Sara Activities

Here is some brilliant artwork and an an equally well thought write up by Ishita Achary from Chennai. Can you believe she is only 8 years old?

For me, art is a way of expressing my imaginations.

I love to play with colors on canvas to express my thoughts and art is the only way to do it. Hence, I love art.

During the lockdown period, I have watched the TV show “Shree Krishna” and it inspired me to create various paintings of Lord Krishna and Radha.

I do see photographs of Lord Krishna through various means and draw the painting in my own way and color patterns.

There is always a hidden message behind my art work and it depends on the theme of paintings. This “Lord Radha-Krishna” painting tells the story of love and devotion of Radha towards Lord Krishna and the precious time they spent together.

I love to do abstract and composite style paintings. Paintings based on nature and natural objects are my cup of tea. I do face a bit of challenge while painting human faces. I am practicing trying various techniques to overcome this challenge.

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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.’

This write up by 12 year old Ira Ratnaparkhi from  Hongkong is so refreshing,  with her honesty and passion oozing out. Ira was a participant at MeMeraki’s brilliant art workshops, a company committed to revive the attention for Indian folk art across the world.

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I decided to do the Patachitra workshop because I was bored at home during the summer holidays and you can’t go out due to the pandemic. Also wanted   to do it because I thought of trying something new other than Madhubani,  which I have tried to learn before. I have always been interested in drawing and art and love to draw or paint since childhood.

I chose Patachitra and Warli because they looked a bit easy to do, and I was interested in Patachitra. Though both the drawings were not that easy to  draw.  When I was doing the background of the Patachitra, I used some of my   Madhubani techniques and double lined everything. When we were drawing   the Warli, I used brown and red paint and white paint for the Warli people.

In my drawing, The Warli tells the story of normal people doing their work. The  story could also be that they are cleaning and making food because it’s a special occasion or festival. The Patachitra tells the story of Ganesha. The  artist told us that he had to draw Ganesha more than 100 times when he was a  student. No wonder his is so good!

I love to draw and paint because it makes me peaceful and happy. Since I don’t  like to talk too much, I paint. When I draw, I love to listen to music. It helps me  focus more and get the painting done quicker.

I have tried different kinds of  mediums such as watercolour, canvas, acrylic,  pencils and sketching, nibs etc. Usually, I can sit for a long time in one place  and paint for hours if you let me. Sometimes it takes one day to complete a  painting and sometimes it takes me many days.

I chose to draw in the first place because my mum said I should learn a type of  art. I chose to draw Madhubani as a project in year 6 for my school exhibition  project, and since then I have gotten better at it.

I think everyone should learn a different kind of folk art from their home  country.  In India, there are many folk arts to choose from, and each state has  its own style of folk art and handlooms and design motifs. Indian folk art is  very beautiful. They think of lines in different ways.

Even if you love painting you still need to learn it, as an experienced teacher  can teach many secrets and techniques. I have learnt the techniques of applying layers and correcting mistakes from my painting class. Sometimes I have to do more than 4 layers on one painting just to get the right texture of  the colour and blending.

When I get impatient, I spoil the painting. I also get  upset when the teacher  and I do not agree on the exact shade or corrections. I love painting and hope  to try oil painting and many more kinds of folk art.

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Hello young readers, Sara here! Do you know what a Tangram is?Tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat polygons, called tans, which are rearranged together to form different shapes and pattenrs. Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.

6 year old Saisha Kapoor from Kolkata sends in this extremely creative story along with her  Tangram for it.

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Once, upon a time there was a very rich family. They were rich, but did not  boast about it to others. The family lived very happily.

One day, they went to  party at a club which was named “Golden Statue.” They thought it was just the name of the club. But they were wrong. When the  family went inside, they saw hundreds of statues, all in golden colour. The  family members thought it was just for decoration. When they were dancing  at the club, all of a sudden they all turned into statues. This was an enormous  moment for the baby girl of the family, who was named Akshi.

After some time, a golden fairy appeared and touched every one’s head. She
assumed that everyone in the family was aware of the club being a magical one, except for Akshi! She was so surprised that she quickly saved Akshi from staying  a statue. When Akshi turned back to herself from being a statue, she asked the fairy,” Who are you and what happened to my family?”

The fairy replied, “I am the Golden Fairy.” The fairy then told the whole story of  what happened and how that club was a magical one that turned its guests into golden statues. Akshi exclaimed,”Oh, Oh! I am so sorry that I thought  wrong about you and thank you for helping me! But you forgot something,  didn’t you see?”

Akshi then told the Golden Fairy that she did not remember  the way home and also didn’t know how to cook!

“Oh, that shall not be a problem” said the fairy. “I will cast a magic on you and you will know everything,” the fairy said. Just when Akshi was leaving for  home  she turned towards the fairy and said,”Please turn the good people alive again.”

Akshi returned home and after some time the Golden Fairy appeared in front of her. Akshi asked, “What took you so long?”

The fairy said,”When I was coming, my other fairy friends said that they  wanted to meet you because I told them everything about you.”

Akshi then met the other fairies and spent a lot of time. After the other fairies
left, Akshi looked at the Golden Fairy and said, “Let us give my family another
chance.”

The Golden Fairy was very happy to hear this from the little girl and with the
help of her magic turned the family members real again.

This showed that Akshi had an enormous heart as she was ready to forgive  people who did not treat her with love.

Earlier called Common peafowl, this bird’s name has been changed to Indian  peafowl to show the country of origin. The female and male Indian peafowls are usually called ‘peacocks’ and ‘peahens.’ 

The adult female is smaller than the adult male and has a shorter tail, an iridescent green neck, and browner plumage and lacks the sweeping train.

 

Cool Fact #2

The male Indian Peafowl is the one  we would see dancing.

The dance is by the male to attract females for mating.

 

Cool Fact #3

A lot of Indian peafowls have been transported to other places of the world for their beautiful plumage and these birds have established populations in places like the US, Hawaiian islands, South Africa, Japan, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and Australia.

Wow, thats really cool, right? If you have any questions to ask or your own writing or artwork on a favourite bird, I will be waiting for you at sara@bookosmia.com. Adios.

Hey book lovers, your friend Sara here! Keep the wonderful entries to my  ‘book reviews by young readers’ section coming in!

Today I share this well rounded book review by Sachi Patel studying in class 10 in Navrachana School, Vadodara. Sachi is a student of Young Orators.

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Name of book : Divergent
Author : Veronica Roth
Publisher : Harper Collins Publishers

“I feel like somebody breathed air into my lungs. I am not Abnegation. I am not Dauntless. I am DIVERGENT – Tris Prior.

Imagine having to choose between your family and your identity. Imagine  having to make a decision that will change your life forever. Imagine facing  some of your greatest fears depending on your choice. Once chosen, there is no turning back. Face what is in front of you or live your life in poverty, dismay and utter misery. Well, this is Beatrice Prior’s world, welcome to it! Welcome to Divergent!

The population of the city is divided into five groups called the factions, each having its specific character traits. Each year, every sixteen-year-old has to choose one of there five factions: Erudite [the intelligent], Abnegation  [the selfless], Dauntless [the brave], Amity [the friendly] and Candor [the honest]. Once chosen you have to abide by their laws forever, forgetting your past, leaving your family, and taking the quote ‘faction before blood’ seriously even if it means changing your identity. Just like in the case of Bentrice Prior who is now known as Tris.

Tris was born in an Abnegation family but was feeling suffocated about always giving up what she loved, just to he selfless.  Just like the others, she depended on the aptitude test to tell her which faction is most suitable for her to choose, until it was declared that the test didn’t work, it was inconclusive as she had an aptitude for not 1 but 3 factions. She was a DIVERGENT. You might think she is lucky, but in her world, divergence is considered extremely dangerous, she must conceal it to stay alive.

On the choosing day, Tris shocks everyone by the choice of her faction: Dauntless. She starts her initials training by jumping off a roof. Initials is a training divided in three stages: physical, mental and emotional. At the end of initials, only ten of the initiates would make it in. Will she be able to make it? What happens if she doesn’t? What happens next? All of your answers to such questions are hidden in the book so go ahead and read it.

Divergent is filled with suspense, drama, action, mind-blowing plot twists, captivating dialogues, realistic characters, a hint of romance and a dash of humour. Here you will meet many characters that you can relate to in real life, like the-want -it-all- Peter, brave, skilled but soft-hearted- Four, the villain -Jeanine and of course the protagonist -Tris. Tris will amaze you with her strength, will power, intelligence and above all her transformation from an Abnegation to a Dauntless.

