“What I like about Durga Poojo? Shhh, dont tell Mum,” by 9 year old Rijoy Goswami (Orko) from UK
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here. With Durga Pooja in the air, I am excited to publish one write up by kids on the theme every day.
Today I am sharing the writing of 9 year old Rijoy Goswami (Orko) from UK who has kept his Bengali roots alive. Grateful to the Little Writers Studio, UK for not only sharing the write up in English and Bengali, but also the beautiful Bengali Potochitro art by the talented artist Parul, who lives in Pingla with her family.
When he is not swinging from a tree or kicking a ball, Rijoy enjoys reading, designing the most intricate Lego feats of engineering, imagining about fearful battles and exotic legends of the past, playing videogames on his ever changing plethora of electronic gizmos and of late has taken a shy to writing poetry. He also goes to school at Babraham CEVC, near Cambridge where he studies in year 5.
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What I like about Durga Poojo is offering prayers, the cultural events but what I like the most is the delicious food, that I can eat everyday during poojo!
Shhhhh! please don’t tell mum! She will be really angry 🙂
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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?
Do you want to find an easy read to explain the significance of Durga Puja to your child and get them interested in the festival?
Pick up a copy of Durga And The Demon: Indian folk tales by Bookosmia
“I never ever want to stop painting,” says 15 year old Dharini A from Mysore
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’s artwork is by an incredibly talented young artist who is as passionate as brillitant.
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Art, what I believed it to be, was a way of expressing feelings which are inexpressible in words.
Eventually I learned that it could be done simply to satisfy oneself or just for joy.
But what does my art mean to me? Surely my artworks do not just mean a
mere collection to me. It is a valuable collection that constantly reminds me of my hard work and sometimes I also think of wonderful memories associated with the paintings.
Back in 2015,my mum put me in art classes, where I started to master my basics. After all the question is what kept me coming to art all the time?
I think that every photo taken, comes in with a memory. The very same way, I paint because every painting transforms into a beautiful moment in my mind.
Those beautiful moments gives me so much bliss and joy that i never want to stop painting.
I remember one such event ,when I was gazing at my painting of goddess Saraswati. I had found the picture in a book and it kept reminding me of the stories in the book.
Every time I completed a part of the painting or even the whole picture it gave me a sense of accomplishment.
That immense joy that I experienced was just an excellent experience.
So that is my story. I never ever want to stop painting .
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‘I Wish I Were’ Book Review by 6 year old Dhakshitha.C from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review by 6 year old Dhakshitha.C is of an old folklore, retold now as it still has a significant message for all of us. This book is globally acclaimed for the Indian look and feel of its characters and had won the spotlight from Global Literature for Libraries.
Dhakshitha. C enjoys reading books, classical dance and music and visiting temples. She is a student of N.S.N Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai
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Title: I WISH I WERE
Author: NIDHI MISHRA
Illustrated By: PARVATI PILLAI
Published By: BOOKOSMIA
My Mom bought this E-Book for me to read.
When I saw the cover of the book in which a girl wearing a traditional skirt, is sitting on a tree branch with her friend crow, I immediately connected to
her as I like to wear traditional skirts very much and started to read the book.
This story is a folk tale about a little girl who wishes to become someone else.
The characters are the girl, her friend crow , the swan, the parrot, the peacock and the girl’s mom and dad.
The story takes place in the girl’s house from where it moves to the pond and then the zoo and back home again.
The story starts with the girl telling her friend, crow about her wish.
Her friend crow also wanted to be a swan. So they both went to the pond to meet the swan but the swan wanted to be someone else and so the girl and crow visit many creatures till they realize, we are great in the way we are.
My favorite character is the girl because she is active and curious, just like me!
This book teaches us that we should be happy and satisfied with the way we are. My favorite part of the book is when the girl realized that everyone is special in his or her own way.
I loved this book. The book was very colorful and attractive. I will recommend this to my friends.
I rate this book with 
5/5*
Recommended age group for the book is 5 To 8 Years
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“Poojo for me is an end to the year long wait” says 14 year old Oishani Goswami (Olie) from UK
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here. With Durga Pooja in the air, I am excited to publish one write up by kids on the theme every day.
Today I am sharing the writing of 14 year old Oishani Goswami (Olie) from UK who has kept her Bengali roots alive. Grateful to the Little Writers Studio, UK for not only sharing the write up but also the beautiful Bengali Potochitro art by the talented artist Parul, who lives in Pingla with her family.
Oishani has just turned 14 and is in the throes of navigating teenage years with a myriad circles to square. She likes to read, write occasionally and has a passion for dance and music. Alongside figuring out the vagaries and paradoxes of life, she is determined to bridge both the worlds she belongs to a bona-fide Biliti-Bangali/ Brit-Bong in spirit. She studies in year 9 at Sawston Village College, near Cambridge, UK.
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Poojo for me is an end to the year long wait for unlimited fun and merriment, music, dance ,offering prayer and new dress !
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Hey, your friend Sara here again! Enjoyed reading?
Do you want to find an easy read to explain the significance of Durga Puja to your child and get them interested in the festival?
Pick up a copy of Durga And The Demon: Indian folk tales by Bookosmia https://www.amazon.in/…/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_M0cIFbC7JV8QS
Maa Durga destroys greed and hate-Poem by 11 year old Hitansh Kedia from Kolkata
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times!
With Durga Pooja in the air, I am excited to publish one write up by kids on the theme every day.
Today 11 year old Hitansh Kedia from Kolkata shares this adorable poem about Durga taking on greed, hate and of course COVID.
Hitansh loves to read stories as much as he likes to write them. He find space very intriguing and is perplexed by the vastness of the universe. He loves to eat chocolate. Some of his other hobbies are playing basketball and listening to music. Hitansh is a student of The Heritage School, Kolkata.
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If Maa Durga came alive,
It would be great.
She harbours love and peace,
And destroys greed and hate.
A buffalo-demon she once finished,
And COVID’s next in line.
Oh, how great it would be,
If she walked out of her shrine.
All the evil in this world,
Would desperately run away.
And Maa Durga would run after them,
Wanting to slay.
I wish this would come true,
What a joy that would be.
Nobody would be sad anymore,
All smiling in glee!
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‘Lewis Hamilton-My favorite sport player’ by 11 year old Avyukt.S from Chennai
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.
Today’s well researched write up on Lewis Hamilton, an F1 driver has been sent by 11 year old Avyukt.S from Chennai. Listed in the 2020 issue of Time as one of the 100 most influential people globally, Lewis Hamilton is a role model for many.
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton ( born 7 January 1985 in Stevenage, Hertfordshire,
He is widely regarded as the all time greatest driver by many. His first victory was at the World Drivers Championship with McLaren in 2008, before he moved to Mercedes in 2013, with whom he has won a further five titles.
One of the most successful drivers in the history of the sport, Hamilton’s six World Championship titles is the second most of all time, while he holds the record for the most wins ( 91; tied with Michael Schumacher ) , career points (3661), pole positions (96), podium finishes (160), grand slams in a season (3) and Championship points in a season (413).
This later resulted in an F1 drive with McLaren in 2007, making Hamilton the first and only black driver to race in the sport, as of 2020. That season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner up to Kimi Raikkonen by one point. The following season, he won his maiden title in a dramatic fashion, making a crucial overtake on the last corner of the last lap in the last race of the season to become the then youngest F1 World Champion in history!
Born to Carmen and Anthony, at the age of five Hamilton took up karate to defend himself as a result of bullying at school. Considered to be first and only black driver to race in Formula One, Hamilton has been subject to racist abuse throughout his career.
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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.
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‘”Where can I park my vaahan (Tiger)?” asked Maa Durga’ Story by 5 year old Jeevasini Patnana from Bhubaneswar
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times.
5 year old Jeevasini Patnana studies in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Jeevasini loves making up stories often and Lord Krishna is her favourite play mate. She absolutely loves playing with Legos and colours. Jeevasini is a student of Darshan Academy, Bhubaneswar.
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One day I was playing with two of my good friends, Rani and Shumi in the small park near our colony.
Just then we saw a very beautiful lady walking towards us. She was wearing a red saree and had a big red dot on her forehead.
She came near and asked us, “Dear kids, I need a small help. Would you help
me?”
We looked at each other and nodded our heads.
She said, “I have come here for some important work. But I am finding it difficult to find a parking space for my vehicle.”
“Oh! That’s no problem at all. We have many empty spaces in our parking lot,” I said. My other two friends didn’t seem very happy to share this information with a stranger.
“But you see my problem is a little different. Let me show you and you would understand.”
The moment she said this, a huge and ferocious tiger came and stood near her. We started shaking with fear.
She smiled and said, “Do not be afraid. He won’t harm you.” We now understood that the lady is none other than Goddess Durga, who rode a tiger.
“Now you understand why I cannot park my ‘vahana’ in your parking lot? People will be scared to find him there, right?” Maa Durga asked.
Just as we were discussing, the lion ran away from the place at a great speed.
We could not understand anything. “This silly creature has the habit of running away. Would you like to help me find him?” she asked.
“Let’s go,” we jumped with joy.
The three of us friends, sat on one of her hands each and she started flying high in the sky. We went to the city’s busy bazaar full of shops, people and vehicles. We offered to ask people about the tiger on our own. We approached a vendor and asked, “Have you seen a tiger?”
He said angrily, “What nonsense!! Go away, naughty kids.”
Next we asked a toy shop owner, “Do you have a tiger?”
“A toy one?” he asked.
“No, a real one,” I said. “Then go and search in Chandaka forest kids.” he shouted.
We came back to Durga Maa, feeling sad. She said, “Don’t lose heart. Let’s go to that forest. In no time, we were in the middle of a deep forest. And there, sleeping peacefully under a tree was the tiger.
“You naughty tiger! It is time I teach you a lesson. Next time I will turn you into a deer,” warned the Goddess.
The tiger looked sorry. The loving mother forgave him and said, “Now give these kids a ride back home.”
We were thrilled to ride with Durga Maa on a mighty tiger. After she got us home, we requested her to stay.
