food throughout the region. But through creativity and knowledge, a young boy created a windmill to provide his family with food to survive. Wow!

You got that one pretty quick, huh? ‘The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind’ is correct.

Title-The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Author-William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Published- 2009

A film adapted from a book, and you know what’s even more interesting?

It’s a true story about a 13-year-old boy, William Kamkwamba, who is thrown out of his school since his family can no longer afford to pay for his school fees. William had a dream. He wanted to study in one of the top boarding  schools, but because of money struggles in his family, he wasn’t able to. Even though his parents weren’t able to provide him with adequate study resources, William sneaks into his library and learns about how electricity works, and how to build a windmill to save his village from famine.

Upon this story, Willaim Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer wrote a book that was later turned into a film produced by Gail Egan and Andrea Calderwood. The movie was closely related to the book as well as the real-life scene. I felt  connected to both but more so to the movie. Both of them were very  inspirational as well as motivating.

Movie Director-  Chiwetel Ejiofor 

Film released- 2019

The setting in the movie was similar to what happened in the book, and it was  heartwarming how a young boy in such an environment was able to rise above the others, during such hard times.

The characters in the movie and the book were so indistinguishable. I personally liked the movie better since you could visualize what’s going on in  the scene, it’s just like reading the book in your head while the words are depicted.

In the book, you get to view the story from only the main characters’  perspective since it was from the first-person point of view, whereas in the movie, you can view things from various different perspectives. Some of the  special features in the book are that the author has included a ton of  description, and the book moves slowly. So it gives you time to be persuaded and encouraged by the characters.

The author uses emotive language for the reader to develop emotions for the characters. Some of the special nuances in the movie are, first of all the setting.  It not only makes you have feelings for the characters but also understand the struggles that William had to face.

Another specialty about the movie is that even though it’s a real-life event that has been converted into à movie and most of us might get a feeling that it’s super boring knowing about someone else’s life, but this movie keeps you engrossed throughout and it makes you want to stick around until the end to watch the most interesting part which is…. oops, I probably shouldn’t spoil it for you.

So? What are you waiting for? Me to spoil the movie and the book?

Quick! Get off that chair and go grab the book, or get absorbed in the movie and then wait to be dazzled and motivated throughout. Thank you.

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by  11 year old  R.Darshini from Chennai is of The Clever Tailor, a book which has a beautiful Indian look and feel to it.

R.Darshini’s parents inspire her to read books, and she have a lovely collection at home. She is a student of NSN. Mat Higher Secondary School, Chrompet, Chennai.

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Title- THE CLEVER TAILOR

Author- SRIVIDHYA VENKAT

Publisher- Karadi Tales

My mother got this book for me.

This story is about how a piece of cloth was transformed into different things  useful for the family by the tailor, from the saafa (turban cloth worn by men of  Rajasthan) he received.

Rupa Ram is a tailor who stitches clothes for the rich. He is very poor and  cannot buy clothes for his family. One day he received a beautiful saafa at a wedding. He was so happy and wore it everywhere. When it was worn out he was so reluctant to throw away it away. He made a beautiful odhni (dupatta) for his wife from the cloth. She loved it a lot. This cycle of transforming the cloth into the next best option continues in the story.

The main characters in this book are Rupa Ram, his wife, son, daughter and gudiya.

This story gives us two beautiful messages-
• The joy of sharing
• The importance of reusing an object

The story concludes saying that the cloth may get worn out, but he still has his  story to share with all. Same way as we age we may get worn out physically,  but our heart and mind will not.

The Clever Tailor is a heartfelt story and totally Indian.  I give this book a  5 star rating for this book.*

Best age group is above 7 years.

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing your art.’

Today’s art is by 12 year old S. Aparna from Chennai. She is a student of N.S.N Memorial, Chitlapakkam.

Aparna is particularly fond of pencil shading and shares her experience with it.

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My favourite hobby is drawing. I like it very much. I was inspired by my brother, my sister and my friend Sai Suhani towards drawing.

I didn’t attend drawing classes but learnt from my brother and Sai Suhani.

I improved my drawing skills by vigorous practice during the pandemic lockdowns. Slowly I learnt drawing by seeing Youtube

These are my favourite drawings.

Here, I drew cartoon Ganesha  on Ganesha Festival

I enjoy art. I fell very happy when I start drawing my happiness is always expressed in this way. I prefer doing pencil shading as I am more interested in it and also my relatives and friends say that my pencil shadings are nice.

During the lockdown, I was able to spend lot of time on drawing. I never get bored when I start drawing.

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Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today’s review by young writer Mitul Hariyani from Vadodara is of Life of Pi, a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel based on the life of a young Indian boy.

Mitul Hariyani is a 14-year-old, grade 9 student of Vadodara who loves to try his hand at baking and mocktails. He is an ardent fan of Formula 1 racing and closely follows the sport. He is presently the Chairman of the junior wing of JCI, Baroda, and engages himself in various social causes.

Mitul goes to  Navrachana International School, Vadodara and is a student of Young Orators.

Pain. What is it? How is it felt? How can you ever determine that someone has felt pain unless you have not seen the true face of pain yourself? Here’s a review of the book along with the film, Life Of Pi by Yann Martel.

Title: Life Of Pi 

Author: Yann Martel

Published:2001

If you say that you have gone through more pain than anyone out there and you are at the place you want to be in, people will believe you ONLY IF you’re telling the truth. People who experience pain will understand the pain you went through, no matter what you do.

In my opinion, the main theme is to experience true pain. The narrator first introduces us to Pi’s tale as a story that will make you believe in God. This gives us the theme of Faith. Life of Pi is a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds. The shipwrecked inhabitants of the little lifeboat don’t simply accompany their fate, instead, they actively fight against it.

Life of Pi is a story within a story, within a story. The novel is framed by a (fictional) note from the author, Yann Martel, who describes how he first came to hear the fantastic tale of Piscine Molitor Patel. Within the framework of Martel’s narration is Pi’s fantastical first-person account of life on the open sea, which forms the bulk of the book. At the end of the novel, a transcript taken from an interrogation of Pi reveals the possible “true” story within that story- that there were no animals at all, and that Pi had spent those 227 days with other human survivors who all eventually perished, leaving only himself.

Movie Title- Life of Pi 

Director-Ang Lee

Writer- David Magee

Release- 2012

The movie of the book includes most of the content and ideas that this magnificence presents.

A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger. Find the rest yourselves by watching it! The casting is a superb choice for actors aptly matching each character to the tee. The choice of Suraj Sharma is a perfect match for the character of Pi. The choice for Irrfan Khan (rest in peace) has a fantastic match for the adult Pi and will forever be remembered. The visual effects especially the ones shot deep in the sea and the island that he reaches for a while, stay etched in your minds for a long time. This is a film you cannot afford to miss.

I never want to forget this book ever in the future. It is a highly recommended book. Life lessons are hidden in the depths of the messages given out in this book. And consider this as a book for you to read over and over again.

It is suited for all age groups above 13years and may be read multiple times as each stage of your life may bring out different perspectives of this book and film. I would rate this 4 out of 5 and is a must watch!!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s book review is by 11 year old V. Vedanth from Chennai is of Bopanna, a collection of short stories which take you on a journey in a rustic setting  immersed in old world charm.

Vedanth is in Grade 5 of Zion School, Chennai. He is a student of Phonics Power, Chennai.

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Book Review – BOPANNA

Author              :  Nithya Chandar

Publishers         :  Notionpress.com

The book is with covered with beautiful carnival pictures along with Bopanna. It shows the story name in bold letters.

The book contains beautiful pictures that you may like. It is all about  friendship,  adventures, mystery, kindness, fun and forgiveness.

There are six chapters in the book. These fun chapters are-

• Bopanna’s samosas
• Bopanna’s tricks Salitha
• Govardhana temple
• Dusherra festival and Jaggu mama
• Ravi and the haunted house
• Bopanna’s new friend

 ‘Bopanna’s new friend’  is a hilarious chapter. Bopanna likes to have some pets in his home and he loses his pets. How he will find it within a couple of days. 

My favourite part of the book is when Bopanna thinks about samosas at the school in the first chapter.

My learning and understanding from this book is how to be polite, truthful, friendly, eco–friendly and to be creative.

I would like to change the last chapter name to ‘Bopanna’s new pet. ‘ Instead of the milkman giving Bopanna a bird, he could give him a cat.

I would recommend this book for my friends and I will give  5 stars for this book.*

Hey friends, your favourite drama-athlete, Sara here!  I love sports and I love drama. It seems only fair that my friends call me a ‘drama-athlete.’  And that’s why I couldn’t be more  excited to see your entries pouring in to my ‘Sports with Sara’ section. Keep them coming-your favourite sports people, sports memories, upcoming match predictions and so much more.

Here is 9 year old Aryash Ladsaria from Kolkata, sharing an exciting write up about the day he woke up as a cricketer.

Aryash is a sports enthusiast , full of energy and has good logical analysis. He enjoys music and being with people. Aryash goes to Don Bosco, Park Circus and is a student of Word Munchers.

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One day I woke up and found I was a cricketer! I saw the jerseys in my cupboard and realized that I was playing for both India and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). My jersey number was 7 and I was the captain of both the teams.

I played a game and discovered that I was good at both batting and bowling. My coach was very proud of me and told me I should work hard on both. Infact, in some matches I did wicket keeping too. The IPL (Indian Premier League) came and thanks to my practice, I was the best in batting and got the Orange Cap, given to the player with the highest runs in the tournament. 

My team’s Vice captain was Mayank Agarwal and we both used to practice together. It was the ICC Cricket World Cup and we had made it to the final. We batted first and Mayank and I put on a double hundred partnership. We won the ICC cricket World Cup! I was the man of the tournament and Mayank was the super striker of the tournament. I was so happy to be in a loving and friendly team.

Then it was time to retire and I thought my teams will lose all matches without me but the young players still made India and KKR win many matches.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to enjoy, understand and express your own thoughts on sports? Grab your copy of Howzzat, the first ever sports journal for kids in India and become an elite member of the Bookosmian club where your submission not only gets published, but you also get free invites to our amazing events.

Play, watch, enjoy, express sports and get published!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today’s review of the iconic The Lord of the Rings is by 14 year old Raghav Fuke.

Raghav is in 9th grade and interested in Programming,  writing stories
and articles. I also like to play guitar and football. He is a student of Young Orators.

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Title- The Lord Of The Rings 

Author- J.R.R. Tolkien

Publication- 29 July 1954

This is an epic story and considered a classic by everyone who has read
it. It is one of the few novels that can be enjoyed by people of varying ages. Tolkien wrote this book when he was fighting in the World War II.