According to me, Veronica Rath has done an excellent job. She has given it everything I ever expected from a book.  It has 2 more sequels which are equally amazing and all 3 of them are major motion movies now. The Divergent series has so far sold 32 million copies. It is one of the New York Times bestsellers. If you enjoy reading books like The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner than Divergent is a must-read. It’s one of my favourites. You will love it.

Suitable for age group : 13+
Rating : 5/5

Hello young readers, Sara here! Do you know what a Tangram is?Tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat polygons, called tans, which are rearranged together to form different shapes and pattenrs. Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.

7 year old Riya Nagrani from Little Readers Nook, Mumbai sends in a heartfelt poem of wonder for the twinkling stars above.

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Stars! Oh! twinkling stars!

You are seen so bright all over the night
You have so much light
How do you get so much light all through the night?
Is it all your light or the sun’s light?

However, we like your twinkling light all over the night.
Has someone hung lights that show only at night?
But actually it is so bright,
I just love the sight.

Hello art- lovers, Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section,  where 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.’

I bring to you today, the beautiful artwork and reflections of 13 year old Rhea from Hong Kong, on the back of the lovely art workshops organized by MeMeraki, committed to spread awareness of Indian folk art across the world.

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I have always been interested in art so I decided to join the zoom workshops to learn new forms of art I hadn’t tried before.

When creating the artwork during the classes, I felt more calm and relaxed.

The subject of this artwork was an elephant with a tree behind it. It was fun to chose my own colour combinations to fill in the design, while still drawing and painting in the Madhubani art style.

It was fun to learn new art forms and techniques through the workshop while creating my own artwork.

The workshops were very fun in general and it was nice to use this time at home to learn new art forms.

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About Kahaani Box:

The Library , Bangalore was started as a library in 2017 by Founder & Owner, Neha Jain. Though a Chartered Accountant & a Company Secretary by  qualification with specialization in Taxation, it was her love for books that made her start her own library.

What all does Kahaani Box offer:

It is helping hundreds of children,it is transforming the way  people look at books. Kahaani Box indulges kids in storytelling and activities for hands on learning so that we can nurture  reading and literacy developments in all forms.

Book Recommendations from Kahaani Box:

Less than 8 years – Mercy Watson, I Can Read series, Bad Guys, Dogman,  Pratham Books, Julia Donaldson’s books, Karadi Publications, Gajapati  Kulapati & many Tulika publications Rainbow Magic Fairy, Dragon Masters,  Judy Moody, Hole Books, Hook Books etc.

8-12 years – Rick Riordan, Goosebumps, Lucky Series by Nalini Sorensen, Geronimo & Thea Stilton, Adventures of Mooli series, Yaksha by Archana Mohan, My Weird School, Books by Shabnam Minwalla, Emperor who vanished, Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, Sonia Mehta off to States series, Malgudi Days, Middle School, Sudha Murthy, Amar Chitra Katha, Captain Underpants, Big Nate, David Walliam, Neil Gaiman etc.

12+ years – Wonder, Cassandra Clare, Ruskin Bond, The selection series, Subhadra Sen Gupta, Raina Telgemeier, Harry Potter, Suzanne Collins, Graphix Novels, J.R.R. Tolkien, etc.

Bookosmia congratulates Kahaani Box for its amazing efforts in making reading an exciting proposition for kids.

We are proud to have been a part of Kahaani Box Library’s launch in a new setup, with a storytelling by Author Archana Mohan and Yakshagana performance for our book Yaksha.

Read a detailed interview with Neha in Sara Chats on how to get your child into reading.

#SaraChats: Cut your child’s screen time. Pick the right book, with Neha of Kahaani Box

Hello young readers, Sara here! Do you know what a Tangram is?Tangram is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat polygons,called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective is to rearrange them and make a pattern.Tangrams are considered a great learning tool for building STEM skills.

We wish to go places but at the end of the day, long to return home, isnt it? Here is a wonderful story of a boy and the moon, by 6 year old Ryan Advik.B from Nellore of Little Readers Nook, Chennai.

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Once upon a time, there was boy who wondered about the moon. He loved gazing at the night sky. He always dreamt of going to the moon.

He used to hear stories about the moon and the stars all day long.

One day, he felt sure he had to go to the moon.

The boy asked the butterfly in his garden, whether the butterfly could give him a ride to the moon.

But the butterfly said, “The Moon!! Oh boy, I can’t carry you to the moon. I am
too little to carry you.

Why don’t you ask the bird?”

The boy went to the bird which was sitting on a tree and asked whether the bird could give him a ride to the moon.  But the bird said, “The Moon!! It’s too high for me to give you a ride. I will be tired soon. Why don’t you just take a  flight? ”

The boy went to the airport to get a ticket to moon.

“One ticket to the Moon please!!” asked the boy to the ticket seller. But soon realised that there wasn’t  any flight to the moon.

The boy was very sad and immediately knew what he had to do.

He made a  rocket and set off to the moon.

He met some alien friends on the moon, played  and laughed with them and ate some jellies. He taught them how to  play hopscotch.

He wandered everywhere on the moon and soon got bored. He started to
miss his home.

He said bye to his alien friends and set off to home in his rocket.

He parked the rocket in his garage and ran to his mom, who was baking his favourite  chocolate cake.

The boy gave his mother a tight hug and said ‘No better place than home sweet home’.

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 Aashesha Gupta from Gurgaon shares her enviable collection of artwork with us and some really wonderful thoughts about how Art is much beyond a splash of colours- it soothes our mind and puts a smile on our face.

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I really love Indian art. Before I started my folk art workshops, I never knew  that there are so many art forms within India and I was amazed!

It was a great feeling to attend art workshops because one gets to know the  story behind the art form and the artist and what all struggles did the artists  face.

I have always been the person who would sit down and start drawing and doodling every day, but when I saw the how detailed Indian art was, I was  spellbound and I started to take more interest in that! It looked really intricate but the artist would always make it easy for us to understand and would tell us beautiful stories that brought a smile to my face each time.

Some of my favourite art forms are Pattachitra, Madhubani and Gond. I can’t stop looking at those paintings, it just makes me feel so nice. Every weekend I attend workshops and learn new forms and I even look forward to attending the kids workshops.

Now my knowledge of Indian art has increased and I have made numerous paintings and I am proud of each one of them. I would say that this has been partially what I have doing all throughout quarantine and I would love to stay in touch with all the artists and would be glad to meet them one day!

‘’Art is a world of stories and each time you fold the page, you will find something glorious and new.’’

Hello friends, Sara here and I am back with an Idiom story. What is an idiom?  An idiom is a phrase which does not have the same meaning as its literal  meaning.

Today I bring to you this exciting story that will showcase the usage for the idiom “Hit the nail on the head.” By 10 year old Aadhya Gupta of Little Readers Nook Mumbai.

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There were two girls named Taffeta and Ava. They were selected for ‘A Minute To Win It,’ a challenge game which needs extreme amount of focus. They were so excited because if they win, they wanted their own dog as a prize from their parents. Their parents were happy for their 12 year old daughters and agreed saying, “You will have to take care of the dog.” At this moment everybody had started laughing. The parents were confident about their daughters passing the challenge. 

Taffeta and Ava had built a big tent where they would practice for the big day.  After a few days, it was time for the challenge. The first challenge for them  was to bounce a ping- pong ball into a glass. 

“Oh, I am so excited,”  said Ava. They had decided that Taffeta was going first. And what a round it was!  Taffeta had been victorious in her first try which added  11000 rupees to their prize money.

In the second round Ava had to pull a note out of two bottles, with one bottle below the note and the other bottle on top of the note. It was a hard challenge. Unfortunately in her first attempt, Ava could not do it. 

“Hit the nail right on the head Ava, you got this!” said Taffeta. Because of a wonderful and encouraging message from Taffeta, Ava got it right it in her second chance! 

In the last round, they had to play as a team and  balance a light book on their head and go to the finish line. They had a time limit of 60 seconds! They both were focused on ‘hitting the nail on the head.’

They were successful in winning 21,000 rupees! Their parents also got them a dog as promised. The girls took care of their cute pug properly and loved it very much.

Takeaway- When in a difficult situation, focus on reaching your target clear-cut.  In other words hitting the nail on the head and never give up.

Hello young readers, your friend Sara here! Thank you for all your submissions to my  ‘book reviews by young readers’ section, keep them pouring in from far and wide! Keep reading more books and telling me all about it!

Today 10 year old  Sampoorna Laxni R from Chennai, a student of Phonics Power  shares her review of the book  A Dream On Ice  from the widely popular series Thea Stilton – Mouseford Academy.