She said, “Now I have to go. But I promise I will be back soon,” and disappeared. We stood there for a long time and returned home happily.
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‘The Upside-Down Magic’ Book Review by 11 year old R. Darshini from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is of children’s fantasy book series that was later adapted into a Disney Channel Original Movie.
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Title: The Upside-Down Magic
Author: Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins
Publisher: Scholastic
This book is one of a Scholastic book series.
I got this book as a birthday gift from my aunt. My aunt always sends books for me to read ( like for my birthday or when I score good grades) and my cousin sister always shares her books with me to read.
I enjoyed reading this story and think it is the best story book of all.
This book beautifully describes the story of a girl named Nory, who has little ‘Upside Down’ MAGICAL POWERS.
To begin with, this story tells that everyone has magical abilities. Many children begin their magical training in the Sage Academy. The five divisions – Flares, Fuzzies, Flickers, Fluxers and Flyers, each have particular skillset. Nory is a Fluxer, but she shape-shifts into a kitten mixed with a beaver or a dragon and has no control over it. As she fails in the entrance exam for Sage Academy, and is forced to attend a special class called UDM (Upside Down Magic), she makes friends with other children in classroom who also have uncontrolled magic. They all learn to embrace their uncontrolled magic as a gift.
My favourite part is when the authors beautifully narrate that Nory is a very determined girl and how she overcomes the disappointments. Finally, at the end Nory and her friends join together to prove that Upside-Down Magic is also needed and that they are gifted too.
The key characters in this book are Elinor Nory Horace, Elliott Cohen, Bax Kapoor, Andres , Pepper Phan, Marigold Ramos, Willa , Sebastian Boondoggle.
My learning from this book is that every person is unique in his/her own way and one has to make use of that uniqueness.
Every person has an important role to play.
I rate this book 5/5 on a scale of 1 to 5 and recommend it for age group 8+
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Andaman- A Beach Paradise…’ by 13 year old Satvika from Bangalore
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!
13 year old Satvika from Bangalore loves reading books and drawings. She shares this essay on a dream holiday we can all use now!
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People don’t remember years, they remember moments.
Also, life is a journey. Travelling helps you live twice. You get so many unforgettable moments and so many stories to tell. It is a very crucial part of life, as it gets us out from our busy schedules. It keeps one strong and healthy- both physically and mentally.
Now, I’ll be telling you about one of the most amazing holiday spots of India- the Andaman Islands. This place is a must have on your holiday destination list.
Firstly, Andaman is an island. So road travel is not an option. You can either reach there by plane or a ten-day cruise. I went there on a plane, and it was awesome. I could actually see the ocean waves from the plane! We landed in Port Blair, the capital of Andaman.
The temperature there was pretty high. This place has historic significance, as well as beautiful views. The Cellular Jail is the main attraction in Port Blair. This jail has a lot of importance, as the Indian revolutionaries were held here as prisoners during the British rule. It was also one of the largest jails in Asia. The main attraction here is the museum which shows the hardships Indian freedom fighters faced when they were held captive. The cell where Sri Veer Savarkar was held captive is also here. He was, and continues to remain one of the bravest freedom fighter. Later in the evening there is a light show which gives us a detailed account of life during the 19th century in the jail.
From here, we headed off to Havelock.
Havelock is a beautiful place. The beaches there are a sight to behold. From Port Blair, we had to take a ferry to Havelock. Once we reached Havelock, the first thing on everyone’s mind was beach. And the beach in Havelock, Radhanagar beach, is amazing. Especially the sunset. It was so beautiful. The water was also in all its spirit and the waves were so huge and awesome.
We also went scuba diving. The sea world was so beautiful. We could actually go all the way down to the sea bed and touch the corals! It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. There is no way anyone can forget the feeling of scuba
diving. And near the beach, we have ice cream and chat shops. What is more amazing than ice cream, after playing on the beach?
After all this, we went back to our hotel and rested for the day. In the same place, we have Elephant beach. Here, you can enjoy your day with water sports. You have banana boat rides, water bikes and many more. Honestly, if you ever visit Andaman, Havelock should be there on your list.
From here, we set off to Neil Island. It is the perfect place to get your souvenirs. You can get pearls, spices, wooden idols, shells, ornaments, home décor and a lot more. Here, we visited rock arch. We had to walk our way up to the top most rocks, on rocks! From the top, the sight was amazing. We could see the whole sea from up there!
We also went to Bharatpur beach which was very calm. Then we did our souvenir shopping and came back to the hotel.
Overall, Andaman was fabulous. Anyone who likes the sea will love Andaman. In fact, not only people who like the sea but everyone will like Andaman! It is so
amazing; I didn’t feel like coming back home.
This paradise is a must have on your travel destination list.
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‘When Durga comes alive..’ Poem by 9 year old Sruthika Murali from Kerala
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times.
Such a special entry today- While Durga Pooja is celebrated with great gusto mostly in West Bengal, 9 year old Sruthika Murali from Kerala shares this creative poem on what would happen if Durga were to come alive.
She will kill the evil ones and give us peace.
The trees will shiver and the floor will shake.
When Durga comes alive,
She will be strong and very big,
We should join our hands and pray.
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“I dont lose, I either win or I learn,” by 13 year old Samarth A from Mysore
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’s wonderful artwork is shared by a young artist who talks beautifully and honestly of his journey with art. What a wonderful message to every child who thinks they are not naturally blessed with a talent.
Samarth A is a 13 year old from Mysore. He is a student in 8th grade at St. Joseph’s school(C.B.S.E), Jayalakshmipuram.
Samarth is delighted with his art classes at The Hobby Place, for nurturing his talent.
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When I was in grade 1, I didn’t draw so well in my drawing books and notebooks nor in other subjects . I didn’t know how important drawing was and how it would affect my future studies.
I wouldn’t join drawing classes because I would love to play video games instead of learning drawing. Even when my parents forced me to go, I was still stuck with my stubborn behaviour.
One fine day at school, it was drawing period and I got scolding from my teacher, asking, “Why can’t you draw like your sister?’’
Everyone in my class laughed at me and that day gave me motivation to start focusing on my art.
When I reached grade 4, the same teacher appreciated me for my gradual change in art and drawing.
Whenever I would start, the drawing looked pale and lifeless but whenever I used to fill colours in it and finish, it looked really beautiful.
I would be proud of myself, once I finished my artwork.
My favourite painting is palette knife painting.
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If Durga Came Alive- Story
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times.
11 year old Krishank Jain from Kolkata weaves this fantastic tale of what would happen if Maa Durga came alive now.
Krishank Jain is a student of South City International School, Kolkata. He loves to read, reread and then repeat. He is fascinated by the Mahabharata and fond of collecting more and more facts about the epic. He likes to play cricket and chess.
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One day as Maa Durga woke up, she found that she was born on Earth again.
She said, “I am on Earth, again?”
She thought maybe Lord Vishnu had sent her to demolish evil on earth again. She thought it would be a matter of a day or so but she was totally wrong. She saw with her divine powers that there was evil and only evil on earth.
She did not want to harm anyone on earth. Then an idea struck her mind, she thought that she would tell the people that she, Maa Durga was here and the people would of course obey her. People would think many times before doing something evil.
But her plan backfired and when she was out telling people that she was Maa Durga, people shooed her off saying, ”Really you are Maa Durga? There was another one here ten minutes ago.”
She tried this with each and every person on earth! But only one person understood that she was the real Maa Durga-The chief priest of the Durga Temple in Kolkata.
He was a very celebrated man in Kolkata and had vowed to never lie so everybody trusted him but we also know that everybody lies on the earth these days. So all the people still thought that the girl had made an alliance with the priest to continue the prank.
But then she thought of a foolproof plan.
She showed the world her divine form and lo! All the people began to believe in her and in a blink of your eye the earth turned evil free!!!!!
Sometimes we really need a reminder that shakes away our evil thoughts.
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‘Good night stories for Rebel Girls-Alfonsina Strada’ Book Review by A. Rakshana Thrinetra from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is of one of the most talked about books of our times, and one which broke site records for fundraising for literature publication.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Warrior Durga AKA The Female Alpha’ by 12 year old Vania Jain from Kolkata
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times.
Here is 12 year old Vania from Kolkata keeping our spirits high in the Durga Pooja festival, with her fantastic tale!
Vania is a student of Modern High School For Girls, Kolkata. She is an avid reader and loves writing. During this lockdown, she has also published two books on Amazon Kindle.
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Adorned with gold accessories, I leaped down to earth on my beloved pet tiger, ten weapons in my ten hands- each weapon symbolizing a different trait- the sword for wisdom, trident for peace and so on.
But…. silence greeted me- no one was out! There was no hustle bustle of the early Puja crowd and not even the cawing of a crow.
Something had to be done, I decided. I called together a meeting.
“We need to do something about this virus,” said Lord Brahma.
“I will make the oceans churn and froth till then,” Lord Indra claimed.
“And I will make it rain,” said Lord Indra.
“No, no! That will ruin the humans’ life even more!” objected Parvati.
“What shall we do? Without making people miserable?” Lord Shiva added as an afterthought.
I fiddled with my arrow. It had been more than half a year since this coronavirus had entered the humans’ life, inflicting damage and misery all around.
And worse? Durga Puja, my festival was just around the corner! Durga Puja is supposed to be a time of strength, joy and unity. Not a time of sadness and torture!
And even worse? Brahma, Vishnu, Shakti, Shani, Indra- all had tried. But they failed.
“We’ve got to put an end to this,” I agreed.
“How Durga? You can’t kill a virus with your trishul!” Vishnu, my brother said.
It was true- but if Mahishasura could be killed, then why couldn’t this virus?
“What if we do it together? It might be possible then..,” I suggested.
“Yes… I agree. We should give it a try..” Saraswati said.
Slowly the Gods rose up from their thrones. I knew then that coronavirus would have to look out now.
#DurgaPooja
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‘MS Dhoni-My favourite sportsperson’ by 13 year old Gofiaa from Chennai
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. Your favourite sports people, sports memories, upcoming match predictions and so much more.