Here, I am going to elaborate on this epic book The Lord of the Rings and the first part of the trilogy movie series based on the book called The Fellowship of the Ring. The story is about the victory of good over evil and the hardships that our  heroes have to overcome.

Our hobbit, a mythical creature created by Tolkien, has to destroy an evil ring, and to do so he embarks on a treacherous journey  that will require months to complete and is full of perils. But fear not, for he has loyal friends accompanying him. Gandalf, the wizard; Legolas, a swift and agile
elf; Gimli, a brave and strong dwarf, Aragorn and Boromir, both of kingly descent and his fellow hobbits, Sam, Merry, and Pippin. As the story progresses they meet a terrible monster, who gets slain by Gandalf. But just as we thought that it was gone and all was well, the monster uses its tail to drag Gandalf to the bottom of the pit. With Gandalf gone, the morale and sanity of the group were very low. Unable to resist the ring’s power, Boromir attacks Frodo. Boromir fails and Frodo manages to run away from him. A pack of orcs then attack them. After coming back to his senses Boromir is disgusted with  what he did and tries to save his friends, but in vain. He dies a death worthy of  his nobility and makes his other teammates take an oath that they will protect  Frodo at all costs.

Movie Release – 2001

Director- Peter Jackson

The movie ends on a sad note. Frodo is all by himself, not knowing what to do.  Merry and Pippin are kidnapped by the orcs. Boromir and Gandalf are dead.

The book is a prototypical way of how Tolkien writes. Every detail, no matter  how small, is greatly described. He conscientiously explains their ways and  culture so much so that you feel these tribes and people have always inhabited our Earth.

Though there is nothing unique about the way he delivers his sentences and  some might take his narration as a glorified bedtime story full of grand cities  and grotesque creatures, the undercurrent of the story is very humane. It not  only brings forth all human failings like greed, jealousy, treachery and cruelty,  but also extols virtues of sacrifice, courage and heroism.

The book has been a huge success. It has inspired the readers so much that a  trilogy movie series has been made on it. The movie brings to life this epic  story in all its grandeur. Be it the bucolic setting of the Shire, home to the naive  Hobbits, or the grand castles with towers reaching the skies in the cities  of Rohan and Gondor or the dreary dungeons of the dark lord in Mordor, we witness the story as if a character in it with no dialogues. Truly wonderful are  the scenes with epic battles and songs that our heroes sing to reminisce  bygone times and people. The CGI in this movie is incredible and far ahead of its time.

The movie has done full justice to the book and has very few inaccuracies. The  casting is impeccable, comprising of both experienced and new actors.
To rate the book and the movie, I will rate it TOLKIEN out of TOLKIEN, or in  other words, it is perfect!  On a scale of 5, I will give  5 star rating for this book.*

Truly ‘The Lord of the Rings’ tells the one story, which like the eponymous ring  in it, rules them all!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s book review by 13 year old Pooja. S from Chennai is of the book ‘The Breakthrough,’ sharing the stories and lives of a diverse group of amazing, successful and smart people.

Pooja is a classical dancer,  she love’s to read motivational quotes of Buddha, she loves growing plants. In this lock down started cooking different dishes.

She is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai.

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Title- The Breakthrough

Author-  Ms. Megha Bajaj 

Publisher -Rupa Publications

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti to one and all.

Festivals are a great way to not just celebrate but also learn more about each other.

Here is 11 year old Prabhgeet Kaur from Kolkata, sharing a beautiful poem about the importance of this day!

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Guru Nanak Dev Ji, first Guru of Sikhs, was a true mentor,

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today 13 year old Swastik Kumar from Jaipur shares his review of the widely popular Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief and how the book compares with the movie.

Swastik Kumar is a 13 year old, studying in class 8 at Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh School, Jaipur. He likes to listen to music and read books in his leisure time. Swastik is a student of Young Orators.

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Title: The Lightning Thief

Author: Rick Riordan

Published: June, 2005

This is a phenomenal book written by Rick Riordan which has even led it to become a movie. In this review I will be discussing about
the book and comparing it from the movie.

The book is about Percy Jackson, a young boy with ADHD.

He is recruited to a camp called Camp Half Blood, where he realizes that he is part human and part god. But the tough times are yet to come. He realizes that the great God Zeus thinks that he has stolen his masterbolt on his father’s behest. He must go through harrowing trials to get it back.

Now, a question may arise in reader’s mind when they start reading the book. Is the Percy Jackson series really that good? The answer is yes.

It is a good light- hearted read. You may think it is a bit childish; and it certainly is written for middle-schoolers, but the tone, the humor, and the characters  make the series enjoyable for older readers too.  It won the Adult Library Services Association Best Books for Young Adults, among other awards

Let’s talk about the film for a bit.

Movie Released-  Feb, 2010

Director: Chris Columbus

Honestly, I think that the movie could have been much better. The  cinematography could have been better and the plot was way out of line. If I  would have to give a honest review, I would suggest not going for the movie as  it is really bad.

I also believe that as much as the book is good, the movie of it is equally bad.  The filmmaker didn’t do justice to the book at all. The movie misses out all the fun parts of the book. All the action and all the drama is completely missing. It  is like watching a documentary in which they are spouting bits of the story. The characters are also portrayed really differently. As per the story Percy Jackson
is an eccentric kid who gets in a lot of fights, while in the movie he is portrayed as a cool and calm kid. The movie takes out the life out of the book.

I would like to end by saying that the book is way superior than the film in  every aspect.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to enjoy, express and write your own thoughts on sports? Grab your copy of Howzzat, the first ever sports journal for kids in India and become an elite member of the Bookosmian club where your submission not only gets published, but you also get free invites to our amazing events.

Play, watch, enjoy, write and get published on Bookosmia!

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section for kids.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing your art.’

12 year old R.SAI SUHANI from Chennai shares her love for pencil sketching and shading.

She is a student of N.S.N Memorial, Chitlapakkam, Chennai.

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I love drawing. Especially pencil sketch.

I never went to any classes to learn drawing. Drawing is my passion.

I was impressed by seeing a pencil sketch which I saw in my granny’s house, which my mom had drawn when she was small. That day was my first try.  Slowly I learnt pencil sketch by seeing Youtube. This is one of my favourite drawing.

This one I drew on Krishna Jayanthi dedicated to Lord Krishna.

This one I drew on Ganesha Festival.

During lockdown I was able to spend lot of time on drawing I will never be bored when I start drawing.

I enjoy art. I fell very happy when I start drawing my happiness is always expressed in this way. The best gift which I gave my parents is my drawings. I always thank my parents who support me always

I enjoy art. I fell very happy when I start drawing my happiness is always expressed in this way. The best gift which I gave my parents is my drawings. I always thank my parents who support me always.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Bookosmia is a unique for kids, by kids stories platform.

Here is a beautiful gift set for every child – a big bundle of a stunning picture books, colouring book, jigsaw and lots of fun.  Order now!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today’s review of an international bestseller that was translated into 63 languages, The Book Thief is by 13 year old Palak Chowdhury from Vadodara.

Palak, like all young adults likes to feed on her imagination through the world of books. Her love for reading started from a young age and has never given her time to get bored. Her interest is wide, football and table tennis player, playing the guitar. But most of all she enjoys her world of solitude with books, music, movies and herself!

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Title- The Book Thief

Author- Markus Zusak

Originally published: 2005

This review lists the difference between the historic novel ‘The Book Thief’ and its Oscar-nominated movie.

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today’s review of the all time favourite book ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ is by 11 year old Shikha Dholakia from Vadodara.

Shikha Dholakia is an ardent reader. She is the winner of two gold medals in Gymnastics and trained in badminton and karate. She has won 1st and 2nd positions in two  consecutive years, representing her school in SciPotech team events. She also has creative artistic skills and a  Youtube channel of her own.

Shikha is a student of Young Orators.

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Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in.

Dont miss the accompanying cool facts, shared/ acknowledged by Subhadra Devi, bird photographer  turned birder, a nature  enthusiast and a member of the National Conservation Foundation (NCF), India.

We are back with butterflies, this time  9 year old Nandini Maheshwari from  Delhi sharing her excitement with them.

Nandini has a lot of hobbies- drawing, painting, baking, reading, DIY crafts but the one that calms her down is doing  ballet while swaying her arms. She is a keen learner and driven by her curiosity at all times. She loves fairies ,animals, birds, dinosaurs and even monsters.  Nandini is a student of Air Force Bal Bharti School, Delhi and Chamatkaar.

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I flutter and smile with a sparkle,
And feel like flying when I see a dazzling butterfly.

Butterflies are totally awesome and mesmerizing creatures of nature. They also have colourful and transparent wings. They are harmless and gazing  at their beauty is so relaxing in itself. My favourite butterfly is Rainbow Monarch and blue butterfly because of its ravishing colors.

They have a four stage life cycle which goes like this –
A butterfly lays an egg,
A caterpillar comes out which is so so hungry . It eats leaves. If you offer, I think it would also eat fruits, vegetables, leaves, burgers, pizzas and cheese .Now it’s a fatso and turned into a cocoon. After 2 weeks, it comes out as the prettiest butterfly.

If I get to hold a butterfly , I will play with her with a gentle hand and release her into the sky to flutter, flutter, flutter….butterfly, keep soaring high!

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Cool Fact#1:  A whopping 75 percent of known insects, undergo metamorphosis.

Among them bees, beetles, flies, and moths—develop in four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Most striking about complete metamorphosis is how different the larva looks and behaves from the adult.

Other species, such as grasshoppers and dragonflies, experience incomplete, or simple, metamorphosis, which involves three life stages—egg, larva or nymph, and adult or imago. The nymphs look like tiny adults, eating and shedding their skins until they reach adulthood.

Read more at National Geographic  here

Cool Fact#2: A  Caterpillar has as many as 4,000 muscles in its body

By comparison, humans have just 650 muscles in a considerably larger body The caterpillar’s head capsule alone consists of 248 individual muscles. That’s one seriously muscle-bound insect!

Read more at ThoughtCo here

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Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Deepavali came and lit up our lives, just when we needed it most.

Thanks to all my wonderful friends, for sharing their joy and excitement with me.

Here is 8 year old Inaya Jain from New Delhi telling us how she enjoyed the Diwali festival this year.

Inaya’s hobbies are drawing and craft. She goes to Apeejay School, Noida. She loves listening to  stories. She is a student of Chamatkaar.