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Title of the Book:  A Dream on Ice (Mouseford Academy #10) by Thea Stilton

Name Of the Author: Elisabetta Dami, aka Thea Stilton

The key characters in the book are the Thea Sisters-Colette, Violet, Nicky, Paulina, and Pamela, who are five students at Mouseford Academy on Whale Island. They are adventurous, lively, fun mice, and they want to become  journalists someday. Between lessons and friendship, life at Mouseford Academy is incredibly fabulous!

The story centers around a winter on Whale Island,  when the students at Mouseford Academy are thrilled with the visit of a famous figure Tara Mousinski. The Thea  Sisters come up with the idea of hosting Mouseford’s first ever Winter Game.

The reader is gripped by the question- Will the games be a success, or will diva mouse Ruby Flashyfur ruin the fun for everyone else? As all were waiting for the race to start, Ruby said, “I will destroy the Colette in  the figure Skating competition. What unfurls is an exciting string of events.

My favorite part  of the book is  when Colette, Violet , Nicky , Paulina and  Pamela participated in the  Ice skating events.

The best age group for this book is  9  years old

I enjoyed this book  because dreams about ice skating often reveal your desire to experience some pleasant moments. I would give 4 out of 5 star rating for this wonderful story.

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

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Hello little ones, Sara here! What happens when we take people for granted?  Two 7 year olds, Prisha Chugh and Devansh of Little Readers Nook, Gurgaon and Hyderabad, answer the question for us in this lovely Tangram tale.

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Once upon a time there was a duck.

Everyday the duck asked an old man for his lantern. The old man gave the lantern every single day to the duck.

After a few days the old man got tired of giving away his lantern to the duck. So one day he refused to give the lantern but the duck snatched it away from him.

The next day, the old man thought of teaching the duck a lesson. So he put a spooky toy inside the lantern and gave it to the duck when she came asking for it.  The duck opened the lantern at home and got scared of the spooky toy.

From then on the duck never asked for the lantern ever again!

Hello young readers, your friend Sara here. Our  ‘Book reviews with Sara’ section by young readers like you is really flourishing, isnt it? Keep reading and keep telling me all about it!

Today 11 year old Shikha Dholakia from Vadodara shares her book review with us.

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Book: Diving with the Dolphins, from the series Magic Tree House

Author: Mary Pope Osborne, a famous American writer who writes books for children from ages 5-15. She lives in New York, and has published over 40 books be it fairytales, myths,and much more.

Some famous person said, “Books are another way to get on an  adventure.” While keeping this in mind, I read this beautiful and adventurous book.

I loved the way the author has written the book. Whenever I read the book, I get the mysterious and thrilling feeling in me.

The book is about a brother and a sister who go into the deep sea in order to solve riddles given by a person named Morgan. Their journey from sitting in a mini Sub and all the adventures they go through, is what makes the story  interesting. They go through different difficulties which include the minisub getting attacked by octopus, seahorses and the scariest part was when they were going to be attacked by sharks. But the main twist happens when the dolphins save the mini sub from drowning . This is the part I like the most. It is said that dolphins are very helpful and friendly to human beings and this scene proves it.

The bond between the brother and sister is also very sweet because Jack, even though the older brother never, scolded his little sister and always helped her, supported her, and took her everywhere he went out for an adventure. I think that this is what we should do with our siblings.

Other special moments I would like to share from the book include the way the dolphins showed their bravery and courage in order to save the kids from the drowning mini sub, and the best part was when the story begins from how the two kids see the same dream and keep it in mind and set off for the clues and riddles given by Morgan. The way the kids have used their intelligence in order to find clues in the deep sea is phenomenal.

I would recommend this book because it is well researched,  interesting,  exciting, adventurous , etc.

As I said that If you are an animal lover this book would be really interesting to read. This book is really nice as it not only shows the importance of people but also  animals.

I recommend the book not only for its intended age group- 6 to 10 years, but also older.

If you trust me and read this book you will fall in love with the Magic Tree House series. I would give it a full 5 stars out of 5*

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

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Hello young artists, your friend Sara here. In my colourful ‘Art with Sara’  section, 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.’

Here is 6 year old Atharv Tiwari of DPS Nagpur talking about how art helped him break the monotony of lockdown life, as he churned out his wonderful creations.

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Art and craft is to draw pictures and make things using our hands. During  lockdown, I was getting a little bored so my mother guided me to draw  pictures and fill them with colours. In the beginning, I was wondering how to  draw interesting pictures. Then, my mother showed me the drawing book  where I used to draw pictures with the help of alphabets and numbers.

It truly helped me and I  began enjoying my drawing with different colours. In the month of April, my online school classes started. My class teacher guided all of us to make craft items with the help of different pictures by following step by step instructions. My few art and craft activities which gave me new learning in my life.

During my online classes, I made Piggy Bank which helped me to save money. Then I made Five Animal Puppets-I made this using paper, drew animals and  pasted it on a finger shaped paper made by me and I also wrote story on it, named ‘The Clever Elephant.’

I also made Day and Night-I enjoyed painting this a lot and learnt that  there are different phases of moon like half moon and full moon. My concentration is improving because of doing art and craft activities.

My drawing to respect Corona Warriors was liked by my family and class  teacher. I drew beautiful drawing for my class teacher because teachers are  like God. I love doing art and craft activities. I am thankful to my mother and class teacher as they helped me and kept me busy during these lockdown
days.

Almost all my art and craft work was done by using waste things of home. Art and craft activity had made me little creative and expressive. It’s the best way to keep oneself happy and busy. I enjoy colouring and painting.

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Hey everyone, Sara here!  Time for some fun with words. 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. You might think it is easy, but it is one hard nut to crack!

Today, I bring to you this wonderful bit by 7 year old Arnika Jain from Almere, Netherlands. She is a student of International Primary School, Almere , Netherlands.

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When you came to my hut

I closed the door shut.

We became writers,

Then became painters.

Time for you to go back home, and eat a nut.

Hello young readers, your friend Sara here! Thank you for all your submissions to my  ‘book reviews by young readers’ section, keep them pouring in from far and wide! Keep reading more books and telling me all about it!

Today I bring to you the review of an all time favourite book for kids, by 12 year old R.Sankruthyayan from  Indian School Sohar, Oman.

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Book: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Author: Roald Dahl

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

The first sight of the book’s cover made me think that it would be hilarious.

It was a gift from my father’s friend.

The lead character in this book is Charlie Bucket. The other salient
characters are Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Mike Teavee, and Violet
Beauregarde. Charlie was a well mannered and obedient boy with patience.

The central idea of the story is to select the luckiest five kids through the
golden ticket lottery to visit Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory and to qualify the best among them for handing over the mantle. There were a few character tests to ascertain his apt successor.

The story’s twist and turn created a suspense that increased my curiosity. My  favourite part of the book was when Charlie got the last golden ticket just before factory opening day. This reminded me the saying, ‘Last but not the
Least!!’

According to me the author emphasizes moral values through this fantasy filled story that one must have patience, calmness and obedience to become
successful in life. Being rude with others, and greediness will never fetch
success.

Some conversations of Mr. Wonka portrayed him as a person who is always concerned about his chocolate-factory, ignoring basic humanitarian values.
Eg. When Mrs Gloop was worried that her son would become chocolate fudge and enquired to Mr Wonka. He replied, “Never, I won’t allow it! Because the  taste would be terrible,  just imagine it! Augustus-flavoured chocolate-
coated Gloop!! No one would buy it!!” He could have replied and consoled Mrs
Gloop politely rather ridiculing her son.

The story is in simple English and easy to understand. This book would be highly enjoyed by kids 7 years and above.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I would give this book a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5*.

Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how

Hey young artists, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section, where 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 on the birth anniversary of Amelia Earhart, the poster child of ‘what girls can achieve,’ I am excited to share this beautiful piece by Aayat Lal. Living in London and all of 7 years, Aayat knows more about Indian art forms than most of us would. Aayat wants to do her bit to revive traditional folkarts,  enjoying immensely the folk art  workshops by MeMeraki.

Here is a girl on a mission!

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During Lockdown, these art classes have inspired me to become an artist.  Every time I paint, I get better at it.

I joined these classes because I wanted to get better at art. I also joined these  art classes because I knew that only a few families are doing these art forms. This means that in a few years, these art forms will become extinct.

We have to learn about these art forms more so that we can pass it on to others and we can save these precious art forms.

When I finish each painting, I feel amazed because my painting looked so good. I have also learnt that India has a lot of art forms.

I have learnt many art forms from India so are.