Here is 13 year old Gofiaa from Chennai sharing a well researched write up on her favourite player- Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Gofiaa loves to explore new things. She always likes to be unique in whatever she does. Her hobby is learning new languages. She is a student of NSN Matricultation Higher Secondary School, Chitlapakkam
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My favourite sports person is Dhoni. Not only because of his helicopter shot but for his inspiring life story. So here is Mahindra Singh Dhoni’s life story.
Dhoni was not born to a rich family but to a middle class family in Ranchi, Jharkhand. His father was an employee in a junior post. His mom was a house wife. He had an elder brother and an elder sister.
During his school days, he was a good goal keeper. On seeing his capabilities, his school’s cricket coach asked him whether he would be interested to take part in cricket coaching. At first Dhoni hesitated, but later agreed. His coach wanted him to become a wicket keeper so he always made him keep wickets.
Dhoni was also fond of batting but his coach wouldn’t allow him to bat. Once, the coach went out and they kept practicing. At that time Dhoni batted for the first time. He batted pretty well. At that time coach came and he was surprised by his abilities for batting. He trained him for both batting and wicket keeping. Dhoni played in under 16 matches and he performed well.
After that he played many matches and focused only on cricket. During his high school, once he had his exams and match practice on the same day. Both were important to him so he decided to finish exams quickly, then pick a train and go to matches. He would be really exhausted after practices but he -studied for the next day exam.
After he finished school, he got a job in railway station as ticket examiner. He didn’t want to go to that job but due to his parent’s will he did. He worked there for two to three years. Once, he asked himself why he should do this job as he is passionate about cricket. He believed in himself, that someday he would achieve. So, he gathered courage and asked his dad about quitting his job and taking cricket as his career. Dhoni’s father agreed because he believed in him.
After that, he played numerous matches at different levels. Then he was recognized and became a part of Indian team. He rescued the team during a lot of critical matches. After Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement, Dhoni was chosen as captain for Indian team. Everyone in the team would admire Dhoni for his techniques, calmness and the way of bringing everyone together. He has received Padma Bhushan award from the President of India.
Dhoni is married to Sakshi and they have a daughter named Ziva.
According to me success came to his life was because he believed in himself.
He may have retired from international cricket but he is still a person who inspires many people. So, that was the life story of ‘Captain Cool!’
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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!
Limericks on Birds and Butterflies by 8 year old Harshika Agarwal from Kolkata+ some cool facts
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.
On Butterflies
Butterflies are pretty,
Sometimes they fly out of the city.
They live for a small time,
Their contribution is very prime.
They are loved by all, old or kiddy.
Moths and butterflies are in the order Lepidoptera, deriving from the Greek words for “scale” and “wing.” The approximately 135,000 moth species and almost 20,000 butterfly species worldwide all have tiny scales on their wings.Butterflies evolved from moths, so it may be easier to think of butterflies as specialized day-flying moths. Moths typically have feathery antennae that taper from a wider base to a pointed end, whereas butterflies have wiry antennae with a knob-like or truncated end. Since moths are primarily nocturnal insects, these feathered chemical receptors help them navigate and find mates at night. There are a lot of day flying moths as well.
Read more here
On birds
The bird is sitting on the window sill,
She could feel the chill.
I gave her some grains,
And she took off like a train.
She loves the greenery around the hill.
Hey Sara here, again. Enjoyed reading?
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“I have always enjoyed art,” says 9 year old Poorvika from Mysuru
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 9 year old Poorvika from Mysuru.
Poorvika loves arts and science. She is talented in dancing, painting, sketching, colouring and swimming. She also like sports. Her favourite sport is Kabbadi. Poorvika is a student of Podar International School, Mysuru.
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‘Harry The Dirty Dog’ Book review by 8 year old K.S.Rithik from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is of one of the most beloved children’s books ever, ‘Harry The Dirty Dog.’
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Hey, Sara here again. Enjoyed reading this review? Do you have a book review to be published on this global writing platform?
Click here to know how.
Places with Sara: Submission Guidelines
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!
Want to write in about a memorable holiday and get published? Here are some tips-
- What made you decide on your holiday destination
- What was the journey like
- What were the highlights and best moments in the holiday
- If you could, is there any thing you could change about your experience
- What would your recommendation on must-see, must-do things and things to avoid for others wanting to visit that place
Come on now, send me your travel highlights at sara@bookosmia.com
‘A trip to Mumbai’ by 8 year old Shay Agarwal from Kolkata
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!
8 year old Shay Agarwal from Kolkata talks of his memorable trip to Mumbai, packed in with things he enjoyed! Shay is a cricket-lover and interested in dance. He wants to become a
scientist, and make medicines for people to help him. He feels blessed to have a loving family
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What a hurry to Mumbai! It was already 8 in the morning and my bag was still not packed. I was feeling so miserable because I had a flight at 12noon.My sister was hurrying me to pack.
My mom packed our breakfast so that extra time does not get wasted. My dad was trying to call up our driver, who had no plans of dropping by. We somehow managed to leave on time, and reached the airport. There were only a few minutes before the security check closed and we rushed across the airport. As we sat on our seats, I felt so tired and just wanted to sleep.
It was beautiful as we saw the sun setting before our eyes. We had reached Mumbai, and I was feeling extremely happy. We went to our hotel and rested that night. The next day was horrible! All my mom and sister wanted to do was go shopping, shopping and shopping. Dad and I were dragged around the
Chor Bazaar. All we had to do was stare at each other and dad had to pay out some money, not much, as my mom was a bargaining expert.
Another day we went to Juhu Beach and chilled for a bit. My sister and dad went in the ocean and I made a castle at that time. It was so much fun, and later we ate Vada-Pav’s and other street foods!
The day we had to leave was miserable, as none of us wanted to leave. But we enjoyed ourselves a lot!
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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
“I gained a lot of patience, confidence and concentration from my art teacher,” says 12 year old Paavani Shrivastava from Jaipur
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’s stunning artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 12 year old Paavani Shrivastava from Jaipur.
Paavani Shrivastava is a student of, Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ School, Jaipur. She has many hobbies such as cooking, reading etc. Her interest in art led her to join the virtual art training sessions by The Hobby Place, where she learnt the wonderful Mandala art.
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My teacher taught in a very clear way and I found her references to be amazing. Under her guidance I gained a lot of patience, confidence and concentration in me.
I was so happy and excited after each one. The result always made me push myself forward with more dedication towards my work.
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‘Black Beauty’ Book Review by 14 year old Agshitha Kumari from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is of the widely popular classic for young readers- Black Beauty.
14 year old Agshitha Kumari is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chennai.
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Title-THE BLACK BEAUTY
Author-ANNA SEWELL
On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“I enjoyed learning the Cheriyal art form!” says 7 year old Radhika Banerjee from Singapore
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 7 year old Radhika Banerjee from Singapore shares her excitement with us, after participating in MeMeraki’s brilliant art workshops, which are run to revive the attention that ancient Indian art forms deserve.
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It was my summer holidays and I did an art class.
I learnt a new form of art called Cheriyal painting.
I liked the way the shapes were used to draw the painting. In Cheriyal painting, they use primary colours to paint.
I drew a lady with a basket with oranges.
I spoke to my friends about it. It was great fun!
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‘My life as a pet parrot’ story by 8 year old Agneesh Raj Banerjee from Kolkata + some cool facts
Hey, your friend Sara here! I am amazed by the flow of your entries to our ‘Nature with Sara’ section. Thanks to all young writers for sharing their love for birds and butterflies!
Today lets read how 8 year old Agneesh Raj Banerjee from Kolkata imagines his life as a parrot.
Agneesh goes to La Martiniere for Boys School in Kolkata. He loves to look into his atlas and see the maps of various countries. He wants to go to Russia some day. Agneesh loves reading books and his favourite authors are Enid Blyton and Ruskin Bond. He is a student of Word Munchers, Kolkata.
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My life as a pet parrot.
I am a parrot. I was born from an egg along with seven siblings. One day, when my mother was out to get some worms, a bad bird catcher came and tried to catch us. All the other chicks escaped but I was late and he caught me, put me in a cage and took me to the market nearby to be sold.
There were a lot of people in the market. There was a boy with his father. He started pleading with his father to buy me. So he bought me and took me to their home. He named me Rostov. His father came and tied my ankle to a chain which was tied to a perch, so that I could not escape. The boy seemed very fond of me and was joyous to have me as a pet. Every morning, when the sun would rise, I would start chirping and the boy would wake up. I would have chilly and chickpea for breakfast.
Every evening, his father would come near me and start whistling in front of me and I would try to copy him.
When I would stare at the blue sky, I would see other birds flying in the sky. Then one day, I had a brilliant idea. I acted dead and hung myself from the perch head down. They were worried and gave me a tap but I wasn’t responding. So they thought I was really dead and took me to the forest and dropped my body under a tree. When they turned around, I flew away searching for my nest and after a few hours of flying, I found my family. I hugged my mother and my siblings.
I tasted freedom for the first time. Now I am a free bird. I have no chain around my leg. I sure liked that boy but I like my freedom more. And now, if I am lost, I can fly around the place looking for my mother.
Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that thought provoking write up? How about some some cool facts about parrots, shared by Subhadra Devi, bird photographer turned birder, who is now turning into a nature enthusiast. She is a member of the National Conservation Foundation (NCF), India.
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Here is how to go about it-
‘The Palace of Illusions’ Book Review by 13 year old Tatvi Shah from Vadodara
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Here is the first in the genre of Indian mythology- a very popular category amongst readers. And ahead of the International Day of the Girl child, what better pick than one that talks of one of the strongest female characters.
13 year old Tatvi Shah from Vadodara shares this wonderful review. She is a student of Delhi Public School, Vadodara
Title- The Palace of Illusions
Author- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
I recently read this book by the Indo-American author, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
I got this book as a present on the festival of Raksha Bandhan from my father. It has been a tradition in my house of tying rakhi on my father’s
wrist and he gives me the most valuable gift of the year. We consider ourselves as siblings of last birth!