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How I Celebrated Diwali In The Pandemic

Diwali is the festival of lights and we celebrate it every year with our huge extended family. But this year due to Corona, we had to change our Diwali plans. We celebrated it with my grandparents who stay in Jaipur. We reached there on the evening of Chhoti Diwali. We lit some diyas and went for a drive through the town to watch the lighting and decorations.

The next day was Diwali. We had to take the necessary precautions due to corona but we did not let it ruin our Diwali spirit. We all got busy in the Diwali decorations and preparations. My Dad put up the Diwali lights and my Mom cleaned the house and started the preparations for the special Diwali menu. Since I love crafts, I made cards for everyone in the family. I also enjoyed making rangoli with my mon. During the day my mom also applied a beautiful mehendi design on my hand. It was soon evening and we dressed for the Diwali Pooja. We missed our entire family most during this time. We prayed that the pandemic ends soon and we are able to meet again. We made sure to connect with everyone through video calling.The night was bright with lights and diyas and we enjoyed yummy delicious food with homemade sweets.

Though Diwali this year was a low key affair with many restrictions but it was definitely a mood buster and we look forward to celebrating it with the entire family and in a safe environment next year.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to

Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature and wildlife, while still being locked in.

Here is 7 year old Ayraa from Mumbai sharing her love for cats and why they make for purr-fect pets! Dont miss the cool facts that follow.

Ayraa is 7 years old. She loves to hoola hoop and skate. She loves to read too. 

Ayraa is a student of Ava Bai Petit Girls High School, Mumbai.

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Cats, cats I love cats!

Cats love milk.
They love to chase mice, and they love to eat fish.

Cats have soft fur on their body and have whiskers.
When it’s happy and likes someone, it purrs.

I love cats because they have soft pink ears.

Cool Fact #2: Cats spend between 30-50% of their days grooming themselves.

Grooming helps cats tone down their scent so they can avoid predators. It cools them down, it promotes blood flow, and it distributes natural oils evenly around their coat, allowing them to stay warm and dry. Grooming also serves as a sign of affection between two cats, and it’s thought that saliva contains enzymes that serve as a natural antibiotic for wounds.

Read more facts at Mental Floss here.

Cool Facts #3: A group of kittens is called a Kindle

A kindle isn’t just an e-reader—it’s also a word that’s used to describe a group of kittens born to one mama cat. Meanwhile, a group of full-grown cats is called a clowder.

Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to the exciting Children’s Day contests around wildlife. We found a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in, isn’t it?

Thanks to fun facts by Kaadoo, makers of wildlife-based, table top games and sponsors of the Children’s Day contest prizes.

Don’t miss this acrostic story and winning entry by 8 year old Shreeda Thakkar from Hannover, Germany. Shreeda is fond of reading and writing. She is well organized and loves to watch cartoon movies. She use her imagination and pen down.

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Far away in a city lived a wise old owl.

Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that adorable story on friendship? Now, as promised, some cool facts about Forest Eagle Owl, shared by Kaadoo, prepared in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature. (WWF)

Cool Fact 1: The Forest Eagle Owl is known for its weird, human-sounding call.

This call consists of a scream, which rises and then falls in tone. The territorial call of the species, like that of most other eagle-owls, consists of low hoots with two-second intervals between hoos.^[2] The voice is booming, deep and carries quite far. A low, deep double hoot lasting two seconds – “hoo hoo.” It also utters a mournful, mewing scream that rises and then falls in pitch and lasts about one second – “njaauuuw.”

Cool Fact 2: There are 33 species of Owls in India

Some small, some large and some extremely fierce predators. The young spot bellied owl, or forest eagle owl is paler than the adult

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Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today’s well laid out review is by 14 year old Rishabh Fuke from Nagpur, is of  one a book by the most renowned authors of crime fiction, Agatha Christie.

14 years old Rishabh goes to Centre Point School Dabha and is a student of Young Orators. His hobbies include writing, reading, programming, and playing drums.

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Book- And then there were none

Author- Agatha Christie

Published in – 1939

This is a fascinating book with several twists and turns in it, because of which the reader is left hanging at the edge of his seat the whole time.

It is a masterpiece written by Agatha Christie, one of the most renowned  authors of crime fiction. At 100 million, it is one of the most sold books in the world. The title of the book comes from the nursery rhyme, ‘Ten little soldier boys,’ in which there are ten soldiers, who are killed one by one in most  peculiar ways, till there are none left. After reading the poem, one might guess what happens in the book, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. On the contrary, it makes it all the more thrilling to read.

Movie adaptation of the book- René Clair, French film maker

Released in – 1945

The movie is quite similar to the book. The sequence of events jibes very well with the book, and the visual imagery created by the book is extremely similar to what happens in the movie. Justice Wargrave looked almost exactly the way I had pictured him.

Every single one of the twists have been brought about elegantly, and there is a sense of growing anticipation as you reach the climax.

The revelation that one of the eight stranded people on the island is U.N. Owen is one of the turning points of the film. There are initially ten people who go  there for a vacation, but two are already dead before the others realize this.

The best part is the murderer’s confession, which is when the curtains fall and the mystery unravels, right at the end.

The movie has been directed perfectly, and the special effects are superb,  considering that the movie was made in 1945. The movie definitely does  justice to the book, as both are simply mind-boggling.  

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to enjoy, express and write your own thoughts on sports? Grab your copy of Howzzat, the first ever sports journal for kids in India and become an elite member of the Bookosmian club where your submission not only gets published, but you also get free invites to our amazing events.

Play, watch, enjoy, write and get published!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Deepavali came and lit up our lives, just when we needed it most.

12 year old Sreeveda Arun from Dubai wants this beautiful festival back, and here is why.

Sreeveda Arun, a grade 7 student of Gems Our Own English High School,  Dubai is an avid reader and very passionate about writing stories and poems.  She also finds joy in photography and playing keyboard.

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Kids run and shout,

People talking aloud…

The most celebrated festival of the year,

Everyone! Diwali is here!

Dressed in fancy and colorful wear,

Full of lights everywhere…

Spreading love and affection all around,

The whole nation is full of sounds!

Sugary sweets, lassi and gifts,

It makes me smile all day,

Just thinking that no study and school,

And only laughing, enjoying and play!

But the best part of all,

Is the fireworks at night…

The day is full of fun and talk,

But at night, the world is full of lights…

How I long for this one festival all year,

It comes so slowly and at time disappears….

But yet every year I treasure many memories,

How I wish Diwali would never cease!

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s book review is of a book, sharing the stories and lives of a diverse group of amazing, successful and smart people.

10 year old Mohammed Daanish from Chennai, who is passionate about reading books and writing reviews. Having a library with so many books to read in his free time. He is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chitlapakkam, Chennai

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Title- The Breakthrough

Author-  Ms. Megha Bajaj 

Publisher -Rupa Publications

I got this book from school. I  was excited to read a book with collection of  breakthroughs.

This is a tremendous book written by Ms. Megha Bajaj. It is so good that it can trigger positive thoughts among the readers. The 11 trailblazers are the stars in the book. The book explains neatly each trailblazer’s hard work and also each breakthrough carries a moral too. The words are simple to read and also the  book tells how they have inculcated the ability to handle things.

Let me share a ‘breakthrough’ among the 11, which I have read about. The person’s name is Nitin Nyati, born in Pune, in a lower middle class family,  sharing a single toilet among hundreds of family. His school was 15Km away from home. He cherished every moment of life, even in poverty. He had  experienced five decades of challenges in his life. In his teenage he worked in a second hand clothes shop. He was keen about his education and worked hard for it. Being influenced by his father’s friend Mr. Shinde, he decided to become an engineer. Completed his graduation with lots of struggles. As a
fresher he worked for a prestigious project of Kubera Chambers, built as headquarter for government officials working for MIDC and WIDC. The project became the land mark soon, because of its grand structure and design. The way he was handling each and every project was stumbling. He got trapped in a scam case and the way he came out of it, was a nail biting history to read. He  is familiar to the Pune people because the way he designed buildings are
spectacular and he by himself is a wonderful man. The same way author had  narrated the breakthrough experiences of 11 persons. I really feel very proud  to share here that among them our correspondent Mrs. Chitra Pasad is also  one.

The recommended age group for this book is 9 years +

I recommend 5 stars* for this book.

I learnt to be more sportive and self-confident. I realized obstacles won’t stay  before us for longer time, and they can be dissolved by our positive thoughts .

We learn to face challenges.
We learn to take life as it flows.
Believing in ourselves makes miracles.

*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Deepavali came and lit up our lives, just when we needed it most.

10 year old Arnavi Tiwari from Pune talks about what celebrating a festival in lockdown would be like.

Arnavi Tiwari has a family of 4 – mom, dad and her little sister. Her passion is gymnastics and hobbies are reading, cycling , writing and much more. She has many story books like the Puppy Problem by Thea Stilton, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. She goes to Pawer Public School, Pune.

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Hey readers. My name is Arnavi Tiwari. Today I would love to tell you the  feelings about a young girl known as Tara.

Tara feels that Diwali is a festival of lights.  Each year, she used to go to her  grandparents house. She used to make Rangolis and helped her grandmother in making sweets. Her grandfather would take her to buy crackers. Sometimes if Tara wanted a toy, her grandfather would buy it for her.

But this year, nothing was like those days due to Covid19. Almost all of Tara’s friends did not go to their grandparents home. Tara still enjoyed her Diwali with no disappointment. In fact, she did video call with her relative’s and did the  Maha Lakshmi pooja on the video call. She felt that she was sitting with her  grandparents doing the pooja.

At first she imagined that this Diwali would not be fun but she was totally wrong. She had a lot of fun. She thought of creating a greeting video to greet her full family. Sara and her father first wore a mask, used sanitizer and then wore gloves. After taking the precautions, they went to buy a few rangoli colors flowers. Then they brought a few flower garlands to put it on the door and then they got 7-8 deepaks etc for the pooja.

Tara and her mom shopped online shopping. She imagined that her dress will  be a surprise gift for her. Will it be in her favorite color light teal/aqua? Will it be  sparkly and will it be very beautiful? Tara was totally right!

In fact it was even better then she expected. Tara and her sister Pranavi wore the same dress on the day of Diwali.  Tara and her family had a lot of fun.

From Tara and her family happy Diwali to you all.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to

Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to the exciting Children’s Day contests around wildlife. We found a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in, isn’t it?

 

Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that simple and adorable write up? Now, as promised, some cool facts about Forest Eagle Owl, shared by Kaadoo, prepared in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature. (WWF)

 

Cool Fact# 1- The spot-bellied eagle-owl is nocturnal and often spends its day hidden in the dense foliage of large forest trees.  