Some of them are Phad Art from Rajasthan, Pichwai from Rajasthan, Assamese Scroll from Assam, Gond from Bhopal, Warli from Maharashtra, Pattachitra from Bengal and Orissa, Mata Ni Pachedi from Gujarat and Kalamkari from Andhra Pradesh.

My favourite artform is Phad Art because it’s very colourful.

When I read books, it’s like my brain is stretching to think more about the scenes and the writing and then I picture the scene in my mind. These art classes have also helped me with my concentration.

I know that every GOND Painting has a story behind it and a few more art forms also have stories too.Art has made me much happier and has also made me forget all the bad things in life.

Now when I look at a painting, I want to know what artform it is and what is the story behind it. I am so thankful that art classes are here.

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Hello Tangram stars, Sara here!  Kindness doesnt take much and gives back a lot in return.

Here is a lovely story, by 5 year old Kavya Joshi from Mumbai, of Little Readers Nook. Do you have your own stories to share?Send it to me at sara@bookosmia.com

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Once upon a time, a beautiful girl named Karishma lived in a small bungalow with her parents.

Every morning, she drank a glass of warm milk in her porch.
One day, a dog sat at the gate and looked at her glass of milk.

She quickly ran into the kitchen and brought a roti. She opened the gate and fed it to the hungry dog.

Next day again, the same thing happened. The dog sat at the gate and looked at her. She brought a roti and fed him.
Thus, she started giving a roti to the dog everyday.

One night, a thief tried to enter her bungalow.  On seeing the thief, the dog quickly ran towards him and bit him very hard on his right leg.

The thief got hurt and ran away from there.

Hello young readers, your friend Sara here. I am so excited to see the fantastic response to my ‘book reviews by young readers’ activity section! Keep reading and keep telling me all about it!

Today 14 year old Raghunandan from Nava Nirman Public School , Cochin shares a well laid out book review.

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Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how

Hello young artists, your friend Sara here. In my colourful ‘Art with Sara’ section, 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.’

Here is a budding artist 7 years old Divisha Agarwala from Kolkata, sharing with us her beautiful thoughts on art.

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I love art because it makes me feel happy and I enjoy doing it.

When I was 4 years old, I used to see my elder sister doing art and I also got interested in drawing.

When I start making any art I am in my own world of imagination. I like  doodling, mandala and other forms. I enjoy making scenery, cartoon characters and much more.

Whenever any special occasion comes, I make cards for my loved ones and  friends. When they appreciate my work and when I see a smile on their face, I feel very happy.

My dream is to become an accomplished artist when I grow up.

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Hello young readers, your friend Sara here. I am so excited to see the response to my activity section -book reviews by kids!

Today 11 year old Adhiraj Gogna, a student of Army Public School in Saugor, Madhya Pradesh sends us this detailed review of the classics Hardy Boys series.

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Book- Hardy Boys Series

Author- Edward L. Stratemeyer

I got this book on my birthday from my good friend.

The book’s cover page was a dark coloured book in a 5 book pack and I thought it was full of mysteries.

The series includes some  teenagers who are amateur sleuths or detectives solving cases and mysteries. 

Frank and Joe, together known as Hardy Boys after their surname, are fictional characters who appear in several mysteries trying to solve them and also  sometimes trying help their father Fenton Hardy.  Frank is eighteen, and Joe is seventeen. They live in Bayport on Barmet bay with their world class detective father Fenton Hardy and their mother Laura Hardy. The brothers attend high school in Bayport, where they are in the same grade. In each mystery the boys  are in danger but still try solving mysteries without any fear.

The first mystery was that the Hardy boys’ friend had a car and it was stolen by somebody and when they found where the car was, they got an idea that  the stolen car mystery and tower mystery were connected somehow. The  mystery was that there is a tower in which the Applegate family lives. There are two towers, an old one and a new one.

Just when they figured out the thief and started their investigation, the thief  died in the hospital because of severe injury. The Applegate’s riches and  securities are stolen by a thief and Fenton Hardy, father of the Hardy boys’ was to solve  the case. They try to solve the case with him.

My favourite part of the story was when they solved the case on their own without the help of any adult, by using their brains so efficiently.

The learning we get from the story is that we should not commit any crime because if we do, we only will get harmed eventually.

If I could change something in the book,  I would make the Applegates a little helpful and kind, with a calm behaviour. In the book the Applegate’s are shown as really harsh.

RATING: 5 stars

The best age group according to me for this book would be 10 years and above.

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Hello little ones, Sara here! How simple is it to make someone feel less lonely? As simple as this story, by 6 year old Mira Gohil of Little Readers Nook, Mumbai. Can a single action from us, lighten up some one’s life?

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The Lonely Cat

Once upon a time there was a cat. She was very lonely.

One day a farmer went shopping. He saw the cat and asked, ” What happened, little cat?”

“I am lonely” said the cat.

“Okay, then I will take you to my farm,” said the farmer.

“Thank you!” said the cat.

So, the farmer took her to his farm and introduced her to his pets, and the cat  was never lonely again.

Hello friends, Sara here and I am back with an Idiom story, like none other! A story about two best friends who bust a lot of stereotypes, a boy who cares for his friend and a girl who is excellent at playing cricket! Read this brilliant idiom tale by 10 year old Aadita  of Little Readers Nook Mumbai.

Wait, what is an idiom? An idiom is a phrase which does not have the same meaning as its literal meaning. This awesome story will showcase it for the idiom “out of the blue.”

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Sunny and Nicky are best friends. They grew up together and love to play cricket. Sunny is three years older to Nicky. As time went by, they practiced a lot. Soon they were the best players in the team and won every single match.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Nicky started playing as if she was the worst player of the team. She missed every single shot and seemed like she was in trouble. Finally, one day Sunny came over to her house and asked what had happened. Nicky said she didnt know. The next day, Sunny figured out that Nicky was not able to see the ball properly and only needed glasses.

Sunny rushed over to Nicky’s house and told her to buy a pair of glasses. After the eye doctor confirmed, Nicky got new glasses and went back to being an excellent player of the game.

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Aadita,

10 years

Mumbai

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.’

Here is a lively write up from Kiyan Mahajan from Dallas, all of 5 years and the youngest artist I have seen!  Kiyan was a participant at MeMeraki’s brilliant folk art  workshops, sharing a write up as lively as he is.

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I love art because I like to decorate. I feel very happy when I complete my art so we can decorate our home with my art.

Also, I love doing activities with art. I like using highlighters, pencils, crayons, markers and paint brushes to draw and color my art.

I liked Madhubani, Cheriyal scroll and Pichwai art workshops. I also love doing abstract art because I can draw whatever I want and use my imagination.

Sometimes my art tells a story – like once I made an art about pillows jumping up and down. I will continue working on art so I can get better at my art forms.

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Hey everyone, Sara here!  Today I am launching a new activity section which is very special to me. Book reviews by kids!

First one rolling in is from 8 year old Harshika from Hyderabad. It is on my favourite book Yaksha, an Indian superhero who tells kids it is ok to feel different.

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Book: Yaksha

Publisher: Bookosmia

Author: Archana Mohan

Illustrator: Adithyaa Sadashiv

The story is about a boy named Yaksha who is in the same grade as me. He  learns about his family secret of Yakshagana dance from his parents and  grandmother. When he learns that the dance form is dying, he wears a  Yakshagana dress to school and tells his friends about it. 

Before reading this book, I had never heard of Yakshagana. I loved this book because of its illustrations and story, one activity and also because the boy is of my age and grade. I like that Yaksha said it is ok to be different. 

I did not like that he was bullied in his new school. If I was in Yaksha’s school, I would have been kind to him and not made fun of anyone because that makes one sad. If I was the author, the book would have ended with Yaksha going on to perform many competitions inspiring other children and everyone appreciating him.

After I read the book, my mumma helped me know more about Yakshagana. I am happy she gave me this book. 

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Harshika Nair

Age : 8

Delhi Public School, Hyderabad

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Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how

Book Reviews with Sara#0: Submission Guidelines

Hey everyone, Sara here! Today is this idiom packed story by 10 year old Kanishka Jain of Little Reader’s Nook Mumbai What is an idiom? An idiom is a phase which does not have the same meaning as its literal meaning. This fun story will illustrate.

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Friday is Riya’s online school. In English class she had a task about writing a story on Idioms. Luckily , She had a class of Sheetal ma’am on the same topic  on Wednesday.  Riya was overjoyed or ‘over the moon’ knowing about it from her mother.

Soon in the evening, she joined the class. Riya was very excited. Ma’am said,”Hold your horses, Riya. Be patient. Learn the content.”