This book was worth-spending on as I always wanted to read mythology books written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, as i wanted to discover her perspective about the characters of Mahabharata.
I was fascinated as soon as I saw the cover page of The Palace of Illusions.
The picture on it intrigued me as it shows a beautifully carved gate and it feels that walking through it leads to a new life.
The unpredictable life of Draupadi, having been produced from fire to her final journey to Mahaprasthan, builds up the climax of this entrancing novel. The storyline includes narrative about her relationship with her brother, the desolation that she faced in her father’s palace, the relationships with her only sister, Sikhandi; her life as the spouse of the five Pandavas and how she triggers the Mahabharata war.
Draupadi is the protagonist of the book. She has been fascinatingly illustrated through this book where we almost envision ourselves in her shoes. Chitra Banerjee has portrayed Draupadi as a lady with a voice, who is not reluctant to convey anything which she thinks is perfect. She is a charismatic woman with ego.
Draupadi and her brother were born from sacred fire after prolonged prayers, to King Drupad.Even then she had to suffer the strict gender bias. These views of the patriarchal society are the biggest problem the world is and has been facing from years immemorial.
The central idea of the story is that the author chose a female character that was tainted as she wanted to demonstrate that even women have equal rights and should be given equal dignity as received by men.
I savoured the part when Draupadi pesters Sage Vyasa to know more about how sorrowful her life is going to be. When Sage Vyasa responds with due respect that she is going to be the wife of five husbands and also the queen of a pompous kingdom, Draupadi, and I were on seventh heaven to know that she would become the queen. To me this is the most delightful part of the story, based on my opinion.
If were the author, I would add the account of the events that took place during exile and war in particular. The war and exile are two essential parts of Draupadi’s biography. I would fancy writing less about her lamented life and elaborate on her espoused life after the war also.
This is a book which can be read by anyone comfortable in English but I would recommend this book for 13+. This would help them know more about how to deal with struggles.
Evaluating this book with stars is a challenging decision but actually, this wonderful book has changed my view about Draupadi. I give this excellent book 4.5 star.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘I Love My Mom’ Book Review by 9 year old Kanishka from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is on a book that has been translated from Japanese.
9 year old Kanishka from Chennai is a Grade 4 student. She is a Phonics Power student. She is very interested in dancing and singing too.
Kanishka is a student of Kendriya Vidhyalaya School, Tambaram (Chennai)
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Title- I LOVE MY MOM
Author- Fongsamy Pommaxay
Publisher-Room to Read.
I was attracted by the words, “I LOVE MY MOM” on the cover page.
I read this interesting book. It is a Japanese story translated by Stephanie Wei, illustrated by Nivong Sengsakown.
During this lock down, I could not buy and read any books. Then I thought of searching online books to read. I saw many books. Suddenly my eyes were drawn to this particular story which was “I LOVE MY MOM.”
The story is about a little girl and her mom. Her mom loves her very much, so she teaches many skills to her like, how to cook, wash and dry clothes, water plants, make the bed, how to ride a bicycle.”
She used to tell bedtime stories to her daughter at night and sing her lullabys when she was sleepy. Her mom worked hard all the time. So the little girl loves her mom very much.
The lead character of the story is her mom. The most interesting thing about her was that she was a hard worker all through the day.
The central idea of the story is the girl learns many skills from her mom. They have illustrated the story through pictures.
The general look of the book is impressive because of the colorful pictures. Even kids can easily understand the writing skill of the story.
My favorite part of the book was learning the bicycle ride.
I understood how to learn many skills from my mom in this story.
If I could change something in this book, I will write the whole story as a conversation.
I would rate this book 4 out of 5. The best age group of this book is 7 – 9 years.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“I love to paint Indian gods and deities,” by 10 year old P. Malolan from Puducherry
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’s young artist has a unique interest- to paint Indian gods and deities.
P. Malolan likes to learn mantras, vedas, cycling and drawing pictures of God. While drawing, he feel happy.
He is a student of Sri Sankara Vidhyalaya Higher Secondary School, Puducherry.
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I like our nation very much. This is my first try in 3D drawing.
Lets keep our nation clean and safe. Give respect to our culture.
Be a good Citizen. I would like to serve our nation. Jai Hind.
Lord Krishna gave us so many golden thoughts via Bhagawath Gita. All are fruitful in our day to day life.
Pleasant to hear music coming from flute. Ganapriyan = Music Lover
Lord Maha Vishnu who creates the world.
Rama Bakthar Jai Hanuman.
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‘The Blue Umbrella’ Book Review by 13 year old Zenia Parpia from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is of a book, by the much celebrated Ruskin Bond.
13 year old Zenia Parpia from Chennai has been following Ruskin Bond since the day she started reading. She feels his stories contain magical words that can also help her improve her oratory skills. Zenia is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai.
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Title: The Blue Umbrella
Written by : Ruskin Bond
Illustrated by : Trevor Stubley
After seeing the cover page of “The Blue Umbrella,” I thought maybe it could be about rainy season.
But the creativity of Ruskin Bond surprised me .
I havent read such a creative, sweet story ever .
This story is about four peoples Binya , Bijju , Ram Bharosa , Ram Chandran.
The lead character in this story is Binya who had fair skin, pink cheeks, brown hair, glass bangles on her hand, a necklace and loved nature . She is also sensitive towards people .
Its about how Binya got the beautiful blue umbrella, how she protected the umbrella from wind , dust , rain, from villagers and especially from Ram Bharosa.
Binya protected the umbrella . In the process of protecting the umbrella, she realized that unwantedly she heard the feelings of Ram Bharosa. Since he tried to steal, Binya took the help of Ram Chandran, who was working in Bharosa’s shop. Because of this all people stopped buying from his shop .
Seeing this Binya felt guilty and gave the blue umbrella to Bharosa. Meanwhile, Bharosa also realized his mistake. He called Binya and gave her a necklace with a pear paw pendant which was considered lucky.
I loved the writing style, especially the usage of personification. It was interesting to read of non living things having the character of living things.
My favourite part is when Binya gives the most important thing in her life to Ram Bharosa. I learnt that human relations are more important than things.
This book is so interesting that I would give 5 out of 5* ratings
I would recommend this book for age 12 +
On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Enjoyed reading this review? Do you have a book review to be published on this global writing platform? Click here to know how.
“I love drawing, especially mixing colours,” says 10 year old S. Shivani Devi from Chennai
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 10 year old S. Shivani Devi from Chennai .
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‘Looking For Alaska’ Book Review by 15 year old Ananya Bulani from Ahmedabad
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is on a widely popular book for teenagers, by the author of the famous book “The Fault in Our Stars.” Do not miss this uniquely written review!
Ananya Bulani is in 11th standard in Ahmedabad. She is very passionate about writing. Whether it is reviews or articles, she loves penning down her words. She believes writing for an audience, even if it is just one person, helps her to think from the perspective of the audience. Ananya is a student of Young Orators.
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Title- Looking For Alaska
Author- John Green
Publisher: Dutton Children’s Books
Hush!! Such profound words have wrapped a story of a few teens whose lives are intertwined and connected forever, in the Culver Creek Alabama. It is the labyrinth that unites them.
I had mixed expressions when I started reading this book because of my previous experience with Green’s books.
Looking for Alaska follows the novel’s main character and narrator Miles Halter, or “Pudge,” to boarding school.
What I did like about this novel, is that it had a lot of what I enjoy about Green’s writing- Pudge’s obsession with last words was not only fascinating but gave the novel an almost educational value, because they were true facts. Pudge would wonder about philosophical ideas, giving a novel a depth beyond just a coming of age book.
I clearly remember a line from the book, “If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was hurricane.” This line echoes everyday in my heart, for the line shows how much Miles loves Alaska, although they weren’t meant to be together. I now understand the real meaning of this line – no matter what happens in future, always love your lover. Love remains eternal, although lovers don’t remain together always.
When I finished it for the first time, I loved it. I thought of their problem as mine. Indeed whenever I begin reading it again, I feel those emotion coming back to me. The author has made this book an literary masterpiece.
Thank you Alaska, Miles, Colonel, Lara and others for making me re-read this book every other week and month. Thank you for telling me to enjoy my life to the fullest, without any inhibitions. Miles, thank you for being shy yet smart. Thank you for telling me that being too shy is very harmful. Your neediness is something I envy.
Alaska, special thanks to you for making me love you, your carelessness, your never-say-never-spirit. I love you the way Miles does.
Thank you, Mr Green, for writing this amazing and heart melting book. It made me cry, laugh, retrospect. All in one book.
Looking For Alaska was an enjoyable read which I think makes a poignant remark about the ability of people to cope with grief, especially at such a young age. I definitely respect John Green for his ability to write and tell a story which is not only compelling, but will make you question how to search for your own ‘great perhaps.’
I’m giving this book 4 stars out of 5* for its pace and the never ending interest I had in the story line.
The book is appropriate for readers 14 +
This officially my second favourite John Green book. I’m excited to continue reading his stories.
I still don’t think I am ever going to find a book that I loved more than The Fault In Our Stars. But you never know.
On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“Never give up,” says budding doodlist 12 year old Meher Gandhi from Vadodara
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’s wonderful doodle artworks are shared by 12 year old Meher Gandhi from Vadodara.
Meher is an avid reader who also loves to play the keyboard. She enjoys swimming and dancing. Meher goes to Navrachana International School, Vadodara (NISV). She is a student of Young Orators.
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Today I will tell you about my transformation from a “doodling is not for me person” to “wow! I can doodle so well” person.
I used to see many of my school friends ‘doodle.’ I loved them, the diminutive designs they all made. But I always thought that I’m not wired to doodle.
Those friends had a group in which they would share all kinds of doodles. My English teacher doodles very well and they had started something called Doodlethon. I wanted to draw them too, but I never thought I had the spirit within me.
Slowly, I gathered and mustered up all my courage, that I hadn’t used since decades and picked up a pencil to draw the outline. I was about to give up after drawing the outline as it had confirmed that I was not cut for doodling.