While popular belief is that all owls are nocturnal, there are some owl species (~20%) who are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day but rest at night. However, as the young writer Keshav indicates in his write up, the Forest Eagle Owl is primarily nocturnal.

Cool Fact #2– Almost all of the prey for this species is very large and impressive, much of it being presumably as heavy or heavier than the eagle-owls themselves.

This is a very powerful and bold predatory owl, which is assuredly at the top of the avian food chain in its forested range. However, no extensive study of its dietary habits is known. Even in larger eagle-owls such as the Eurasian eagle-owl, although they can and do prey on a wide range of prey including impressively large prey, most of the diet consists of small mammals, often small rodents such as voles and rats.

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Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 8 year old Aisha Mehta from Gurgaon, is of a book that is relevant for its context of peer pressure and identity and has been reviewed positively by another young reader before.

Aisha Mehta has an inquisitive mind and is often able to find answers to many  of questions by her own observations. She is more independent than  one would ordinarily expect children her age. She loves art and craft.

Aisha is a student of Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurgaon.

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Title- A Bad Case Of Stripes

Author- David Shannon

Publisher- Scholastic

This is a fantasy story. It has a lot of funny
and interesting moments in it and it also  teaches us a very important lesson.

The story is about a girl named Camilla Cream who is afraid of liking things that her friends don’t like. So, she learns a lesson when she gets a pattern- changing skin. When she goes to school after figuring out she is not physically
ill, she finds that everyone laughs at her. Her skin patterns end up dramatizing  itself according to what everyone says around her.

One part that I really found interesting is when Camilla kept changing her appearance. It is truly unbelievable and I found it quite inspiring and  interesting.

My favourite character in this  story was the Old Woman who made Camilla realize that it is important to love your own self and be what you really are.

I think this is a wonderful story and it gives us a message that it is very  important to love yourself and do whatever makes you happy. Sometimes people might say things to you but you need to be yourself and enjoy what you  like to do. I think it’s a very good story and everyone should read it.

On a scale of 5, I will give  5 star rating for this book.*

The book is recommended for ages 5-9.

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

I am excited to take this a step further and share reviews from my friends of books that were later adapted into movies.

Book Vs Movie! What do you think it will be? Most popular writings will get published in an ebook!!

Today, 12 year old Nikhitha Sristi from Bangalore reviews for us the classic book The Invisible Man and the movie based on it . Nikhitha is studying in class 7, Delhi Public School Whitefield, Bangalore.

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Title- The Invisible Man
Author- H.G. Wells
Publisher- Finger Print Classics

One of the most famous science fictions, `The Invisible Man’ written by Herbert George Wells, published in 1897, is the story of a scientist who happens to pass through a dreadful incident.

This book tells how science sometimes can turn out to be a strong weapon against humanity. In this story, to destroy an individual’s personality. The story is about a scientist who invents a chemical that makes things invisible. He tests the chemical on himself only to realize that the change is irreversible. He keeps patience for some time and eventually takes advantage of the situation.

He becomes an evil personality and starts to devise crooked plans, which  destroy his life. When his friend and police try to catch him, he dies during the the fight. After he died, he became visible again. Looking at his amazing  invention, he was given a tribute as one of the greatest physicist in the world.

I like only interesting stuff, so on the recommendation of my parents, I got this book and found it incredible and fascinating. It helped me develop interest to read more. Each page I flipped, the story became more interesting and I, more
curious to know what would happen next. It is an intense story and keeps one glued to the book.

My most favorite part was when the guest house owners got to know that the stranger was invisible. Best thing is that this book is a science fiction,  which I personally prefer, because they are usually interesting accounts about  incidents.

A movie was released in 1933 with the title of “The Invisible Man”, it was based on this book. This movie was directed by James Whale, the movie casting  includes Claude Rains, as the invisible man (Mr. Griffin); Una O’Connor, as Mrs. Halls and Forrester Harvey as Mr. Hall. The story in the movie was a bit different from that of the book. However, there was no change in the plot of the book, only few of the scenes were changed to make the film more  engaging, especially scenes related to disappearance of the cat and Mr.
Griffin.

I felt watching the story of the book as a movie was an amazing experience. The man disappearing and seeing him in his costume was all awesome, but it is always best to read the book before watching it as a movie. It gives us better  experience of the movie. Therefore, I personally prefer reading the book.

The written style and language of this book has highly improved my  vocabulary and reading skills. Reading this book was undoubtedly an amazing experience. I highly recommend this book to readers who are really interested in science fiction, especially to readers who are around 11-15 years.

I give it a five on five! 5 star.

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Deepavali came and lit up our lives, just when we needed it most.

Close on its heels, many Indians celebrate the special bond that siblings share, in the festival of Bhai Dooj.

Today, 9 year old Srija Bhadra from Kolkata shares a poem about why this festival is so special.

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Another fresh bhai dooj is here
Another year to live,
To banish, worry, doubt and fear
To love and laugh and give.

A brother faces a sister’s challenges with
Determination and strength.
A sister thanks the lord,
To give her such a brother.

A brother holds her sister’s hand as a kid,
Through thick and thin.
Picks up the sisters in the time of trouble,
And cheers when a sister wins.

Sometimes they fight, sometimes they bicker
A sister wants to know her brother.
No matter who is strong and bigger,
But every brother and sister discover-

Their love in the festival of Bhai Dooj

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Deepavali came and lit up our lives, just when we needed it most.

Thanks to all my wonderful friends, for sharing their joy and excitement with me.

I cant think of anything more special than these wonderful handwritten messages from 9 year old twin brothers Abhijan and Ujan Chakraborty from Birmingham, UK. Both Abhijan and Ujan were diagnosed with ASD, ADHD and Severe Learning Disability at the age of two.

Special call out to their mom for raising these two fine young boys. May their light shine brighter than most!

Many thanks to Little Writer’s Studio for sharing their messages with us, along with the beautiful Madhubani artwork of their artist Swapna.

==================================================================================================================================

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing your art.’

Today I share the art work of 8 year old Ruta Deshpande from Mysore. Ruta is a student of Manasarowar Pushkarini Vidyashrama. She is delighted with her art classes at The Hobby Place, for nurturing his talent.

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I learnt Warli art in my first and second medley class from Karuna mam.

I loved Warli art a lot because it had many interesting things like cooking,  bullock carts, hens, animals, human, trees, huts and many other things. It  creates a happy scene of a village with everyone doing fun work.

Another thing which I like about Warli art, is we can make many things like  human beings, hens, cow only with a circle, triangle and lines.

I enjoy drawing cooking part with pot on fire, sticks, someone doing mixing and someone grinding something.

The beautiful part of Warli painting is how people dance in circle hand in hand. I see Warli art everywhere, on the walls, bedsheets, even my mother has saree  with Warli art.

I always enjoyed art. I felt very nice and I felt that I could do it. Thanks to  my teacher for teaching and encouragement.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Last day of sale today. Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Deepavali, Children’s Day and a long weekend, how can we let festivities get over so quickly!

Here is 6 year old Shivansh Agarwal from Kolkata talking about how his Diwali day was.

Shivansh is a student of Word Munchers.

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I woke up with joy, screaming it’s Diwali!
Received so many greetings, sweetmeats and chocolates.

Many relatives came to celebrate this joyful day.
Some friends came too, to eat and play.
Around the deity, we all gathered to pray.

Oh! I am feeling so ecstatic that it is Diwali.
Our building was decorated with flowers and bright lights.
We made rangoli with petals and coloured sand.

Rocket flew high up in the sky.
We burst so many crackers, that a baby began to cry.
The flowerpots, whirligigs and sparklers were so much fun.
Oh! I am feeling so grateful that it is Diwali.

===============================================================

Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Woohoo! Double holidays for Deepavali and Children’s Day means double the celebration!

11 year old Kush Manek from Kolkata tells us what is the perfect celebration for every child- watching teachers perform, visit to the zoo, skipping classes, night overs and permission to bunk!

Kush studies in South City International School. He is a gold medalist in International Karate Championship. He has qualified for the IIHM state level competition (Junior). Kush is also a mid-fielder in his school football team. He has been an anchor and a winner for his inter-house elocution competition in his school. Kush is a student of Word Munchers.

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Children’s day is a day when all the children are happy because they can do  anything they want, as no one can stop them. Children’s day is like freedom for  us. On this day we get gifts from our parents, there is a special program for us in  the school etc. So today I will share how did I celebrate one such children’s day.

It was a Saturday and I had to wake up early in the morning as there was a  program in our school. When we entered the auditorium of our school it was  totally dark and all the lights were switched off. In a fraction of second, all the lights were on, speakers were blasting and our teachers were dancing on the  stage. Our school gave us chocolates.

After that my aunt took me along with my friends to a zoo. We had a lot of fun there. We ate all the junk food like chips, popcorn along with a coke. Our aunt  was telling us about different animals. Till evening we were in the zoo. We
also missed our cricket class!

Then we went for a night over at my friend’s house. We had a movie night  there. We watched Jumanji and it was so scary that it was difficult for us
to sleep at night!

The best thing about this day was  that it was weekend so we could enjoy and  stay with our friends.

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Yippeee, Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights, is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

Here is 14 year old Diya Barmecha from Mumbai, sharing an account of how the celebrations in her family pan out. She loves reading and subjects like math and science because they are logical. She enjoys watching movies and learning more about the world. She is a student of Ascend International School, Mumbai.

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The flares of fire sparkled as bright as ever, as I turned the regulator to reduce  the speed of the fan.

I took each step carefully, trying to get across the house without touching any of the earthen lamps placed on the floor. After managing to get across, my  nose guided me to the kitchen where I always like to be. I asked my mother what she was making. After hearing her response, my mouth started to water. Each Diwali we had a party at our house and we cooked delicious food.

This  year was different of them all, we had invited a singer as well. As people  started to pour in, the melodies of the songs grew louder. My head swayed to the music as I ate my food around the small table with all my cousins. I looked around at the dining table filled with food, all the adults around eating, taking food and talking. Like all parties there was a table for the children to sit and  eat.

One of my cousins having turned nineteen, went to join the adults. As she  stood and ate, I thought how each year the number of children would  decrease. One day, that would be me, I thought, as I stared at my mother. She was greeting people and smiling with an occasional worry on her face, maybe thinking if the food was fine and the kitchen was running smoothly.

As the night progressed, many people sang along with the singer and talked  about the bygone years. Soon, everyone said their goodbyes. These goodbyes weren’t as sad as we would see them the next day for a puja at our office.  These rituals never get old in our house.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading? Want to enjoy, express and write your own thoughts on sports? Grab your copy of Howzzat, the first ever sports journal for kids in India and become an elite member of the Bookosmian club where your submission not only gets published, but you also get free invites to our amazing events.