After the class, when ma’am asked Riya about the class she was quite  confident .
Next day was the test  and Riya could answer  all the questions. She could use  all the idioms very efficiently. When the test result was announced, Riya  ‘passed with flying colours,’ outshining other students.

Riya jumped with joy and thanked her Sheetal ma’am.

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Kanisha Jain,

10 years,

Mumbai

Hello lovely people, Sara here. I am so excited to launch our ‘Art with Sara’ section and publish the writings of young artists who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’

Here is 9 year old Khushee Desai from San Jose, California, a participant at MeMeraki’s folk art workshops, sharing a vibrant write up on what runs in the mind of a young artist.

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Sometimes my art tells a story but most times it doesn’t what can it be.  I once  created an art based on Harry Potter and was trying to portray myself in the  school of Hogwarts and the sorting hat was sorting me into a house and it screamed Gryffindor!! And it had all the characters of Harry Potter that I liked. And I added patterns I learnt in the workshop in my painting.

Hello little ones, Sara here. Our Tangram stories  are usually about living through our favourite dreams, isnt it? Hehe. 5 year old Kyna Gilani of Little Readers Nook, Gurgaon for this  magical mystery ride.

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Oorja in the Enchanted Forest

Once there was a little girl called Oorja. She used to stay in castle with her  Mamma and Papa. Castle’s name was Sunset. Every year on her birthday she  used to visit the enchanted forest.

On her 6th birthday she was walking in her favourite forest, when she felt as if  someone was following her. But when she turned around she didn’t see  anyone. She kept walking and took out an apple to eat. Suddenly at that moment someone took the apple away from her.

She heard a voice that was a Unicorn’s. Unicorn told Oorja that he becomes  transparent when there are people around him but now wanted his colours  back. So Oorja asked him how she could help him get his colours back.

Unicorn asked Oorja if she could make colors and give him yellow colors for the mane and tail. So Oorja took bluebird and sunflower and mixed them and used them to color the tail and mane. Now Unicorn wanted pink color for the body – Oorja mixed red and white roses to make pink color and then coloured Unicorn’s body. Then unicorn said but how will I become my usual shiny self.

So Oorja took took some shine from the sun and gave to unicorn.

Hey everyone, Sara here!  Time for some fun with words. Do you know what a  Haiku is? It is a style of poem that originated in Japan. Generally written to evoke images of nature, Haiku is a short, three-line poem that follows the pattern of five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line and five in the third line.

Want to try? Send us your Haiku entries! But before you do, dont miss these really beautiful ones from 13 year old Diya Shah from Kolkata.

Poem 1
Butterflies sitting
On the colourful red flowers
Enjoying the wind

Poem 2
Absolutely dark
Stars whisper to each other
Sparkling in the night

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Diya Shah,

13 years

Kolkata

Know more about Diya here-

Meet the Bookosmians

Hello little ones, Sara here. We all need a little pepping up in these times, and nothing better than that happy feeling of Christmas.  Lets say thanks to 7 year old Miraaya Bhende of Little Readers Nook, Mumbai for this endearing Tangram story.

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Once upon a time, on Christmas eve, Tanaya was busy making something special. Her mother called her, “Tanaya, oh you are not ready yet, get ready. We have to go to Church!”

“Yes Mumma, see what I have made!” said Tanaya. “Wow such a lovely pair of candles, they are pretty,” observed Mumma.

Tanaya got ready and left for church with her parents. On her way, she saw a  hut and it had no light. One child was trying to read a book to his younger  sister.

Tanaya kept walking to the church with her parents. As soon as they reached church, Tanaya lit one of the candle. She kept another candle with herself. Her mother was very curious seeing this.

After the prayers they all started walking back to their house . While walking back on the same street, Tanaya stopped at the hut and gave her candle to the kid. The kid was very happy. He lit the candle and started reading a story to his younger sister.

Tanaya’s parents was very happy and proud of her on seeing this and they all  happily went home. It was a ‘Merry Christmas’ indeed.

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Miraaya Bhende,7, Mumbai

Hey everyone, dont we all find it difficult to understand when someone says things using idioms? What are idioms? Here this cute story by 8 years old, Kanishka Lohia from Mumbai will illustrate.

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One day it was raining cats and dogs and I wanted to eat lots of cake but all the pastry shops were closed, so I decided to make my own cake. At first I thought it will be like building a castle in the air as it was my first time baking.

I decided to take up the challenge and try something new. I started by taking out all the  ingredients and looking at my sister Aanshikha’s special cake recipe.

I put together the flour, milk, chocolate syrup, sugar, cocoa powder, oil, water, baking soda and baking powder. 

I put the dry ingredients in one bowl and wet ingredients in another. Then I mixed both of them carefully together and placed it in the oven. I held my horses till the oven went ding! To my surprise, I realized it was the best cake I  ever had.

I realized that cooking is a piece of cake!

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Kanishka Lohia,8, Mumbai

Hey, everyone’s best friend Sara here!  7 year old Rajveka and Vaanya of Little Reader’s Nook, Kolkata have written this cute Tangram story on friendship! Dont miss, read on.

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Once there lived a furry brown cat called Toffy and a pretty purple bird called Lavender. One day Toffy was playing hide and seek with Lavender in the garden. Toffy was hiding behind a tree. Behind that same tree there was a well.

By accident Toffy fell into the well. She called for help but the people did not help her as they thought she would bite them. Lavender found Toffy and tried  to get her out of the well, but could not. She flew as fast as she could and got  all her bird friends to help Toffy.

Finally they were able to get Toffy out of the well. Toffy was very thankful and  promised that she would give her a pack of chocolates next time. The two of them went to play and lived happily ever after.

MORAL
True friends are very important.

Hello little ones.  Here is an endearing Tangram story , from 7 year old Swara Sameer Pandit of Little Readers Nook Mumbai, with a wonderful message of friendship.

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Once there was a dense jungle  and in the middle of the jungle, there was a  Banyan tree. A  flock of sparrows used to live on that tree. One wild cat was  staying in the bushes near the tree. The wild cat used to chase the sparrows  and both of them always kept fighting.

One bright sunny day , the sparrows were resting on the tree and the wild cat was also relaxing and sleeping nearby. One wolf was slowly approaching the cat and the cat was not at all aware of the same. The sparrows saw the scary wolf and all the sparrows attacked and pecked at the wolf. The wolf ran backed to the jungle. The wild cat was really happy and thanked the sparrows.

A few days passed by and the sparrows were eating near the tree as they were busy eating, one black kite was coming towards them. The cat saw the black kite and scared the black kite. The sparrow thanked the wild cat after that they became good friends and lived happily.

Hey everyone, Sara here!  Time for some fun with words. 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. Want to try? Send us your limericks!

But before you do, dont miss this really funny one from 11 year old Saketh from Bangalore.

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There was once a man
Whose skin was the colour tan
He used to visit the beach
And once there gave a big speech
When people threw things at him he ran!

Saaketh K S,

11 years,

Bangalore

Cats and Dogs  -A short story by 11 year old Shriyadit Verma of Little Readers Nook Mumbai

Once there a boy named Aarush. He always wanted cats and dogs as pets.  However, his parents refused because the pets could dirty and damage their  house. One day, Aarush was going to his friend Dev’s house. On the way, it  suddenly started raining very heavily. He wished that cats and dogs could also  rain and he could get them as pets. It stopped raining after ten minutes.

When he reached his friend  Dev’s house, Dev asked him why he was looking sad. Aarush told him that he wished it rained cats and dogs. Dev said “What are you talking about ? It just rained cats and dogs.”

Aarush didn’t understand what Dev was saying. Dev then explained to him  that  raining cats and dogs are idioms which means raining heavily. Aarush  then understood what idioms are and what does “raining cats and dogs” mean.

Shriyadit Verma

Name : Shriyadit Verma

Once there lived a girl in Turkey,
She was very quirky.
Whenever she had time to play,
Took out her old dry clay
And loved going to a bakery.

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Aadyot Sengupta, 11 , Bangalore

Bishop Cotton Boys School

Hey everyone, Sara here!  Time for some fun with words. 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. Want to try? Send us your limericks! But before you do, dont miss this funny combo from 14 year old Aditya from Mumbai.

Pat, the cricketer

There was once a man named Pat
He was never good with the bat
When he played cricket
People always took his wicket
And he always got chased by a cat!

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The tale of a dog

There was once a dog
Who always fell in a bog
All the cats hated him
He always felt a bit dim
But jumped around like a frog

Aditya Salian,

14 years,

Mumbai

Hello little ones.  Sharing this extremely creative story by a little author, 7 year old Naisha from Little Readers Nook Gurgaon.  Beautiful tangrams and an even better message- Looks dont matter, our confidence does.