It was then, that my English teacher, Ma’am Srilakshmi emboldened me with her wit to try my hand and told me to keep striving till I was satisfied.
Guess what? It worked!
Not only did I complete my outline but also the interior minute doodle work. I sent her a picture and I was thrilled that she found it wonderful.
This drove my spirits up. I developed a liking for doodling. I started on my second one and it was simply lovely. And so , I continued. Day by day my doodles became superior and finer. I must admit, that once my barrier of fear was broken, the journey was satisfying and enjoyable.
This connected me to many folks who are fine doodlists and their doodles helped enhance my learning.
My best friends also helped me draw better as they encouraged me. It was indeed a major necessity for me to draw well.
One of my all-time favourite doodles is ‘The Butterfly.’ This is close to my heart
because I can relate to it. The way a butterfly symbolizes the transformation into something beautiful, I too feel that I have evolved gradually in this learning process and transformed into a confident doodlist.
I must say, the internet here has a very brawny use, which works as a starter and gives you many innovative ideas to ignite your mind.
With this, I not only learnt how to doodle, outline, trace and hold the pen with
confidence but also learnt a very worthy, valuable and important lesson that is to ‘Never Give Up!’
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The vulture, is a bird that fascinates me! Poem by 15 year old Siddhant Vodela from Kolkata
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.
Did you know that 5th Sep’ 20 was the International Vultures Awareness Day. Here is a very impressive poem by 15 year old Siddhant Vodela from Kolkata that will make you appreciate this magnificent but fast depleting creature.
Siddhant Vodela is a storyteller by heart. He is passionate about writing, poetry, filmmaking, art and animation. He also loves nature and ancient Indian history. Siddhant is a home-schooler.
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The vulture, is a bird that fascinates me.
A bird that in the city sky, I never see
Yet for me, it is a mythical hero and a selfless cleaner.
A bird that lurks near the remains of death
A warrior who destroys the forces of disease and contamination.
The creature that keeps the biome clean and homely
At first glance, it looks intimidating yet regal.
Its long neck is like a lean trunk of an ancient tree
Its sharp eyes are like a magnifying glass.
Its prescient instinct to detect the demise of a creature,
Makes it the predator of death.
The vulture is a bird that fascinates me.
A bird, whose group is defined by what they are doing in the moment.
A flock of vultures, when they are soaring through the heights of the sky.
A committee of vultures, when they are seated, introspective and observant of their surroundings.
A wake of vultures, when they are feasting on corpses, and cleansing the land.
The vulture, is a bird that fascinates me.
The bird whose fame is not as expansive, as that of the great eagle or the peaceful dove.
Yet it is as impactful, in the world of birds and the world of humans
The vulture is going subtly extinct. Yet it clings on, to survive and thrive.
The vulture fascinates me, because its heroic efforts keep the rest of us alive.
Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that wonderful poem? How about some some cool facts about vultures, shared by Subhadra Devi, bird photographer turned birder, who is now turning into a nature enthusiast. She is a member of the National Conservation Foundation (NCF), India“Perhaps the most dramatic decline of a wild animal in history has been taking place in India and Pakistan”– Smithsonian Magazine
Of the 23 species of vultures that exist, over half of them are considered either Threatened, Endangered, or Critically Endangered as a result of human impact.
As beautifully pointed out by Siddhant in his poem, Vultures are sociable creatures and are often seen as a collective unit, but the name assigned to a group of vultures all depends on what they are doing at that given time.Like most bird groups, vultures can be referred to as a flock, though they can also be labelled as either a venue, volt, or a committee. However, when it comes to the vulture group feeding around a carcass, they are called a wake, and when the birds are in flight formation, they are known as a kettle.
Cool Fact#3 : Vultures keep cool by urinating on themselves.‘Urohydrosis’ is a process in which an animal urinates on itself in order to cool down when temperatures reach blistering highs. However, vultures also use this technique as a means to disinfect their legs of bacteria following a feed on a rotten carcass as their urine possesses high levels of acid.
Cool Fact#4: A major part of the vulture’s diet is bones
As well as their urine, vultures also have extremely strong acids inside their stomachs. These acids not only help the birds to fight and destroy lethal bacteria, but also help to break down the bones of the carcasses that the birds devour, which contribute between 70-90 per cent of their overall diet.
Here is a video of a vulture dropping a bone on the rocks to get to the bone marrow which is a major part of their diet.
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“Whenever I have free time, I look for good pictures to draw,”says 9 year old Rishan Rajesh from Chennai
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 9 year old Rishan Rajesh from Chennai.
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Rishan loves reading adventure stories, playing cricket, drawing his favorite cartoon characters and doing craft work using clay.
He is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai.
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After studying and finishing my school work, whenever I have time, I look for good pictures to draw.
This drawing I have done after reading the story book – MAGIC SCHOOL BUS TAKES A MOON WALK
I always want to do something different from my previous artwork. Here I have done a pencil sketch of Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, dedicated to my teachers and parents on the occasion of Teacher’s Day.
Here is an artwork based on a cartoon show I enjoy.
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‘The Hunger Games’ Book Review by 14 year old Pooja Balaji from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is by 14 year old Pooja Balaji from Chennai.
Pooja is a 9th standard student at NSN Memorial Secondary School, Chennai. She says she is not a bookworm but loves reading books. Her grandpa narrated a lot of stories during her childhood. That is how she fell in love with reading.
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Title- The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Books are my best friends. Due to the pandemic situation, I could not buy them, so I read ebooks. I love to travel around the world and every time I carry a book along with me.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“My experience in Paris” by 11 year old Sai Shaunak M S from Bangalore #WorldToursimDay
Hey everyone, Sara here! While travel is out of question, it is such a delight to read write ups from kids about their favourite travel memory, on World Tourism Day.
Here is 11 year old Sai Shaunak M S from Bangalore, take us on a virtual trip.
Sai Shaunak is very helpful and passionate about his dreams. He is good at math and his hobbies are to build with bricks and drawing. Congrats to The Hobby Place for nurturing his creativity. Sai Shaunak is a student of The Brigade School, Bangalore.
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Hey, Sara here again. Enjoyed reading?
Have a travel review to share and get published on this global writing platform?
Here is how to go about it-
https://bookosmia.com/category/places-with-sara/
“Agra, my favourite tourist spot” by 9 year old Navika Kharbanda from Noida #WorldTourismDay
Hey everyone, Sara here! Today on World Tourism Day, its hard not to think about the Tourism industry, one of the worst hit by COVID19.
9 year old Navika Kharbanda from Noida refreshes all of our holiday memories by sharing a write up of her favorite travel!
Navika is a very kind, creative and compassionate child. Her hobbies are dancing, baking, art and craft. Her creativity can be seen not only in her hobbies but also in her written and verbal expression. Her favourite book series is Junie B Jones by Barbara Park. She is a fun loving child who enjoys spending time with her family and friends. Navika is a student of Amity International School, Noida.
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Once I went on an excursion to Agra with my family. We went
by car. I carried a backpack on my back. We started our trip early in the morning. I and my brother slept in the car.
When we woke up we saw the breath- taking Taj Mahal in front of us. The Taj Mahal in Agra is world famous. We learnt more about this fascinating place from our guide.
By the time we were exploring this ‘wonder of the world,’ we felt hungry. We had sandwiches and went to buy the souvenir of the famous inlay artwork, wall hangings and coasters carved on marble.
It was almost bed time. My father had booked us in a luxurious hotel and we rested there. As the next morning arrived, we freshened up and went to Agra Fort expecting a show, but unfortunately the show was cancelled.
We utilized the opportunity by experiencing the local delicacies and shopping. It was dusk already. We returned to the hotel and slept.
The next day it was time to bid goodbye to Agra. Soon after breakfast we started our return journey. It was the most memorable holiday ever!
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Hey, Sara here again. Enjoyed reading?
Have a travel review to share and get published on this global writing platform?
Here is how to go about it-
https://bookosmia.com/category/places-with-sara/
“I simply enjoy drawing a picture, with or without any story,”says 10 year old M. Vidhya Lakshmi from Chennai
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by10 year old M. Vidhya Lakshmi from Chennai .
10 year old M. Vidhya Lakshmi from Chennai shares a write up on her beautiful artwork and thoughts.
She is very interested in drawing, art and crafts and singing .
Vidhya is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai
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When I was studying in second standard I started drawing small pictures and I am continuing even now. Here are some of the drawings I made during the lock down period.
Once, my father took me to his friend’s house. His daughter was drawing pictures and doing some art and craft. It inspired me to do more and more art.
I always enjoyed art and craft from my childhood days.
I simply enjoy drawing a picture, with or without any story. My art may not have a theme to its subject. I paint in general, both drawing and art and craft.
While creating art work I feel happy, and enjoy working on it and finally completing it I like to admire it.
From my own work my favourite art work is Little Krishna.
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‘Sparrows, please come back!’ by 7 year old Darshali Agarwal from Bhilwara, Rajasthan
Hey, your friend Sara here! I am amazed by the flow of your entries to our ‘Nature with Sara’ section. Thanks to all young writers for sharing some love for birds and butterflies!
Cool Fact#3: Domestic cats are one of the main predators of House sparrows.
Wow, thats really cool, right? Would you want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to go about it-
https://bookosmia.com/submit-a-story/
Match Washed Out ! Poem #IPLwithSara
Hey everyone! It’s me, Sara, your new best friend who loves sports and stories.
Ever thought you could find poetry in a match getting washed out? Here is 7 year old Vedant Garg from Noida, doing just that, when rain plays spoil sport!#IPL2020 #IPLforkids #IPLwithSara
Vedant is a passionate boy, loves to read, loves sports and loves to relax.
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The IPL game was going on,
On a pitch.
When the lights got fused and
everyone thought it was a glitch.
The match continued without light
After sometime, some players got into a fight.
Ten minutes later the pitch was flooded with rain
It was the most awful IPL game!
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.
Play, watch, enjoy, express sports and get published!