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Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!

Yippeee, Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights, is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

Here is a beautiful poem by 8 year old Harshika from Kolkata. She goes to Sushila Birla Girls School and is a student of Word Munchers.

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O this is a beautiful festival of lights,
What a spectacular sight!

The Rangoli at the door is so vibrant and bright
I love to gorge on the sweets till my tummy feels tight

Firecrackers look so radiant at night,
But bursting them during COVID-19 gives me a fright.

As I pray and light the diyas there is a sense of delight
I simply love Diwali- the festival of lights!

===============================================================

Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing your art.’

Today, I share the beautiful creations and thoughts of 12 year old K.Sai Shivaani from Chennai. She is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai.

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I love to draw pictures and my imaginations are expressed in the designs that I create with my drawing.

I like to draw animals and my favourite animal is elephant.

I always worship Lord Krishna, so I wished to draw little Krishna.

Nowadays I am learning pencil art. This is my recent pencil art picture

I show the variation in colours to make the vegetable drawing more beautiful and colourful.

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

Today 11 year old Pratichi Satpathy from Bhubhaneshwar shares the wonderful story of an old Diya , a perfect metaphor for our own insecurities. Pratichi goes to Sai International School, Bhubhaneshwar

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My heart started thumping when Pratichi and her mother started cleaning for Diwali. Will I be dumped in a trashcan this year? I am only a year old, but will that fact spare me? Oh no! I forgot to introduce myself! I am an old black diya. I am made from Earth and soil.

But let us move to more pressing matters now. Pratichi approached us and grabbed the sack in which I was huddling with my friends. She peeped inside and called out to her mother, “I’m disposing this lot of old and grimy diyas.” But her mother screamed at her to stop. She was like, “But why Mama? Don’t we have enough crap around the house already? These diyas are black and old. They’re ugly and Diwali is the festival of new things and light. Why don’t we throw them away?”

Her mother smiled and said, “If they’re ugly, we’ll make them beautiful. Go and get your paints. Let’s see what we can do.” Both of them sat down on the floor and started painting my friends and me. And guess what? I became beautiful again! Now I am hot pink in colour with dark blue spots.

Today, I shared this with you as many of us have the misconception that Pratichi had. Diwali is about new things and light, yes, but more about inner beauty and the purification of the soul and mind. This Diwali, let us reuse, reduce and recycle. The natural resources are getting depleted as we speak. Let us think out of the box and preserve for the future. Wishing you all a very safe and happy Diwali. This is me, an old diya, signing off.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here! Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds.

Festive greetings to you!

7 year old Rajveer Chowdhary is an extrovert boy. He loves to explore about space and very fond of  watching all what- if-videos and gaining knowledge about the world in and out. He loves Bruce Lee and wants to have a body like his. Rajeev is a student of La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata.

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I am waiting eagerly for Diwali night.
It is such a beautiful sight
There are wonderful sparkling fairy lights.

Rangolis decorate our floor
The sky is lit with fire galore.

Some crackers are on the ground
The crackers bursting without any sound.

Sparkling flower pots are a sight to behold.
But this year we have many an empty hand to fold.

Diwali is so much fun
Preparation for it is done.

Crackers light up the dark sky,
You could watch the rocket fly.

Family and friends meet.
We hope well for everyone we greet.

===============================================================

Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today, 13 year old Satvika Suri from Bangalore reviews for us the book vs movie of her favourite book ‘The hate you give.’

Satvika is a 13 years old who loves reading books and drawing.

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Title- The Hate U Give

Author- Angie Thomas

Movie Director- George Tillman Jr.

What is the point of having a voice, if you are going to be silent, in those moments you shouldnt be? – THE HATE U GIVE.

We all have seen a rainbow at least once, and we all know that it has seven  different colours. And we all consider the variations of the colours, as its main  sign of beauty. If we can call seven different colours beautiful, why so many discriminations and stereotypes just between two colours-
black and white?

This question hit me when I read the book ‘The Hate U Give.’  The book was  published on 28th February 2017 by HarperCollins imprint blazer+ bray, which had won a bidding war for the rights of the novel. It was a commercial success  and stayed as the number one book on The New York’s best seller list for  almost 50 weeks! This novel was adapted into an audiobook, which won several awards.

The book was also adapted into a movie by Fox 2000 on 19 th October 2018,  starring Amandla Stenberg and Algee Smith. Even in the movie, the characters are shown beautifully. Their traits, features and emotions are portrayed  perfectly. Apart from the fact that they removed a character, it is very faithful to the book.

Although the movie is amazing, I would recommend the book as it give us a  deeper look into the scenes. The movie has also received incredibly positive
reviews.

This story is narrated through the perspective of sixteen-year-old Starr Carter,  who lives in the mostly poor and black neighbourhood of Garden Heights but attends an elite private school. When she was on her way to home from a party with her childhood friend, Khalil, cops stop their car and order Khalil to get out. When the cops turned away, Khalil peered into the car to check on Starr, fired  three bullets at him, instantly killing him, just because he was black and a  suspected drug dealer. This incident shatters Starr’s heart as Khalil was the  second friend she lost to bullets. As if this was not enough, she is the only  witness of this incident, meaning she is the only one who can get justice for  Khalil. After his death, the media shows Khalil as a thug, angering Starr even  more. But  can a mere sixteen-year-old do against the whole media?

Starr Carter is the protagonist of this book. She is very smart and analyses  things sharply. As this book is written from her perspective, her emotions and feelings are unfiltered. She feels confused and lost after witnessing the death  of both of her best friends. Moreover, she feels discriminated as she is a black.

Beautifully written by Angie Thomas, this book is a must read for all book  lovers. This book was Thomas’s debut novel. She started writing this book
after seeing the news of the shooting of Oscar Grant. It shows us how unfair  the world today is and how people are using stereotypes to discriminate black  people. It tells us how small-minded people have become and shows us how  few people are denied of their freedom. I think the main idea of this book is  freedom and equality.

One should not be treated differently because of their race, religion, caste or  language. We are all humans and must be treated equally. It also gave me a  strong idea against racism. It shows us how people feel when they are  discriminated. I also learnt that sometimes we can do everything right and  things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.

‘The Hate U Give’ is a must read for anyone above the age of thirteen. I give it a five on five! 5 star.

*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here. And we cant get enough of it!

Today, 6 year old Advait Modi from Kolkata shares the excitement with which he wakes up on Diwali, knowing well what is in store.

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I woke up excitedly because it is Diwali.
Received so many sweetmeats and gifts.

Many relatives came home wearing beautiful clothes.
Some friends called me on the telephone.

Around the deity a lot of flowers were poured.
O! I am so delighted it is Diwali.

Our building was decorated with flowers and glitters.
We made rangoli, ladoo and barfi.

Rockets flew throughout the sky.
We burst firecrackers low and high.

The flowerpots bloomed with beautiful flowers.
Oh! I am very very happy it is Diwali.

===============================================================

Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here. And we cant get enough of it!

Here is 7 year old Arkendu Banerjee from Kolkata with a poem of hope, drawing optimism from this festival.

Arkendu Banerjee loves to write poems and play synthesizer. He loves to dream and dreams that one day the world will be full of happiness and equality.

Arkendu is a student of Birla High School (Junior Section)

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Hopes are high and moments to be cherished,
The time has come when darkness will be perished.
The lights are sparkling and the colours explode,
Once again the essence of Diwali unfold.

The story of Diwali is known to everyone,
It’s the day when the power of goodness has won.
Let us all pray together to stay strong,
Keep ourselves away from the things that are wrong.

Let Diwali bring the echoes of triumph and delight,
Bliss and peace spread in the Diwali night.
Let us share something with those who are sad,
Bringing happiness to them is not bad.

Tiny dreams in my tiny eyes,
May the power of God arise.
May goodness prevail over evil,
And happiness spreads over sighs

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

But first up, is this lovely poem by 9 year old Vivaan Sanghvi from Kolkata.  He has used the reference  of the triumph of the good over evil using a comparison of the old ( Rama ) and the new ( Avenger’s Tony Stark ) as heroes.

Vivaan Sanghvi, goes to The Heritage School and is studying in class four. He loves to read, write and learn about classic and vintage cars. He is a student of Word Munchers.

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Diwali is the festival of lights,
It makes day and night really bright.

It shows the triumph of light over dark,
Celebrating heroes like Ram and Tony Stark.

The beautiful night is soon coming,
With colourful parades and music drumming.

The firecrackers burn till very late at night,
Filling the sky with colours so bright.

We decorate our homes with rangolis and lights,
Jalebis on the table make a pretty sight.

We sleep very, very late at night,
By the time we do it’s already morning bright.

It’s the festival of love and friends,
I hope this happiness never ends.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today, 10 year old S. Sivakumaran from Chennai shares the review of a children’s book that teaches children about everyday troubles that shape good habits.

Sivakumaran is a chess player. He is interested in reading books, especially fiction . Now developing an interest in writing own stories. He is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chitlapakkam, Chennai.

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Title of the Book: Invisible Alligators

Name of the Author: Hayes Robert 

The story starts in the morning, with the dream of a young monkey named sari.
She thought there is a series of trouble coming her way. From going to her favourite castle to missing her favourite subject algebra II. Later she finds
a lot of alligators under her bed, who are the troublemakers. She asked the  alligator “Who are you?” The alligator said, “I am a troublemaker. Come with me. I will show you what all I did.”

My favourite part is when the Alligator told Sari that we learn more in life because of this trouble. She didn’t think about her troubles any more, just thought about her goal. So she could easily reach the goal.

I think the book is best for age 10+.

I recommend this book to all of my friends and give it   5 star rating for this book.*

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here. And we cant get enough of it!

Today 12 year old Arav Barmecha from Mumbai shares a memory of how he travelled to Israel with his family during Diwali, along with an important message for all of us. Arav is a student of Ascend International School, Mumbai.

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I still remember the days, when we were allowed to travel without having to  take the trouble of wearing the ‘ breath-taking’ mask or the fully scratched face shield, that you cant read or see through.

The  world was not aware that the virus COVID 19 exists. The world was free to explore, enjoy, and spend time with family, outside of where one lives. This  lockdown has brought many things. People taking up new hobbies, new  opportunities, new methods of learning in school and the monotonous day,  over and over again.

Three years ago we were going to Israel during Diwali vacations. We do not light fire crackers because we prefer not to harm the earth and its living beings, for our own fun and joy.