Suzy and the Grey Kite

Once upon a time there lived a girl called Suzy. She was going to the Kite  festival riding on her beautiful unicorn. As they reached the kite festival, Suzy saw a gloomy grey kite sitting alone.

Nobody took him .Everybody only bought colourful kites. The grey kite was  locked in a glass and it was sobbing. Suzy felt sad for the grey kite and quickly  took the kite from the shopkeeper.

The kite was relieved to come out of the glass and thanked the girl for taking him. Suzy sat on the unicorn and they went on top of the green mountain to fly the grey kite high up in the blue sky. The grey kite felt awkward in the sky  among all the bright ones. He thought, “If I fall all the other kites will laugh at  me.”

But Suzy and the kite did not give up. Soon he began to enjoy the fresh air and began to rise high, high, so high. He started loving it. Seeing him dance so high all the other colored kites learnt a lesson that they should not have made fun of him. They realized that dark or colorful doesn’t matter. It is important to be confident and happy with ourselves.

Now the grey kite lives happily ever after in his new home…

Naisha Bothra,7, Gurgaon

Hey everyone! Sara here, along with my best friend Ditto. Why is he called that? That is a mystery for another day. For now, lets get a little nosey and solve the mystery of SMELL!

And dont you forget to try out the activities below, after watching this video!

Hey, everyone’s best friend Sara here!  7 year old Saadhana and Harshit from Little Reader’s Nook, Bangalore have written this brilliant Tangram story- football, rain, superman and even a nursery rhyme. They have got it all in there! Dont miss, read on.

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Title of the story – Jake’s Mysterious Day

There lived a boy named Jake. He was  excellent in sports, mainly football. He wanted to become a famous football player when he grows up.

Jake could play football anytime as he liked it a lot. He practiced everyday in the morning.

One day when he was practicing his striking and dribbling, suddenly he found himself lost in the middle of a dense forest. He was so involved in his practice that he didn’t realize where he had reached. This shows how much he loves football.

He was scared, he cried,”I want to go home, what shall I do?”

And then suddenly when he was crying he heard a loud noise.

BOOM!

Superman, with his green umbrella was standing in front of Jake. 

Jake was surprised and he heard a sound. 

Pitter..patter.. pitter..patter.

Then suddenly he sang,

“It’s raining, it’s pouring,

The old man is snoring, he went to bed and bumped his head and couldn’t wake up next morning.”

 He picked his football and started playing in the rain.

Superman said, “I am happy to see you play but it is getting late and we must go home. I will take you home with my super green umbrella. So now I want you to hold  my umbrella and come with me before we get into anymore adventures.”

Jake and Superman head home with the umbrella and the boy was  extremely happy to see his house.

He thanked the Superman, who left to help more people.

Jake skipped into his house with the football in his hands and lived happily ever after.

Hello little ones.  Sharing this extremely creative story by a little author, 7 year old Lavishka Jain from Little Readers Nook Gurgaon. What is this Tangram story about? Well, Tangrams!

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It was a sunny hot day, and there lived a girl named Sia, with bright eyes, one  ponytail, baby pink lips and a beautiful pink frock. She was five years old and  lived in a comfortable apartment with her mother and father.

“Aah! It’s so hot,”Sia exclaimed as she was sitting in her balcony fanning  herself. In the meantime her mother got some watermelons to eat. Sia loves  watermelons especially on such a hot day.

After eating it, Sia went inside. She asked her mother, who was working in the  kitchen, “Mummy, what should I do?” Her mother suggested, “Why don’t you  go out and play in the sun?” “No it’s too hot,”Sia refused. “Ok, then read a book,” Mamma advised. “No it’s too boring”, Sia replied.

Sia was being too  picky. She went inside her room with a sigh. She jumped in her bed and said to  herself, “What can I do, Mamma is also busy with her kitchen work?”

Sia’s mother was watching her, and she noticed that she is looking very bored  and gloomy. Mom got an idea and she sat on a dining table and started making  shapes with Rajma beans.

Sia came out of her room to drink water, when she noticed her mother playing  and making different objects from those shapes. Sia got curious and sat there  only looking at her Mamma.

Mamma suggested, “Why don’t you make your own shapes by cutting  colourful paper and after dinner we can make our stories from it”. Sia liked the  idea and immediately rushed to her room to make her game. While she was  cutting the shapes; mom told her that this game is called Tangram and it’s a very fun game.

Sia quickly finished making her Tangram shapes and was ready with the story  too. Mamma said, she has to finish her meal and then it would be story time.  Sia, ate her dinner really fast that day. She made a story about Jungle which  had animals like lion, rabbit, fox and also a hunter and lots of tress. From that  day whenever Sia felt bored, Tangram was her first choice.

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Lavishka Jain, 7, Gurgaon

Hello little ones.  Sharing this beautiful story by a little author, 7 year old Isha Nadkarni from Mumbai. The perfect way to ring in World Music Day tomorrow, 21st June.

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Once upon a time there was a little sting ray who was shy. Her name was
Chicki. One day her mother told her that she had to perform at a concert.  Chicki had not prepared for it, she was scared.

At the concert there were many people, she sang L….L….L…A…A…L…A
and others sang LA..LA..LA..LA..LA. Chicki was out of tune, she was
embarrassed.

When she got home her mother was not angry, she said you tried your best. It’s ok and then Chicki realised that she needed a little practice, so she
practiced and practiced and practiced until she was perfect.

The next time when her mother took her to the concert, Chicki won the first prize for singing. When they asked her how she got so good at singing, Chicki said she worked very hard. She said she did that not to win a prize, but just to make her mother very happy and proud.

After all, music isn’t about how many prizes you win, it’s about how much you enjoy it.

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Isha Nadkarni, 7, Mumbai

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 5 year old Nayara Tharakan, from Mysore has shared this fun story from Little Readers Nook. Read on! Can you think of a story on this tangrams too? Send them to me at  Sara@bookosmia.com

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Once upon a time, there was a happy Pyramid family. The Appa (daddy) pyramid and the baby pyramid were best friends. This pyramid family had  been living in the hot desert for many years. One day, the Appa pyramid  peeped out and saw many pyramid families like theirs travelling and settling
down in and around their home. Their sandy neighborhood was becoming  crowded and noisy. So, Appa pyramid decided to shift to another place. He  always wanted to experience the cold. So, the Appa pyramid said bye to his baby and off he went to Antarctica! He was welcomed by the friendly penguins, the sea lions and the polar bears. They looked at him in wonder!

They had never seen a pyramid before. Soon, the Appa pyramid was  everybody’s favourite. The penguins used the pyramid as their sliding slope.  The sea lions went down the sides of the pyramid and splash, they fell into the ice cold waters.

But the Appa pyramid soon began to shiver and freeze as he was not used to  the cold weather and he wanted to leave. But the penguins pleaded with him  to stay back and made him a big warm jacket out of round stones. The Appa  pyramid was very happy and he stayed on there.

Suddenly, the baby pyramid woke up with a start. She ran to Appa pyramid with  her eyes full of tears and said, “Appa, would you be leaving us to go to  Antarctica to live with the penguins and the polar bears?”

Appa laughed and said, “Oh, I would I never leave you ever, little one! But let’s  all go together to Antarctica on a holiday next summers.”

“Thank God it was just a dream!” cried the baby pyramid.

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Nayara Tharakan, 5, Mysore

Hey. Sara here and I am back with some cute yet meaningful stories from our  friends at the Little Readers Nook. 7 year old Arya Prashant Bhat from -Mumbai feels we have a lesson to learn from flowers.

Can you think of a story on the flower tangrams too?

A Happy Flower

One fine morning a beautiful flower bloomed in the garden. As soon as she  opened her eyes she saw many beautiful things around her like tall mountains,  green trees, bright yellow sun and many other colourful things. She saw the  bright sun smiling at her. She too happily smiled at him.

A girl came to the  garden and noticed the beautiful flower. She loved it very  much and wanted to take it home. So she plucked the flower and took it home. She offered it god after reaching home.

At the end of the day, the flower dried up.

Moral of the story :
The flower gave happiness to everyone around her till she was fresh. This shows we should always keep smiling in any situation whether it is good or bad just like the happy flower.

Arya Prashant Bhat, 7, Mumbai

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 7 year old  Mihira from Mumbai has shared this fun story from Little Readers Nook. Read on! Can you think of a story on these tangrams too? Send them to me at Sara@bookosmia.com

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Once upon a time, there lived a crab called Crabby. He was not happy because he had no friends. The other fishes went to school, but Crabby did not go as he didn’t have any friends.