“Every time I sit for art, I want to do something different,”says 10 year old Deekshita Sureshkumar from Chennai
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 10 year old Deekshita Sureshkumar from Chennai. Dont miss her unique pencil shaving art.
Deekshita loves reading short stories and fairy tales. She is also fond of art and craft. She is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Seconday School, Chennai.
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One of the important spare time activity I enjoy, is art and craft work. Whenever I have even five minutes of time, I immediately start making a craft work for my Barbie doll. I always like to make colourful and vibrant art works. Art not only engages me, but it gives joy and great satisfaction to me.
Here is my recent work – Mandala art. As I was surfing for some art videos and ideas, I saw this on google. It impressed me a lot. Mandala is an ancient art form where shapes have vibrant appearance.
When I started to draw this, I felt its difficult and tough as it has more of tiny works but eventually I tried and completed it. As I finished, my parents appreciated me . I was so happy and excited to see the final one.
Each and every time I sit for art, I want to do something different from the previous one.
I like the pencil shaving art. It really means a lot to me.
Here is another one of my favourite painting-
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‘Butterfly, you dear pollinator’ Poem by 8 year old Arnika Jain from Almere, Netherlands and some cool facts
Hello hello, Sara here! The Big Butterfly Month may be coming to an end, but we are not done yet!
Our ‘Nature with Sara’ section buzzing with butterfly stories and poems!
Today, 8 year old Arnika Jain from Almere , Netherlands shares this adorable poem on butterflies. #BigButterflyMonth
Arnika loves to read chapter books because they take her to a world of imagination and adventure. Apart from building legos, she loves to draw and doing craft work. Thats why her classmates call her Artist Arnika. She dreams of having an art gallery of her own in future, like that of Van Gogh. She goes to International Primary School, Almere , Netherlands
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BUTTERFLIES
Butterflies, butterflies,
They’re very cute, what a big surprise!
Do not hurt them, just be wise.
Some are sleepy, some are awake,
If they’re not, then do a little shake.
Butterfly, you dear pollinator,
Tie a knot with flowers together.
Hey you kids, don’t hold butterfly
Grabbing forcefully will make her shy.
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Cool Fact#1 : Butterflies Live on an All-Liquid Diet
While we have all heard of how much the hungry caterpillar eats, adult butterflies can only feed on liquids—usually nectar. Their mouthparts are modified to enable them to drink, but they can’t chew solids.
Cool Fact#2 : Butterflies Drink From Mud Puddles
A butterfly cannot live on sugar alone; it needs minerals, too. To supplement its diet of nectar, a butterfly will occasionally sip from mud puddles, which are rich in minerals and salts. This behavior is called puddling.
Wow, thats really cool, right? Would you want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to go about it-
https://bookosmia.com/submit-a-story/
IPL & Dhoni- Coming together of my two favourites! #IPLwithSara
Hey, IPL fans, your best friend Sara here! For anyone new to the game, 9 year old Sriakshay Kalagarla from Bangalore brings you up to speed on the format and key details. Dont miss this insightful write up by him especially his love for MS Dhoni.
While MS Dhoni has hung up his boots on a 16-year illustrious career for Team India, he will be seen donning the CSK colours in the 2020 edition of the league. So keep watching and keep writing in!
#IPL2020 # IPLforkids
Sriakshay Kalagarla is 9 years old and a student of CMR NPS, Bangalore.
He is a big fan of football and MS Dhoni.
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On 13 September 2007, the BCCI announced the launch of a franchise-based Twenty20 cricket competition called Indian Premier League. It was said to be the mastermind of Lalit Modi. The league is based on a round-robin group and knockout format.
IPL has teams named after major Indian cities. The matches generally begin in late afternoon or evening so that a part of the match is played under floodlights at night. There are 8 teams.
I like IPL because many more people get to play cricket. The best bowler in IPL history is Lasith Malinga. The best batsman in IPL history is AB de Villeirs. The player to score the most runs is Virat Kohli with 5412 following by SK Raina with 5368 runs and RG Sharma with 4898.
According to me, the best captain is MS Dhoni because he won 100 matches as a captain which no other captain achieved. He is also the best keeper in IPL history with 132 dismissals (94 catches and 28 stumpings). He is also the record holder for the biggest six in IPL history, covering a distance of 111m!
Mumbai Indians is considered the best IPL team by many.
I am supporting Chennai Super Kings because their captain MS Dhoni is a very good keeper and can run out many batsmen. Also there are other very good players in CSK.
Now because of the pandemic, the matches which were supposed to be played in India are now being played in Dubai because the Indian government has not given permission.
My favourite player is MS Dhoni because he is the best captain and keeper! Also Virat Kohli because he scored the most runs in the IPL.
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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.
Play, watch, enjoy, express sports and get published!
‘The Butterfly Sisters’ Story by 5 year old Siyona from Sharjah, UAE and some cool facts
Hello hello, Sara here! As the Big Butterfly Month comes to an end, here is the ‘Nature with Sara’ section buzzing with a butterfly story!
5 year old Siyona from Sharjah, UAE shares this adorable story around butterflies.
SIYONA is very creative child, loves activities such drawing, singing, story reading, and dancing. Her
imagination are high and represented from her activities, love minute clay arts.
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Once upon a time there were three butterflies sisters. One was yellow, one red, and one was white. Whole day they used to play and dance in my garden.
One day it started to rain, the butterfly sisters’ wings became wet. They decide to go back home but the door was locked and no one was there at home. So they had to stay out in the rain, and they became more and more wet.
One of the sisters decided to take help of red and yellow Tulips nearby and said, “Friend Tulip, will you open your flower cup and let us in till the rain is over?”
The Tulips answered, “The red and yellow butterflies may enter, because they are like our colours, but the white one should not come in.”
The red and yellow butterflies did not like the answer, so they all decided to stay out in the rain. It was raining harder and harder and the poor butterfly sisters started shivering because of the cold.
So they went to white Lily and said, “Lily, could you please open your bud a little so that we can enter inside as it is raining heavily.
The Lily answered, “The white butterfly may come in, but not the red and yellow as they are of not my colour. ”
The white butterfly said, “If you do not allow my red and yellow sisters inside, then I will stay out in the rain with them. ”
So they all stayed out in the rain.
But the sun who was behind the cloud heard it all, and he knew how the three sisters were together in spite of getting wet. So he pushed his face through the clouds and chased away the rain. Soon it was bright everywhere.
He dried the wings of the three butterflies and warmed their bodies. The three sisters were very happy and started to dance. They forgot the pain and danced with flowers the whole day. They happily went back home and found the door was wide open.
Good times or bad, the butterflies stayed together!
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Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that meaningful story? After that beautiful write up, how about some some cool facts.
Cool Fact#1 : Butterflies hide when it rains.
They usually go to the same places they do for the night. Some butterflies hide under large leaves, some crawl down into dense leaves or under rocks, and some just sit head down on grass stems or bushes with wings held tightly. If the rains are exceptionally hard or of long duration many of the butterflies become tattered or die.
Cool Fact#2 : Butterfly wings are delicate.
Butterfly and moth wings are made of thin layers of chitin, the same hardened protein that makes up their outside body. They are also covered with thousands of tiny scales that lend color to the wings. The wings are strengthened by a system of veins. The wings have to be strong enough to support the body in the air, but still flexible enough for flight movements.
Wow, thats really cool, right? Would you want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to go about it-
https://bookosmia.com/submit-a-story/
‘Surprise’ Book Review by 9 year old Kaviya R from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is by 9 year old Kaviya R from Chennai.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Enjoyed reading this review? Do you have a book review to be published on this global writing platform? Click here to know how
‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ Book Review by 13 years old Satvika from Bangalore
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today on International Day of Peace, I am happy to share this lovely review by 13 year old Satvika, of one of the most important books of our time and an international bestseller, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ by Anne Frank.
Suri Lakshmi Satvika is 13 years old. She loves reading books and drawings and lives in Bangalore
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Title: The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
BOOKS are dreams you hold in your hands. When we
read a book, we expect to learn something valuable from it.
The book I am going to review now, taught me a very important lesson and when this book was written, the writer was of the same age as I am now (13 years old)So, it influenced me deeply.
“The Diary of a Young Girl” is the book I am talking about. This book, as the title suggests, is a diary. The writer of this diary is Anne Frank. This book was published in the year 1947, in Dutch. Later in 1952, it was translated and published by ‘Amazing Reads’
When I first saw this book, its cover page and illustrations seemed quite ordinary. But it was the picture of the young girl, Anne Frank which caught my eye. Also I had heard quite a lot about it, so I thought of giving it a read.
I got this book as a birthday present from my parents on my 13th birthday.
Coming to the plot of this book, it gives us a glimpse into World War II through a young girl’s perspective. It also shows us how tough and tiring life is when we are confined and not treated as an equal in the society.
Anne Frank is the main character of this book. She is a remarkably clever girl, a very thoughtful narrator and her diary is an entertaining read as well as a significant historical document.
Anne’s first entry said- “Writing in a diary is a very strange thing for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on, neither I nor anyone would be interested in the musings of a thirteen year old.” But little did she know her diary became the primary source of information about the German holocaust.
Though, Anne’s diary only offers a glimpse into the horrors inflicted on the Jews by the Nazis, it paints a very vivid picture if human nature and relationships during the time of war. It shows us that happiness can be found anywhere.
It also tells us that hope is something that should never be lost. I feel that the main message is that freedom and equality are something very valuable. It shouldn’t be given to one based on their cast, creed, race, or religion. It should be everyone’s right.
This book is a very wonderful read for anyone above the age of twelve.
We can realize how lucky we are to be this free.
I would give this book 4.5 out of 5. I recommend this book on everyone’s reading list. Happy reading!
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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IPL starting. Chips and Pepsi, please? #IPLwithSara
Hey everyone! It’s me, Sara, your new best friend who loves sports and stories.
We have an RCB fan in the house! 8 year old Mahit Verma from Kolkata shares his excitement with the IPL kicking off. Its infectious! Read on.