When we landed and went to our house in Israel we saw so many fire works. I was scared but then people said that they were not going to fire them. We convinced people to not burst those fire crackers.

Instead we can use earthen lamps to lighten up our Diwali.

===============================================================

Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here.

And we cant get enough of it!

Here is a young poet and Diwali enthusiast, 6 year old Atharva Agarwal from Kolkata telling us why the Diwali rocks for him!

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I woke up at 6 in the morning on the day of the ‘Festival of Lights,’

Received so many gifts and chocolates with love and delight.

Many relatives dressed in traditional clothes and came to my house to greet,

Some friends also ecstatic joined us in the meet.

Around the deity we lit the earthen lamps.

O! I am so excited, for it is Diwali.

Our building was decorated with colourful twinkling lights,

We made rangoli with beautiful sights.

Rockets flew high in the sky,

We burst sparkling crackers where the sparks fly.

The flowerpots looked great and bright.

O! I am so excited for it is Diwali.

===============================================================

Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

Today 9 year old Sanvi Atul Sharma from Kolkata shares this wonderful poem about what all the festival of Diwali entails.

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Diwali is the festival of light,
When Lord Ram defeated Ravan with might.

We burst fire crackers at the strike of midnight,
And everything looks a beautiful sight.

Burning diyas at night to celebrate,
Having festivities which are great.

All families worship their favorite gods,
And I turn up the music in my Ipod.

Rangolis, beautifully decorated,
Sweetmeats which are completely homemade.

Fairy lights hanging above and shimmering,
And ethnic outfits are glittering.

I love this religious festival,
It’s too incredible to be true!

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 9 year old Atreyo Bhattacharyya from Kolkata, is of a book that is relevant to all kids, for its context of peer pressure and identity.

Atreyo enjoys quizzing and playing violin. He is also good at painting, sketching, and participates actively in roller skating. He loves swimming and solving puzzles. He is a student of Word Munchers and goes to The Heritage School, Kolkata.

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Title- A Bad Case Of Stripes

Author- David Shannon

Publisher- Scholastic

The author David Shannon, has written a funny and unusual story. It is a  fantasy, where a girl has a bad case of stripes. She was anxious about what others thought of her.

The main character of  this story is Camilla Cream, whose skin kept changing according to other people’s thoughts. May be she used to think what others  would think of her, even if it didn’t match with her own thoughts. She used to  like lima beans but as others used to hate it, so she also used to say that she  hated lima beans.

The other character is Dr.Bumble who first examined Camilla but he couldn’t  find out what was wrong. Soon he called the specialists and the experts but they also were not able to find out what was wrong.

The interesting part of the story is when Camilla Cream tried 42 outfits on  herself and her skin became colourful like a rainbow.

From this story, children can learn a lesson, that we should never copy what  other’s say or do. We should accept ourselves the way we are without being influenced by other people’s opinions.

The whole story is interesting because it is a fantasy story and the readers  keep getting anxious as it gets more and more complicated. The readers start thinking what could be the solution to this huge problem, but soon it came to  an unpredictable end.

There is nothing to dislike in this story and it is interesting till the end. It is a highly recommended story for children as it ends with a good message.

On a scale of 5, I will give  5 star rating for this book.*

The book is recommended for ages 5-9.

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here!

Here is 8 year old Nirav Prakash from Kolkata sharing his excitement for this amazing festival, in both words and pictures. Nirav is a student of La Martiniere for Boys School, Kolkata.

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Oh this is a beautiful festival of lights,
On this day, all friends and relatives unite.
We eat chocolates and sweetmeats with delight,
Decorate each corner with lamps and candle lights.
And enjoy firework all through the night,
I love Diwali, the festival of light.

I am a firecracker, I go “Boom,”
After making a mess, mother needs to broom,
My uncle loves me the most, who will soon be a groom.
I burst high up in the sky with the sound kaboom,
And my pet hides like a cartoon in my room,
I am a firecracker, I love to “Boom!”

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

Today, 6 year old Shreyansh Desai from Vadodara shares this sweet write up about what Diwali celebrations in his family are like. He is a student of Cygnus World School, Vadodara.

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Diwali  is my favorite festival.

Somethings around us change around Diwali season like cold weather, clouds  and not to forget the excitement around Diwali vacations.

Houses are decorated with colourful lights, candles and diya. We start  shopping for new clothes and fire works. We go to Dahod, Gujarat to meet and celebrate Diwali with my grandparents.. My cousins and I enjoy together during Diwali break.

Delicious food, fire works and family fun are all about Diwali. How can I forget to mention Diwali homework?

This time is a bit different. We will not meet all relatives and go to the temple, due to corona but this time we spread love.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights is here!

Lets hope it brightens up our lives and minds. Festive greetings to you!

Today, 9 year old P.V.Keerthi Sanjana from Chennai shares a write up about why and how the festival is celebrated in south India. She is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chennai.

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Hi friends, I am excited to share my thoughts about Diwali!

Diwali is a Hindu festival. It is celebrated as a mark of celebrating the death of  evil Mahishasura.  This day begins with oil bath and offering prayers to god. On  the day of Diwali, it is compulsory that we visit the temple nearby.

Bursting crackers and enjoying delicious food makes me happy. I eat a lot of  sweets on this day. My favorite sweets are Gulab Jamun and Rasagulla.

I meet  my grandparents and get their blessings. My friends, neighbors and  relatives also convey their wishes. I enjoy the day with lots of fun with my  family.

On this special day, I gift crackers box for the children in the orphanage. This  year due to Corona pandemic, I try to keep myself safe and healthy with  blessings from my elders.

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 12 year old R.S.Anandita from Chennai writes a passionate review of a book in the iconic Harry Potter Series.

Anandita loves to write, give speeches, drawing especially pencil shading, reading books, watching Harry Potter movies  dancing and singing. She also enjoys playing on the keyboard.

Anandita is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chennai.

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Title- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Author- J.K. Rowling

This is my favourite book and one that I never get bored of. I have been  fascinated by it since I saw the movie. That made me want to get the books.

There has never been a movie which I have missed in the Harry Potter series. I  have watched every movie, almost more than ten times. Then once I got the  novels I had my nose buried in them. I really loved and admired the books and  they were more interesting than the movies.

Now coming to the story, this is about the life of a boy, Harry Potter who discovers that he is a wizard and that he conquered the Dark Lord (the most  horrible wizard whom everyone fears of in the wizarding world) when he was  only a year old baby. He goes to Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry at  the age of eleven. Salazar Slytherin does not like the Muggle borns (non magical folks) and built a secret chamber in the school known as the  ‘Chamber  of Secrets.’ He believed that his heir will come to Hogwarts, open the chamber  and kill the Muggle born students.

The book, ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ is Harry’s second year at  Hogwarts. Doomy warnings from a house elf, hearing a terrifying voice at  school, Harry discovers that history is to repeat itself!! That means the  chamber of secrets has been opened again after fifty years.

This book is full of mysteries and adventures. I love Harry Potter as well as the  author J.K. Rowling.

7 epic stories and one magical adventure, is what I can call this!!   I would give   5 stars* and I would recommend it for ages 9 and above.

*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country! Wrapping up Durga Pooja/ Dusshera , now we have Diwali or Deepavali, the festival of lights!

I am so excited to open up the write- ups on Diwali, by sharing this uplifting poem by 9 year old Ibrahim Abdulkader from Kolkata.

Ibrahim Abdulkader likes to play table tennis and loves playing with his NERF guns and doing nerfwar with friends.

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Diwali is the festival of lights
No dark nights , everywhere it is bright
Sparkles, crackers and fireworks at height
Brightens our hearts and souls with delight.

Colourful new clothes we all wear
Girls with pony tails and decorated hair
Diyas I light, to decorate the windows and doors
Mom makes a beautiful rangoli to adorn the floor.

No darkness and evil fills the night
Happiness shines with all its might
Think of those who know not what it is to enjoy
Together we can fill their hearts with lots of joy.

Oh ! I cannot wait for Diwali
Wishing everyone a Happy Diwali .

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Here is a beautiful Diwali Gift set for every child- a big bundle of books, colouring, jigsaw and lots of fun.

Order now!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 11 year old Presha Patel from Vadodara is on a widely popular and recent book,  often compared with Harry Potter. Presha is a student of Young Orators.

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Title- Nevermoor

Author- Jessica Townsend

This book is one of my greatest possessions, not just because of the storyline  but because it reminds me of home (Australia), as this was my birthday present from my best friend Amelia. From the point of un-wrapping the gift  wrap to finishing it, this book captured my full attention. I was so engrossed by the cover page, credits to Jim Madsen; I couldn’t stop from taking a peek  through this book straight away.

During this ‘peek’- which lasted a few hours, I discovered the magical and  exciting land of Nevermoor. A land, which was so beautifully described by Jessica Townsend, I could almost imagine myself being there.

This story revolves around, 11 year old Morrigan Crow, who is a sweet and  caring person, yet had to experience many sorrows in life due to the short  comings of others. Her father is more a politician than a father and a mean step mom doesn’t help her existence. This girl may seem ordinary, but her life is not that simple. Morrigan led a cursed life – not because she was actually cursed, but because everyone thought so. She was born on an unlucky day and is blamed for all local misfortunes. Imagine just walking by an old lady, carrying  five bags of groceries, when she inevitably drops the grocery, you are somehow blamed for it! But, more than this, the curse means that Morrigan Crow is doomed to die on midnight on her 11 th birthday! That would be so  scary! The whole book is about Morrigan’s journey while competing in four trials to become a part of the Wondrous Society, of Nevermoor. From being  hated in the beginning to the point of being constantly made to apologize for things she never did, to finding true love in Nevermoor.

Jessica Townsend has done a good job, describing each detail, where in one could visualize the whole land, the events, the people, etc. in minute. She has  beautifully captured Morrigan’s emotion, making the reader experience the hate, the thrill, the love, the sorrow and the joy with Morrigan. You almost cheer with the same excitement as her towards the end of the book.

My favourite part of this middle-grade fantasy was when Jupiter North  whisked Morrigan into the magical land of Nevermoor. Even though, I didn’t know where Jupiter was taking her, it felt like the beginning of a new and  exciting adventure.

This book teaches us the value of love, and how it would feel without it. It  teaches us to respect and value everything we have.

Many people compare this book to Harry Potter, and have expectations for it.  But, you should read this book with an open-mind, and not as the next Harry  Potter series. I would like to change people’s thinking towards comparing a  book with another book.

With all the amazing lessons, fantasy, adventure, joy this book brings to its  readers; I rate this book an obvious five star, 5/5!