In the same ocean, there lived an octopus named Octo. Just like Crabby, Octo also didn’t have any friends and didn’t go to school. Octo often felt sad as he had no friends.

One day, when Crabby was wandering in the ocean, a large rock fell on him when he was not looking. Crabby got stuck under that rock and cried loudly for help. Octo was swimming nearby and he heard Crabby’s voice. He immediately turned to Crabby. He told Crabby “Don’t worry, I will save you from this giant rock. I have eight hands – I can easily lift this rock using them”.

Octo bravely pushed the rock aside using his strong hands. Crabby came out from under the rock. He said to Octo, “I am really grateful to you for saving me. What is your name?”

“Hi- my name is Octo. What is your name?”
“I am Crabby. Can we be friends?”
Octo replied “Yes of course! I am so happy to meet you, my friend Crabby!”
Octo then told Crabby “I didn’t have any friends till now, and that is why I didn’t go to school.”
Crabby replied “You are my first friend! From tomorrow onwards, we both will go to school together.”
After that day Crabby and Octo went together to school. At the school, they met many fishes, turtles, octopuses and crabs. They both made many new friends. They were both happy as they were not lonely anymore.

Crabby told Octo, “Even though we have many friends now, you will always be my best friend.”
Octo said, “Thank you Crabby! But please don’t get stuck under a rock ever again!”

Both Octo and Crabby laughed heartily on this, hugged each other and
remained best friends forever.

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Mihira Shukla, 7, Mumbai

Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here with a  beautiful story by 6 year old Aarohee More from Mumbai.  What can you do when faced with an invincible  opponent? Just wait it out. Patience is the answer, whether Lion or even Coronavirus?

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Once a family of parents and 2 girls went to the jungle for a safari. While they  were sitting under their tree house and enjoying their meal, suddenly a lion appeared. The lion was very hungry and wanted to eat them up.

As soon as the lion started approaching them they immediately climbed the
tree and went into their tree house and locked themselves up. The lion waited for a very long time for the family to come down but was unsuccessful.

Finally, due to hunger he left from there to search for another prey. The family seeing the lion leaving, came down from their tree house, sat in their jeep and returned home safely.

Aarohee More, 6, Mumbai

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 7 year old Upamanyu of LRN has penned this tangram story, living his dream I am sure- of an astronaut who is also defeating the bad guys! Read on….

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Sam and his Rocket

Once upon a time there lived a little boy named Sam. He was very interested in space.

When he grew up he studied very hard in astronomy and became an astronaut. His dream was to go to space in a rocket.

One day his dream came true when he was selected to go to space in a rocket.
After he started his journey to space, after a few days he landed on an  unknown planet.There he found some  living beings who were very tiny in size.

He realized that he had come to a place full of aliens. The aliens at first were very scared to see Sam and his rocket.  They started to attack him and his rocket but as they were very small they could not hurt them. When the leader of the aliens realized that Sam was a good man, he ordered the others not to attack Sam and his rocket. He said to Sam, “ If you are a good guy, can you help us from the bad aliens of this planet ? ” Sam said,  “ Yes, of course I will.”

Then Sam asked the good aliens to take shelter in his rocket while fighting with the army of the bad aliens. After Sam defeated the bad aliens, he put them all in his empty bottles of juices and threw them away. Then he asked
the good aliens to come out from his rocket. The leader of the good aliens thanked him. Sam said bye bye to them and came back to Earth safely in his rocket.

Upamanyu Bhattacharya, Kolkata, 7 years

Happy World Environment Day everyone! Your best friend Sara here with a  beautiful story by 6 year old Arunima from Mumbai.  I hope humans come a long way from how they are defined in the story, as some one who “Builds houses, hunt animals, eat them and take a nap.”

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Three friends who saved the jungle #

Once there was moutain that had a jungle nearby. In the jungle there were animals who were friends – a lion who was very strong, a fox – who was very smart and the third was the rabbit who was very fast.

One day, a man came walking to the jungle to hunt. The rabbit saw him and he went to tell the fox. The fox said “Don’t worry, we will call the lion and we’ll manage”. 

The fox told the lion about it and the lion went to the man and said “Hi man, how are you? You are the first man to reach this jungle – Why are you here?”.

The man replied, “I am here to build a house and hunt animals, eat them and take a nap”.

Then the fox said “Oh! very nice. We also have a river in this jungle. You can take a boat and also eat fish there.” 

The man said “Good idea, I will go to sleep – I have a lot of work.” Then, when the man was sleeping, the fox took his gun away and the rabbit went to call the lion. The lion went to pounce on the man and the man ran away from the jungle. This is how the three friends saved the jungle.

Arunima Chowdhury (6.5yrs) Mumbai

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 6 year old Nandita from Mumbai has shared this fun story from LRN. Read on! Can you think of a story on these tangrams too? Send them to me at Sara@bookosmia.com

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Once upon a time there lived a princess named Faye. Her loving parents, the King and Queen gave her whatever she wanted.  One day she asked them for a kite. But they said they don’t have a kite – maker in their kingdom.

The next day she went to the fountain in the palace gardens. She pretended it  to be an enchanted fountain and she closed her eyes and said ‘I wish I had a magical kite of my own that will protect me.’  As soon as she opened her eye a kite came flying into her hands!

She wanted to fly her kite in her garden. Her parents warned her not to go out  of the palace fort as it was dangerous. As she was playing, she wandered out of the fort by mistake.  A thief caught her and tried to kidnap her. But the kite swirled around the thief’s head and his head began to spin. The princess  grabbed her kite and ran back to the fort.

Moral: Always listen to your parent’s warnings.

Nandita Shetty,6, Mumbai

Hey. Sara here and I am back with some cute yet meaningful stories from our friends at LRN. 7 year old Navika and 8 year old Sharanya draw out a beautiful distinction between being cautious and being distrusting ,through their tangram story.
Can you think of a story on these tangrams too?
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THE BIRD AND THE DOG
Once upon a time there lived a bird. One day the bird was feeling thirsty. So it went near a lake to drink some water. A dog was also drinking water in the lake. The dog asked to be friends with him. But the bird did not trust the dog so he did not become friends with the dog. One day the bird was in trouble. He was caught by a hunter .The dog quickly jumped over the hunter and saved the bird. The bird was very ashamed of himself. The dog forgave the bird for his foolishness. They became very good friends.
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Navika Jain 7yrs and Sharanya Mall 8yrs from Kolkata

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 7 year old Reyansh from Ranchi has shared this fun story from LRN. Read on!
Can you think of a story on these tangrams too?
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The clever fox and the dumb lion on the mountain
Once upon a time there was a clever fox living on the mountains inside a cave. One day an old and weak lion was searching for food but could not find any and was very hungry. By chance one afternoon that lion landed inside the fox’s cave while he was roaming in search of food.
After a few hours when the fox returned, he saw lion’s footprints outside the cave. The clever fox shouted “Cave oh my cave should I come inside?”
The dumb lion thought of answering on behalf of the cave and said “Come oh my dear friend come inside”
The clever fox ran away saving his life from that old, weak and hungry dumb lion who was ready to kill him for food.

Moral – In difficult times one should be brave and work with brains and not be dumb.

Reyansh Gupta, 7 , Ranchi

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 6 year old Ira Shenoi from Mysore has shared this fun story. Read on!
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Once upon a time there was little girl called Iri in a village very close to deep dark forest. She was walking in
the forest and found a small pumpkin. It was a magic pumpkin and started to grow bigger and bigger. It grew
so big that the girl decided to make it as her home. Slowly day by day she carved a bedroom, living room and
balcony for her inside the pumpkin. It was the cutest house and everyone called her pumpkin girl because she
lived inside a pumpkin.During the day she would go around the forest picking berries, nuts and fruits to eat. All
the animals in the forest like rabbits, butterflies, squirrels and bears were her friends.

But, other side of the village lived a big monster called Big Tummy Monster. He was called so because, he had
a big stomach and a huge appetite. No matter how much food he ate, he used to be hungry all the time.
People from the village had to cook for him and take food many times in a day, otherwise he would scream
and threaten villagers saying, “I will eat you all up!” People in the village were very sad and crying!
The pumpkin girl saw people crying and asked them what the reason was. They told her that all the food they
had was given away to the Big Tummy Monster and now they would not get anything to eat, even for their kids. If
they don’t give food, the monster would eat the up.