Mahit is a student of La Martiniere for Boys Kolkata.
He is a happy go lucky child. An avid reader who enjoys to write and act. He enjoys dancing and playing the guitar. He is true avenger fan who loves travelling, Taewkondo and playing football.
#IPL2020 #IPLforkids #IPLwithSara
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We belong to a land where CRICKET is synonymous to religion. Cricket is one language binding India.
And IPL being one of the most loved form.
In this pandemic, I was upset that it wont be hosted but much to my surprise it began on 19th September. I experienced what they mean by happy tears!
Starting Saturday, here are some of the words which you’ll hear in my
home!
“It’s a Six!”
“It’s a Four!”
“Oh No!”
“Don’t move from your place.”
“Chips and Pepsi, please?”
What is intriguing is how the team changes each season! New players come in, yet my loyalties lie with RCB- the team that I had met. My friends and I have been maintaining the score sheet of our respective teams but this time as RCB says, “The cup is ours!!”
Enthusiasm, cheerleading, music is at its best.. and I get to watch TV uninterrupted. Virat Kohli and AB De Villers are a treat to watch especially their cover drive and sweeps.
The difference this time is they will be playing without a live audience in the stadium. But don’t worry! RCB our cheers from our homes will reach you for sure.
With you always ! Lets get the CUP home!
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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.
Play, watch, enjoy, express sports and get published!
‘Ichuppa Village’ Book Review by 12 year old S. Nishitha from Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli
Hello book lovers, your friend Sara here! I love how you are all pouring in your submissions.
And we know it is even more special when a child sends in the review not of some bestselling author, but of stories written by another child.
So here is a ‘book review for young readers, by young reader of story by young writer.’
12 year old S. Nishitha from Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli shares her review of one of our favourite stories, ‘Ichuppa Village,’ by 10 year old S Sivakumaran from Chennai.
Nishitha is student of Bell English School. She loves her father, mother, teachers and God. Nishitha loves eating fruits and vegetables and playing volleyball and seven stones. She wants to become a doctor,to help others.
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Story-Ichuppa Village
Author- S Sivakumaran
Publisher- Bookosmia
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Butterfly, oh butterfly’ Poem by 9 year old Aashritha from Bangalore and some cool facts
Hello hello, Sara here! Weekends mean its time to enjoy nature. If not physically, through the wonderful write ups and cool facts in our ‘Nature with Sara ‘section !
Did you know that In India, the month of September ‘20 has been dedicated to one of the most loved, beautiful, and colourful winged wonders—butterflies?
So, here is a wonderful poem by Aashritha Surya Prakash on the charming butterflies. #BigButterflyMonth
Aashritha is a 4 grade student studying in Vidya Niketan School, Bangalore. from reading and writing, she loves DIY crafts and classical dancing. She thoroughly enjoys her creative writing classes at Talespin
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Butterfly , oh butterfly!
Oh Nature’s enticing mysteries,
Butterfly , oh butterfly !
Are you from another world ?
Where flowers grow ,
In all their glow,
Without withering at all ?
You fly so light
In the sky ,
Without a single flaw ,
You drink nectar
And survive,
Without any food at all?
Butterfly , oh butterfly!
Where do you get those patterns ?
Do fairies paint you
In the night,
Or in the deep dark wood ?
No, not at all
But you thought so, of course you would.
The truth is
The great god painted us
Each of us differs
In our own way!
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Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy the poem? After that beautiful write up, how about some some cool facts by passionate birder, Subhadra Devi!
Cool Fact#1 : Butterflies taste with their feet
Butterflies have taste buds (just like our tongue, but stronger) on their feet. They use it for testing for toxins on the plant before they would lay their eggs.
Cool Fact#2: There are around 1400 species of butterflies in India!
India is one of the 17 ‘megadiverse’ countries of the world, with so many species.A lot of these species are endemic to India, which means they can be seen only in India!
Cool Fact #3: Butterflies have different colour and pattern through tiny scales
The colours and patterns on butterfly wings are made up of tiny scales on them. Some butterflies’ wings reflect light, creating the shiny effect on their wings.
Photo credits: Subhadra Devi
Mahalaya by the Ganges – Essay by 10 year old Shantanu Kothari from Kolkata
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times!
Happy Mahalaya, everyone! I cant get enough of the excitement around this festival, especially from my lovely friends from West Bengal.
10 year old Shantanu Kothari from Kolkata sharing with us his experience of walking by the Ganga as people immersed themselves into the festivities. Shantanu is a student of South City International School, Kolkata.
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A walk by the Ganges in Kolkata is our favourite thing to do on weekend.
Last year, around this time, while approaching the walkway very early in the morning, I was surprised to see thousands of people taking a dip in the Holy Ganga and chanting some mantra.
While I was feeling lost in the crowd, my mom was happy capturing photos on her phone. It was a chaotic scene. I asked my mother what was going on and she explained to me,“It is Mahalaya, the day when there is no moon at night and when Goddess Durga descends on earth with her family.”
This day is very sacred, especially for Bengalis as it marks the beginning of Durga Puja. Also on Mahalaya, they wake up really early to offer prayers and homage to their ancestors and departed souls of dear ones. They do puja and tarpan in near by water body.
That explained this huge gathering of people on the ghat I have never seen before. After this ritual in the Ganges, they feed pandits and the needy.
I learned that Mahalaya happens in the Ashwin month of Hindu calendar on Amavashya (no moon night) which is the 15th day of the month. Mom also mentioned about mantra chanting that plays on the radio at 4am on Mahalaya, celebrating the arrival of the goddess.
Normally, Durga Puja starts after Mahalaya but this year there is an extra month (Adhik Maas) in hindu calendar and so Durga Puja will be held 30 days after Mahalaya.
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Know about the Mahalaya festival- Essay by 8 year old Agneesh Raj Banerjee from Kolkata
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times!
8 year old Agneesh Raj Banerjee from Kolkata supplies us with all the details we need to know more about the Mahalaya and of course, some much needed excitement.
Agneesh is a student of La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata
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Mahalaya is on 17th September this year. Goddess Durga starts her journey from Kailash with her children Ganesha, Lakshmi, Saraswati and Kartikeya to visit her father’s home on earth. This time, her vehicle is a boat which is supposed to mean there will be rain.
Mahalaya happens in autumn when the skies are blue with white clouds floating around. Kaash and Shuili flowers bloom all over making the surrounding picturesque. Dew falls on the leaves. Lord Rama worshipped Ma Durga in autumn before going to Lanka to fight with the King Ravana.
Devi Paksha starts from Mahalaya and many people come to the bank of river Hooghly to pray for their ancestors who have passed away. The poor people are given food.
On this day, in Kumartuli, where Durga idols are made, the painters paint the eyes of the Ma Durga idols, which is called Chakshudan.
Very early in the morning, my father plays holy verses on the radio called Mahisasur Mardini which prays to Ma Durga to come to the Earth to kill the evil demon Mahisasur. It means the victory of good over evil.
Durga Puja starts seven days after Mahalaya and ends on the 10th day. This year, there is a long gap since there are two new moons in this month.
I feel very excited since Durga Puja isn’t far away from Mahalaya and I can go to the park to take rides in the ferris wheel and jump on the trampoline, which I love very much.
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Hurray! Dugga Ma is coming- Poem by 8 year old Atreyo Bhattacharyya from Kolkata
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, even in the dullest of times.
Many of us have a day off from schools in India today. When did we ever complain about a holiday? But its also super fun to know about festivals from different parts of India.
Here is 8 year old Atreyo Bhattacharyya from Kolkata sharing with us the excitement of a festival.
Atreyo is a student of The Heritage School, Kolkata.
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Hurray! Dugga Ma is coming
“Jago Tumi Jago” people are humming,
The nature surrounding us is beautiful
We will all wear new dresses that are colourful.
The white clouds are fluffy and thick
Dugga Ma is coming from Kailash so quick,
Today is the day when Pitri Paksha finishes
On Devi Paksha everyone’s dream accomplishes.
Dugga Ma gives us power we require
Saraswati Ma gives us knowledge to inspire,
Lakshmi Ma gives us wealth we need
To go through the path that will make us succeed.
Good always triumphs over evil
As God will always win over devil,
Bengalis celebrate Mahalaya with a ‘pujo – pujo’ feel
As we go on the road of truth, with determination and skill.
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“I like to try different types of drawings,” says 10 year old Pranav M from Chennai
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 10 year old Pranav M from Chennai.
Pranav is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School, Chennai.
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My hobby is drawing.
I draw a picture for every festival. For Ganesh Chaturthi, I drew Ganesha. He is is my favourite God.
I like to draw different types of drawings.
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‘At the Farm’ Book review by 5 year old K. S. Manha from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s review is all the more special as it is by our youngest reviewer ever!
5 year old K. S. Manha from Chennai shares this adorable little review of her favourite book.
She is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chennai.
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I got this book from school for building reading skills, recommended by Chrysalis education system.
The book is about how much fun kids can have in a farm and can know about how we are getting the fruits and vegetables in the market, where do they come from.
The story is about Raja and Rani, who play and run at uncle Mano’s farm. In the farm there are mangoes, bananas, guavas and pineapples. There came a truck in which Raja and Rani loaded the fruits. The truck was full and went to market.
I liked it because the story made me feel as if I am enjoying in a farm, with so many colorful fruits and vegetables. It has colorful pictures like real images. Enjoying nature is the real happiness
I think the book is good for 3 to 6 years.
I would rate the book 5 stars out of 5*
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“The more I sketched and painted, the more confident I became,” says the talented 10 year old Aditi from Wolverhampton UK
Hey everyone, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘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.’
Ready to get stunned? Today I share the breath-taking work of 10 year old Aditi from Wolverhampton UK.
I decided to do Madhubani art to showcase one of the richest art heritage of India. Madhubani painting is practiced in Mithila. This painting is done with a variety of tools, including fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks and using natural dyes and pigments. It is characterized by its eye-catching geometrical patterns. There is ritual content for particular occasions, such as birth or marriage, and festivals, such as Holi, Surya Shasti, Kali Puja, Upanayana, and Durga Puja.