This book is recommended for ages: 10-13 

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Here is a young reader, 7 year old Achyutasharan Sahu from Chennai with a review of his favourite book.

Achyutasharan Sahu  is very curious to learn new things and got “Leaps and Bounds Award” from his School @Plano, TX, USA during his stay in USA. He enjoys Badminton, and was playing with  Richardson, TX Team  under 3 years group. Making LOGO blocks apart from reading and drawing. He loved to help to her mother in Kitchen during this leisure period. He is a  student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chitlapakkam, Chennai.

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Title: Fisherman and Golden Fish

Author: Alexander Pushkin

Published in 1835 and  translated in English by Robert Chandler.

It is a fairy tale.

When I saw this book first time, I was so curious to know about Golden Fish  and why the Golden Fish is fulfilling the fisherman wishes.

This is one of my favourite stories books. I loved this story book because, on  the front cover there is a nice golden fish and old fisherman standing near the river.

This book has lots of colourful pictures of huts, river and gardens. My father bought this book and gifted it to me at a railway station, when we were travelling to our native place.

The characters of the story are fisherman, his wife and the golden fish.

The setting of the story is in the riverside and huts.

The story is about a fisherman who managed to catch a golden fish which  promises to fulfil any wish of his, in exchange for its freedom. The important  part of the story is ‘Golden Politeness’ response.

The key takeaway of the story is the victory of good over evil, in a conflict between the two. At the end of the story it teaches about an old woman who got punished  for her greed.

If I could change one thing about the book, I would like to add a son or daughter in the fisherman family.

The writing style and photos are simple for 7+ year olds, illustrations very attractive and the book has a nice colourful, soft look.

Overall, the book is very good in terms of story and attractive illustrations. My review rating for the book is 5*. Thank You!!!

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldn’t they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review by 10 year old Siyona Bakshi from Gurgaon, is of an extremely pertinent book on standing out like a sore thumb, and how to deal with it. 

Siyona enjoys listening to music and reading books. Her list of favourite authors include  Sudha Murthy, Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. Inspired by them, she loves to pen down her thoughts in the form of short stories and dreams to publish them in a book someday. She is a great orator and loves to connect with her friends. Siyona loves to dance and is learning Kathak. She is a student of Lotus Valley International School, Gurugram.

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Title: Wonder

Author: R. J. Palacio

Have you ever wondered what would happen…
If you don’t look the way you look,
Eat the way you eat and
Feel the way you feel about yourself.

This is a story of a struggling boy named August, who was born with a special  physical condition, ‘Small Anomalies,’ a disease in which the face seems like it  has been melted.

August says, “Though I see myself as ordinary, other people do not.’

The story revolves around a motivating thought that, ‘You can’t blend in when  you were born to stand out.’ This beautiful phrase adds to the beauty of the cover page and ignited my interest to discover more about the book. The lead character, August Pullmann was obviously unhappy with his special situation,  however, his sister Via and his parents supported him a lot. August was  homeschooled by his mother and had never been to school till he was ten. His  parents wanted him to do so but he was petrified. However, his parents  convinced him by saying,” It is the first year of middle school, it’s a new school  for everyone so everybody would be new to each other.’

August has been portrayed as a child who wonders everyday as to why such a  thing happened to him and also that it is beyond his control to do anything  about his situation or the attitude of people towards him. After many ups and downs, something incredible happened with August and his happiness knew no bounds.

My favorite part in the story was the way August had shown courage even  though he was laughed at, for something which was not even his fault. This  makes him my favorite character in the story. I also liked the revelation, when August’s friends didn’t like him initially but later when they got to know the wonderful person inside him, they became his good friends. Even the part when Julian’s grandmother told him about her childhood and how he was named after a person who had once saved her life was intriguing.

This book beautifully enunciates the emotions of a boy who struggles with his special situation as well as with the world around him. At the same time, I  found the story to be quite engaging owing to the way R. J. Palacio has  presented it with abundance of humor.

Inspiring quotes added at the  beginning of each part accentuate the connect with the story and ignites the interest to read. One such quote is…

“It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye. ”

– Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

I earnestly recommend this book for readers, age 10 and above to gain a  perspective about how life can be so unpredictable and yet so fulfilling.

I will give  5 star rating for this book.*

Title: The Wizard of Oz

Author: Lyman Frank Baum

Illustrator: W.W. Denslow

The cover page of the book created so much interest in me to know the fun, the group of friends are going to have.

The book was gifted to me by my aunt.

This is an adventurous story of a girl named Dorothy who lives in Kansas, USA.  She loses her home in a cyclone and finds it with the help of her friends on the way– the scarecrow, tinman, a lion and her dog Toto. They went to the Wizard  of Oz, asking for their wish and finally the wizard grants their wish. Dorothy and her dog Toto reach their home in Kansas happily.

This story conveys many values, especially that we must not give up on our  goals and we must work as a team to win. It also says that we must focus on   our goals and overcome the problems on the way.

My favourite part of the story was when Dorothy met Glinda, the good witch of the south.

This is an encouraging magical story. The book has an age rating of 7+ but I will recommend this story for all age groups. The font size is good and the  illustration involves us into the story and make us feel that we are with  Dorothy and her friends.

On a scale of 5, I will give  5 star rating for this book.*

Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing your art.’

Today I share the art work of 13 year old G.Vaishnavi from Chennai.

Vaishnavi loves art in general and Warli Art in particular. She is a student of N.S.N Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai

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My hobby is drawing, especially using oil pastel and Warli art. I like drawing and love to draw animal pictures in Warli art.

Warli art is a form of drawing drawn by early humans and are even found in caves. It looks very traditional.

I am interested in oil painting too because it can be so colorful and lively. We can exhibit every expression be it nature, human, culture, temple etc.

Its not easy to learn and needs more dedication and patience to get perfection.

I thoroughly enjoy drawing and it is my passion too. Thank you.

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Here is a wonderful review of the perfect book to follow Halloween celebrations-a Harry Potter book by 11 year old Vanshika Chaudhary, a student of House of Books and Tales, Jaipur.

Vanshika is a book worm, who studies in sixth grade. She likes spending time with her mother and friends. She also  likes to play a few matches of chess with her family, sometimes with herself when everyone’s occupied with some or the other work. Her only dislike is waking up early in  the morning. Vanshika’s hobby is reading novels, writing  stories and composing poems. Her passion is to become an author.

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

Today I share the work of 11 year old Amogh Kaushik. R.S. from Mysore

Amogh has always enjoyed drawing and painting from his childhood days. His favourite topic is usually motor bikes. Amogh is a student of Kautilya Vidyalaya, Mysore. He is delighted with his art classes at The Hobby Place, for nurturing his talent.

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Apart from basics in drawing or just drawing as a hobby, Ganjifa Art is the first art form in drawing, I  learnt from my teacher at the art class. That is one of the reasons for me to choose to do Ganesha.

Ganjifa means playing cards. The cards are typically circular although some  rectangular decks have been produced.

The step-by-step instructions from sir, helped me learn the basics of Ganjifa art and complete the art work with ease.

The colour combination makes this art work more appealing. My creativity is also shown in this art work.

I love canvas painting and has recently done one on Radha-Krishna.

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Hey friends, Sara here.

Dusshera may be over but we are not with us yet!

There is never a bad time to feel festive, right?

Here is a wonderful write up by  11 yrs old Gunmay Khanna on why Dusshera matters to him.  Gunmay is a student of Chamatkaar.

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Dussehra is celebrated because it is believed that on this day lord Rama  defeated Ravana. It is celebrated on the tenth day of Navratri. On Dussehra we  burn huge effigies of Ravana, his son Meghnath and his  brother Kumkaran, by a fire arrow.

People buy new clothes to wear on this occasion. People go to fairs which are  set up in open fields on Dussehra. In the fairs there are stalls of tasty dishes  for people to buy and eat. There are also stalls for souvenirs.

Dussehra  teaches us to be good like Rama and not to be overpowered by our achievements like Ravana, which led to his death.

On Dussehra most people burn green crackers which produce less pollution than regular crackers. At that time children have holidays, so they enjoy their time with their relatives. On Dussehra, people get together with their families.  Some people donate things to the poor people to help them also enjoy this  festival time.

For me, Dussehra is a time to improve on my bad habits and strive to be a  setter human being. We do not kill but conquer, the Ravana inside us!

Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

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Happy festivities everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country! Wrapping up Durga Pooja/ Dusshera , now we have Halloween, a big hit with kids!

Here we have some limericks from 8 year old Harshika Agarwal from Kolkata. Do you know what a limerick is? It is a humorous  poem with five lines, the first two lines have the same final sound as the last line. One might think it is easy, but most find it to be a hard nut to crack!

Harshika goes to La Martienere for Girls, Kolkata and learns creative writing at Word Munchers. She is very creative and has a different outlook towards life. Learning to draw and putting her imagination on paper, swimming and book reading are her passions.

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He went to a haunted house,

And steeped onto a big fat mouse.

He bumped into a scary witch,

Who had  a ferocious  bitch.

He was still waiting for his spouse.

I went into a pumpkin town,

Which had many clown.

I fell into a pit of bats,

I met two scary cats.

I saw mice and never came down.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to-

Happy festivities everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country! Wrapping up Durga Pooja/ Dusshera , now we have Halloween, a big hit with kids!

This will be a different Halloween, being locked in and with social distancing. But here is 12 year old Suhani Khemka taking us back to an exciting time, when she organized a Halloween party with friends.

Suhani Khemka has great enthusiasm for writing,  reading, baking, travelling, and listening to music.  She is a student of Our Lady Queen of the Missions School Salt Lake, Kolkata and is a student of Word Munchers

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We stood behind the wall waiting for her to come and hoping that our plan  would work out flawlessly. My friend, Scarlett got so frightened on hearing the  name of ghosts that her heart missed a beat. Full advantage of which, my  friends and I knew how to take.

We had made an ingenious plan which according to us would succeed. We had completely used up our brains in preparing everything needed for our master plan to be smoothly executed. We stitched and stitched the white cloth until it  was brought to the desired shape, perfect for us to look like ghosts.

The next thing we did, was call Scarlett, coaxing her to come over to my house  for a Halloween party which was difficult due to her disrelish for the festival.  With everything set, we were full of beans and waited to get a nice chortle the next day.

On Halloween’s day, my friend and I stood behind the wall in our own stitched ghost dress with the lights switched off and candle lit, waiting for Scarlett’s footsteps to approach. The room was dark, and we were bouncing off the  walls. As we heard them, we played the spooky music and slowly went shaking side to side, back to front, trying to whoosh the way we had practiced.