The girl thought of a plan, she went to the monster and said, “Hey Big Tummy Monster, you are hungry , right?
All you need is food, right? if you are really strong come and eat my pumpkin house!”. The monster came over and started eating the pumpkin, the pumpkin was so big that the monster could not finish it up. But the monster didn’t want to give up, and kept on eating and the stomach blasted out open, the monster ran away into deep dark forest in pain and was never seen again.

The pumpkin girl had rescued the villagers from monster, but now she didn’t have a house to live it. The
villagers thanked her and offered to build her a home. But she was not interested, she went to forest and kept
looking for a pumpkin. She found a small cute pumpkin. When she touched the pumpkin, it turned into a huge
one. She could make it as her new home, the villagers helped her turn into a home, and she was happy as ever.
“Do good and be kind”
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– IRA SHENOI, 6 years old

Hey everyone. Your new best friend Sara here. Here is the story of The Two Friends- The Cat and The Swan.
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Once upon a time there lived a cat named Kitty. Kitty was roaming on the road for food when she met a swan called Shanny. Kitty the cat had no friends so she thought of making friends with the swan. Kitty the Cat went to Shanny the Swan and asked if she agreed to become her friend. She said “sure” and they became friends. Now that they were friends Kitty the Cat told Shanny the Swan that you are as beautiful as a sunset to which she replied to the Kitty,”You are as cute as a button.” One day they were very hungry. They went to a forest in search of food. Kitty spotted a bowl of milk near a tree and pounced towards it while Shanny the swan was munching on grass nearby. Suddenly they heard a roar of a furious lion. They got frightened and ran away. They decided they will eat whatever they have and never go out into the forest for food.

Takshvi Singh 7years and Prachi Kothari 7years

Hello little ones. Sara here, everyone’s new best friend! I am getting hooked to the cute little stories and tangrams by our friends at LRN. Check out this story by 5 year old Ruhan from Ranchi. I am told none of his stories are complete without lion or tiger as the protagonist. 😃
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Once upon a time there was a jungle with tall trees (first tangram). The king of the jungle was a wise lion ( second tangram). One day all animals came to the lion very worried. They told the king that there is a new beast ( third tangram) in the jungle who is killing us. The new beast was called COVID.

The wise Lion King said he has a gun (fourth tangram) which shoots out square soap Bubbles and can kill the Beast. The animals shot COVID with soap Bubbles from the gun.
The beast was killed and all animals lived happily ever after.

By Ruhaan Malhan,5, Ranchi

Hello little ones. Sara here, everyone’s new best friend! I love these mini tangram tales from my friends at Little Readers Nook. Check out the story of The Man and The Fox, by 8 year old Avni Kamath from Bangalore.
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Once upon a time, there lived a man, who lived by the mountains.

One day when he was walking home, he met a fox. The fox said,”I am very hungry.” So the man gave him some food to eat. The fox was very happy and guarded the man’s house throughout the night for any danger.

The next morning, the man saw the fox outside his house. He had not gone  from there, so he asked the fox, “Why are you still here?”

The fox replied, “Because you gave me food, I was very happy and I thought should protect your house.” Then the man and fox became very good friends.

Avni Kamath,8, Bangalore

Hello little ones. Sara here, everyone’s new best friend! I am getting hooked to the cute little stories and Tangrams by our friends at Little Readers Nook. Check out the story of Bindi, the kite by 6 year old Ishta Chepuri.
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Once upon a time, there lived a pretty little kite named Bindi. She was full of colours. Her face was blue, yellow and green and she had a purple, pink, grey and yellow tail. Although she was the most beautiful kite, she was very stubborn. She would not listen to anyone’s advice. Her elders often told her not to fly very high.

One windy morning, Bindi flew away. She was excited and happy, she was finally flying. As she flew upwards, she was curious to know what was beyond the clouds, where the birds were going, which is the tallest tree and so on. So she flew higher and higher and higher.

Uh-oh, she got stuck on the tallest tree. She sobbed, “I want to go home. Some one get me down!”

A bird who was sitting on the tree heard her cries and flew down. The bird quickly untangled Bindi and set her free. She thanked the bird and flew away.

Hence Bindi learnt a lesson that we should listen to elder’s advice or else we will land in trouble.

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About Ishta: Ishta Chepuri is 6 yrs old and lives in Hyderabad. She loves music, an avid reader and enjoys drawing. She has recently started penning down her imaginary stories and has her own publishing company called “Rapi”😅

Hey everyone. Your new best friend Sara here. My five year old friend Amyra from Ranchi has written this cute little story based on the adorable tangram.
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There were 3 friends playing under a tree in the garden.

Suddenly they saw a cat going with it’s kittens to their home.

But one naughty kitten got distracted and lost the way and started crying.

Those 3 friends helped the kitten in finding the home and became very good friend s forever.

Hey little ones. Your new best friend Sara here. 4 year old, tiny Advik from Ranchi has shared this tiny story. Read on!
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Once upon a time there was a boy named Advik who went for a vacation to Rishikesh.

There he saw beautiful gardens with nicely potted plants and flowers. He loves to water plants so he watered them nicely, then he saw beautiful mountains  and there was a zipline tower in the mountain.

Advik was an adventurous boy. He wanted to try the zip line, so he finished his zipping from one end of the mountain to another. After that he saw a  handsome horse. Advik wanted to have a tour of Rishikesh sitting on the horse.

After he finished that, he went back to his glass house where he saw some beautiful insects , some were buzzing , some were flying. They were colourful and pretty in their own way.

Advik enjoyed watching them and then as it was dusky he went back to his hotel room and slept .

Advik Ajmani, 4years, Ranchi LRN

Hey there. Your new best friend Sara here! Today’s tiny tangram story is by Aarit Jain, my 7 year old Little Readers Nook friend from Ranchi. Read on.
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There was a man who was walking and came across a river. He wanted to  cross it but he saw a crocodile in it.

The crocodile said come sit on my back I’ll take you to the other side of the  river. The man thought it’s an easy way but what if it eats me midway.

There was another way- a bridge for which he had to walk a long long way but he decided to take the bridge and not go for the other easy option.

Moral of the story- Don’t take the easy way of going out of your house right now because of the virus and do it the tough way of staying back and doing  things inside your house.

Aarit Jain, 7 years, Ranchi

Hey everyone, Sara here. Rockets are popular we always knew, right! Here is another Tangram and a cute story by 6 year old Raisha Todi from Mumbai.

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Once upon a time there lived a little boy named Joy. He wanted to become an astronaut but his parents did not support him. He followed his dreams and  worked hard day and night so that he could chase his dreams.

His dedication and perseverance paid off and he became an astronaut.

He could manage to buy a rocket after some time. He named it Rock.He sat in the rocket and went to Moon. He met aliens on Moon and became friends with them.

Aliens discussed how they grew their own food using machines. Aliens showed him their space ship which had all the machines to produce food and to survive. After spending few days with them he returned to Earth with lot of experiences from space and gifts from his friends.It was a dream come true experience of his lifetime.

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Raisha Todi
Grade 1 BSS,Powai.

Hey everyone. Sara here again. These tangrams are really fun. Some of my friends at LRN took to launching them into space, as ROCKETS. Do you want to try? And write a story on the image?
Dont miss the tiny little story my little friend Divit Sohni from Mumbai has sent in along with this cute tangram of a rocket.

Hey everyone. Your new best friend Sara here! My friends at the Little Readers Nook have been upto some really fun activities with tangrams. Do you want to try it out too? Send it to me in your comments.
Look what a wonderful story 7 year old Ahaana from Mumbai came up with looking at the picture of the Tangram.

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Once upon a time there was a land where everyone had a special talent. Once the emperor of the land accidentally broke all his kitchen tiles. He knew he had to replace them with beautiful and amazing tiles.

He remembered meeting a person who hadn’t found his special talent yet. So the emperor thought that this person might have a talent for making tiles.This will be a wonderful opportunity to explore the young man’s hidden talent. He called all the experts and the young man to bring the tiles design.

The young man agreed happily. After a while he finished it. They were beautiful. They were of mystifying colour. He trod over the soft grass to the emperor’s castle.

But he had to cross a river to reach there. He saw a nice boat waiting but without an oar. He took a tile and used it to row the boat. After a while, the tiles became too heavy for him and it sunk after dropping from his hand. The man dove in the water to get them. Once he got them back, he remembered that he had a handkerchief in his pocket. With his magical hands he dried the tiles and made them extra shiny.

After that he took them to the emperor, bowed and said ” presenting the tiles”. The emperor took it and he stared in amazement to the glow and shine of the tiles. The emperor had finally helped the young man in finding his hidden talent.

Aahana Khemka
Grade 2 ,7 yrs
Vibgyor High Malad East