Not hearing any yell, we bought the candle up to see who it was. On the sight of a black ghost, my friend and I squealed as a chill ran down our spine, until someone turned on the lights. From beneath the black cloth Scarlett and my
mother revealed themselves which left us dumbfounded.

A rib-tickling scene it was for my mother, who had heard our plan and played  the prank back on us. Scarlett was on cloud nine laughing, whereas we with  our heads down, went out of the room exasperated. The events of the day  made us pledge not play such a prank again when adults are around.

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to-

Happy festivities everyone, your best friend Sara here!  What a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country! Wrapping up Durga Pooja/ Dusshera , now we have Halloween, a big hit with kids!

This time, it will be a different Halloween, being locked in and with social distancing. But we have friends who can spook us out, with their stories and poems! 9 year old Arunava Sengupta from Delhi, is doing just that. All set?

Arunava Sengupta enjoys reading books, painting, singing, playing cricket,  badminton, cycling and watching TV. He goes to Manava Bharati India International School, Delhi and is a student of Jabberwocky Speech and Drama

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On a dark and spooky night,
This day, everyone gets a FRIGHT!!
Your lights are blinking, is it a shock?
Oh, what a spooky, spooky night.

A little rumble, a little creak
Your muscles are missing! You are weak!
A light is shining , it is so very bright
Oh, what a spooky, spooky night!

Your door is banging! Somebody’s knocking!
Your lock is stuck, preventing you from opening!
A log was brought! The door was down!
Why it was me, dressed as a hound!

“Mom!” I said. “I loved the outing!”
“Now I’ll go to bed.
Tomorrow is Halloween! I need some rest.”

So he slept. His mask was beside him.
He’ll be bright the next day. Not dim.

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Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

There is never a bad time to feel festive, right?

Here is  8 year old Vihaan from Dubai, sharing his beautiful take on what is special about Dusshera.

Vihaan lives in Dubai but by heart belongs to Faridabad, Haryana, India.  He likes playing football, reading about space/ planets and eating paneer made by his mother. He loves planet Earth and does his bit by saving water.

Vihaan is a student of JSS Private school, Dubai and Chamatkaar.

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What I understand that Dussehra for sure is a festival in which ‘ending triggers new beginnings.’  End of the ten faced Ravana, end of evil and the devil. It symbolizes victory of good over evil, victory of light over darkness.

From ages, Dussehra is being celebrated to mark Rama’s victory over Ravana on the tenth day (end of fasting) of Navratra. Dusshera is celebrated in many  states of India by different names like Durga Puja, Navratri, VijayDashmi,  Garbha, Viswakarma. Also, Dussehra announces beginning/arrival of Diwali – with a gap of 20 days.

Dusshera to me, means celebrating happiness and joy with family and friends.  I am full of beans from the starting of Navratri, to attend Grabha night,  celebrated in my community.  My mother makes lots of crunchy/yummy delicious food that’s is the icing on the cake and gets me very excited.

I wear new clothes and go to watch Ramlila. At the Ram Lila ground, a man would act like Ram, firing at the Ravana cut out. With this cracker starts bursting, with lots of cheering and clapping by all children. After that I ride on the swings and eats gol gappa and ice cream with my sister and enjoy almost through the night.

Unluckily, this year, pandemic impacted even Dusshera. Due to this, I worshiped and celebrated Dusshera at home only, and missed Ramlila, Garbha and my friends.  I am praying on this “Victory Symbol Day Dussehra” that Corona also gets defeated soon so that I can play with my friends and can celebrate Dussehra with full enthusiasm next year.

Happy Dusshera – Happy Times!

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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?

Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to-

Any excuse to keep our spirits high, right?

Here is 8 year old Ishita Achary from Chennai telling us why she loves the festival and also that she makes a resolve on Dusshera, like we do on New Year’s. Ishita is a student of NSN Memorial Sr. Secondary School, Chennai.

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Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section.

Here I publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

11 year old Harini from Chennai shares her art. She is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School.

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I love to create art. I love color.

I love design.

I enjoy the freedom of imagination and the limitless process of creativity. Henry Ward Beecher said, “Every artists dips her brush into her own soul and paints her own truth into her pictures.”

Regardless of the type of artist– a painter, an illustrator, a musician, a designer, sculptor, architect, writer, the most exciting part about art is that is speaks.

It has the ability to give voice to the heart, to reason, to thought and to the imagination. I love my artworks.

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Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldnt they get to share their review of it?

Today’s review of a much loved Indian folktale is by 6 year old C. Dhakshitha from Chennai. There are just so many wonderful stories of Krishna out there, this is one of them.

Dhakshitha is fond of classical dance, classical music, reading books and visiting temples. She is a student of N.S.N Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai.

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Title-Radha And Krishna Switch Clothes

Author- Ambika Behal

Illustrator-Shiva Kant Vyas 

Publisher- Bookosmia

I read this book from Bookosmia website here.

On seeing the cover page, I thought that it was yet another story of Krishna’s mischief, but it turned out to be very interesting!

This is a folktale about the mischievous Krishna and his best friend Radha. The story takes place in the village where Krishna lives.

One day, Radha was very angry at Krishna and did not come to play with him. He thought he needed a plan to make Radha laugh again and tries some of his antics. Eventually, Radha could not stay mad at such a mischievous friend and they became friends again.

The key characters in the story are Krishna and his best friend Radha.
Krishna is my favorite character because he is mischievous and also can do  anything  for his friends.

My understanding is that we should be happy with our friends,  and should make up if there ever is a fight, no matter how old we are.

I loved this book and I will recommend this to my friends. The book had beautiful artwork of Radha and Krishna in all its pages, which appealed to me a lot! I would give it a rating of  5/5 stars*

I would recommended this eBook to kids in the age group of 6 To 9 Years

Hello hello, Sara here! Thanks for pouring in your entries to my ‘Nature with Sara’ section, in which we find a beautiful way to enjoy nature, while still being locked in.

Dont miss the accompanying cool facts, shared/ acknowledged by Subhadra Devi, bird photographer  turned birder, a nature  enthusiast and a member of the National Conservation Foundation (NCF), India.

Today 9 year old Kiaan Raj Nathan from Delhi shares a wonderful poem on his intrigue with butterflies. Kiaan is a big fan of dinosaurs and animals of the prehistoric . His hobbies are reading, playing, chess and drawing. The Enchanted Forest has been his favourite book so far.

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Caterpillar would eat leaves, build a cocoon and within it quietly lie,
Then come out as a colourful butterfly.

They are majestic creatures,
Spreading pollen is one of their special features.

Curly tongues and multicoloured wings,
Butterflies are such beautiful things.

They flutter about and are difficult to hold,
Butterflies bring good luck, we are told.

They have been around for millions of years!
And, always remind us to forget our fears.

They enhance the beauty of gardens with their lovely features,
We must all protect these lovely creatures.

Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that informative poem? Now, as promised, some cool facts about butterflies, shared by Subhadra Devi

Cool Fact# 1- Butterflies are millions of years old!

Butterflies mate and the females oviposit (lay eggs), which passes on their genes to the next generation. This process has been at work for the last 48 million years for butterflies and 170 million years for moths. Can you believe that?

Read more by the Smithsonian here

Cool Fact# 2- Caterpillars increase their body mass by as much as 1,000 times or more! 

We all have read stories of how much the caterpillar eats, right?

During the larval stage, the caterpillar must consume enough to sustain itself through its pupal stage and into adulthood. Without proper nutrition, it may not have the energy to complete its metamorphosis. Malnourished caterpillars may reach adulthood but be unable to produce eggs. Caterpillars can eat an enormous amount during a life cycle stage that typically lasts several weeks. Some consume 27,000 times their body weight during their lifetime.

Read more by the ThoughtCo here

Cool Fact#4- Caterpillars have 12 eyes!

On each side of its head, a caterpillar has 6 tiny eyelets, called stemmata, arranged in a semi-circle. One of the 6 eyelets is usually offset a bit and located closer to the antennae. You would think an insect with 12 eyes would have excellent eyesight, but that’s not the case. The stemmata serve merely to help the caterpillar differentiate between light and dark. If you watch a caterpillar, you’ll notice it sometimes moves its head from side to side. This most likely helps it judge depth and distance as it navigates somewhat blindly.

Read more by the ThoughtCo here

Cool Fact#3- Butterflies are not the only ones going through complete metamorphosis

Read more by the National Geographic here

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Enjoyed reading? Want to get published on this global writing platform?

Here is how to go about it-

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldnt they get to share their review of it?

So here is a ‘book review for young readers, by young readers.’

10 year old G. Magesh from Chennai is a student of grade 5 from N.S.N  Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Chromepet, Chennai. He likes reading  various collections of books, online as well as offline. His aim is to become a  doctor and he likes helping others. He is interested in doing things for social purposes. 

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It is really an interesting and good story. I hope many read and enjoy this book. I would rate  5/5 stars* for this novel.

Happy festivities everyone, your best friend Sara here! Navratri, Durga Pooja, Dusshera, Ayudh Pooja …what a time of the year, for celebrations throughout the country!

Some of us celebrate Dusshera by burning the effigy of Ravan. 10 year old Aaditri Paul from Kolkata urges us to look within for our own Ravan, while burning the effigy outside.

10 year old Aaditri Paul from Kolkata is full of creativity. She is fond of writing and always tries to share her feelings through it. She loves dancing, sketching and doodle art.  She goes to DPS Megacity, Kolkata and is a student of Chamatkar.

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Dusshera is one of the most important Hindu festivals.

Also known as Vijayadashmi among, the festival teaches us to be good like  Rama and not to be arrogant of our intelligence. Dusshera also spreads a  festive mood in the air. People also burn crackers and eat delicious food and  sweets. They wear new clothes and children get holiday from their school. We  spend a good time with our family, eating and enjoying. Some people decorate  their houses and make beautiful rangolis. Dusshera and Diwali are both celebrated with great enthusiasm, happiness and love.

Dusshera is a festival of  victory of good over evil. Ravana symbolizes ego and Rama symbolizes happiness and goodness. We should also help those who dont have enough, as they also have the right to celebrate the festival with happiness and  excitement. This way we can bring a smile on their faces too.

I  believe that we should not kill, but conquer the Ravana inside us. Dusshera   also means to me that woman is no less than man. Dusshera teaches us to be good and honest in our deeds.

Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your write ups on your favourite books.

After all, if a story is written for young readers, shouldnt they get to share their review of it?

So here is a ‘book review for young readers, by young readers.’