The next paining I share is titled ‘A village in Bengal.’Having been born and brought up in U.K. and with patients hailing from Bengal, I always wondered how the villages of Bengal and India in general would look like. Although I’ve been to India, I’ve only visited Kolkata and never been outside the city. I came across a painting of a quintessential Bengal village by the great Indian artist Gaganendranath Tagore and was inspired to draw my own take of a Bengal village.
I have always enjoyed drawing and painting from a young age. During lockdown, we had a lot of time to pursue our extracurricular activities and hobbies and I started out by self- learning various painting and sketching techniques with various media like graphite, charcoal, oil pastels, colour pencils and water colour. I went onto online training and in the last couple of years I also had few sessions of sketching techniques from a teacher.
My dad and granddad paint quite well and particularly my grand dad set me several challenges to do. As with everything, the more I sketched and painted, the more confident I became.
Recently, I set up a fundraiser to sketch or paint for people in return for a small donation which went to NHS. I offered to sketch or paint anything of their choice. This way, I sketched portraits of people from their photographs. Many asked me to draw anything I wished and in these situations, I chose to paint a variety of landscapes with different media as I really enjoy doing landscapes with bright colours. I’ve also sketched animals and birds in various media.
I think drawing a portrait from a photograph is quite hard as it has to look like the real person with the specific features unlike a landscape which can be anything to your imagination. So mistakes are very easy to spot on a portrait. Many a times, during the initial stages I’ve felt that the art work isn’t really turning out well but in the end, it’s not been too bad. There’s always a feeling of happiness and satisfaction on completing any work as it’s your creation.
I think all the pictures have a story to tell. And they’ve taught me a lot, not only about different sketching and painting techniques but I also learnt about the ‘Ardhanarishwar‘ concept and Indian art through my Madhubani painting. My deer painting in particular, reminds me of our forests that are home to so many animals and birds and how important it is to conserve the earth’s greenery for our own survival and maintain nature’s balance.
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‘The Magic Finger’ Book Review by 11 year old Arav Prasad from Bangalore
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today on Roald Dahl’s Day, I am happy to share this lovely review of his book ‘The Magic Finger’ by 11 year old Arav Prasad from Bangalore.
Meet Arav from Bangalore, who is the Google of cricket. He studies in 6th grade and dreams to be the captain of the Indian cricket team. These days he is trying his hands at baking and cooking.
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Book- The Magic Finger
Author- Roald Dahl
Illustrator- Quentin Blake
A few days ago I read a book called ‘The Magic Finger’ written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake.
The book cover had touch and feel letters.
My mom bought me this book on seeing my good results.
This book was really funny and as you know that anyone who reads Roald Dahl’s books, would definitely love them !
So it all started like this-there was a girl who had a finger which could do anything but it will only work when the girl gets cross and sees red. She went to school and there her teacher asks her the spelling of cat and she told k-a-t. Obviously it was wrong so teacher told her to give her hand and you know what happened with 5 hits of the scale. She got so cross and then she saw red and the magic finger did what it had to do. It sprayed a purple light which got injected on her mam and then comes the funniest part. The teacher started to become a cat. She stayed in the cat form for more than 2 years and then no one knows what happened. The next day she met the Gregg family and there starts the real story.
The girl’s name was not mentioned in the book but the Gregg family consists of William Gregg, Phillip Gregg and Mr and Mrs Gregg.
The central idea of the story is not to harm the flora and fauna.
I would not change anything in the story.
My favourite part of the book is when the teacher started to become a cat.
This book is great for the ages 7 to 10.
Recommendation-5 stars out of 5 *
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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Know Onam better- Essay by 14 year old Ritwik Vastani from Ooty
Onam was celebrated earlier this month, but how much do we know about this fantastic festival from Kerala? Here is 14 year old Ritwik Vastani from Ooty giving a thorough account of all you need to know about it. Weekends are perfect for a festive feel, isn’t it?
Ritwik is a student of The Lawrence School Lovedale, Ooty. 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.
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Onam is an annual holiday and festival celebrated in the state of Kerala, India. This festival is one of the most joyful occasions in Kerala and the entire state is filled with happiness during the celebrations.
Many tourists also visit Kerala during this time to know more about the culture of the people living there and to be a part of the celebrations. Kerala which is also known as the ‘God’s own country,’ is altogether transformed during Onam.
Onam is a harvest festival celebrated by all people in and from Kerala, irrespective of religion. The date of Onam is based on the Hindu Panchangam and falls on the 22nd nakshatra, Thiruvonam in the month Chingam of Malayalam calendar, which in Gregorian calendar overlaps with August and September.
According to legend, it is believed that Onam is celebrated to honour the kind-hearted and much-beloved demon King Mahabali, who is believed to return to Kerala during this festival. According to Vaishnava mythology, King Mahabali was a demon king of the Asura tribe who defeated the Gods and began ruling over all three worlds, and won over the hearts of his subjects.
Onam is a ten-day festival which begins on Atham and ends on Thiruvonam. During the ten-day festivities, devotes bathe, offer prayers and wear traditional clothes. Women wear a white and gold saree called the ‘Kasavu’ saree. They also participate in dance performances, draw flower rangolis called “Pookkalam” and cook traditional feasts called ‘Sadya.’
Sadya is served on banana leaves during Onam and is a 9-course meal consisting of 26 dishes. It includes Kalan (a sweet potato and yam coconut curry dish), Olan(white gourd prepared in coconut curry), Kootu curry(a dish made of chickpeas), Rasam(a soup-like dish made with a base of tomato and pepper,eaten with rice and other preparations) and the much-beloved dessert, Parippu payasam(a rice kheer preparation)
People also participate in the world famous boat races called ‘Vallam,’ tiger dances called ‘Pulikali,’ tug of war, Thumbi Thullal or women’s dance ritual, mask dance or Kummattikali, Onathallu or martial arts, Onavillu/music, Onapottan(
Onam is celebrated with a number of cultural elements. This is the most important harvest festival of Kerala. Keralites all over the world celebrate this festival with pomp and gaiety to welcome their beloved King Mahabali.
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‘Brother, sister and the TV remote’ Review by 9 year old Sriram from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Soooo many book reviews by kids from all over!
Today, I am proud to bring this special review-an example of what young minds can achieve when allowed the freedom to express themselves.
Here is 9 year old Sriram from Chennai, reviewing a story written by 10 year old Sanaaya Sureka from Kolkata. Isnt it beautiful what we are created? ‘Book reviews for young readers, by young readers on stories by young writers!’ We are onto something special, isnt it?
Sriram is studying in NSN Matriculation school. He loves to read, draw and play. He would like to become a doctor.
Sriram loves his father, mother, teachers and NSN School, Chennai
Title – Brother, Sister And The TV Remote
Author- Sanaaya Sureka
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Bees’- An adorable poem by 8 year old Sara Gupta from Lucknow and some cool facts!
Hello hello, Sara here! Weekends mean its time to enjoy nature. If not physically, through the wonderful write ups and cool facts in our ‘Nature with Sara ‘section !
Keep those lovely entries coming in. Today I am sharing this adorable poem by my namesake, 8 year old Sara Gupta from Lucknow.
Sara is a curious child with a very good imagination. She loves to write, bake and paint.
Sara is a lovely abstract art painter with a great sense of colour combinations.She loves the water and is a good swimmer.
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Bees make their home
On the trees,
And they can
Fly over the seas.
They suck on flower piles
And have huge hives.
Their skin colour is yellow and black
And have wings that quickly flap.
Bees make honey
And people buy it with money,
Never ever let a bee sting
Or you will jump like a spring!
Bees are unique social insects and probably one of the best known insects in the world. It performs a vital role in the pollination of flowering plants, including crops and vegetables in the forests.
Cool Fact#3 : A honey bee dies after stinging humans
A honeybee’s stinger is made of two barbed lancets. When the bee stings, it can’t pull the stinger back out. It leaves behind not only the stinger but also part of its digestive tract, plus muscles and nerves. This massive abdominal rupture is what kills the bee.
‘Rohan and his hobbies’ by 6 year old Sourojit Das from Kolkata- Tangram#44
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s Tangram story is by 6 year old Sourojit Das from Kolkata. Read for yourself.
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Once upon a time, there lived a boy named Rohan.
He loved to fly colourful kites.
He used to make paper kites at home.
He also had another hobby. It was flying paper planes from his terrace.
He dreamt of flying an original aeroplane one day.
When he turned nineteen, he became a pilot.
His dream of flying an aeroplane was fulfilled.
Key message- We have to try until our dreams come true!
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‘Two Wolves’ Review by 10 year old S. Kirthika from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks everyone for keeping this section buzzing, with ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today, I am sharing this lovely review by 10 year old S. Kirthika from Chennai
S. Kirthika is studying in V grade in N.S.N Matriculation school, Chennai.
Kirthika’s ambition is to become a teacher.
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Story-Two Wolves
Publisher-Giant Wheel magazine.
The lead character in the story is a girl by the name Priya. The change in her thought process and her attitude is the crux of the story.
Priya was studying in a school. Her friend called and asked her for the notes, but she denied giving because he had complained about her to the teacher for some reason.
The central idea of the story is inculcating good values, through a story by Priya’s father that there is a constant battle between two wolves inside. One wolf being good and the other being evil.
It is relevant as during these days, parents spend less time with children as they are always busy with their own life. Priya’s father took time and imparted the values to her through a story which was the need of the hour.
My favourite part of the story is during dinner time, Priya’s father did not ignore the conversation that she has with her friend.Instead he tried to explain to her that what she was doing was not right. There is a constant battle between two wolves inside. The one wolf with love, joy, kindness, hope, truth
faith or the one wolf with anger, jealousy, pride ,sorrow, guilt which we feed inside wins.
The learning from this story is we should develop only positive qualities like love, faith, kindness, being truthful, helping others, which in turn will brings happiness in our life.
Parents are second teacher to a child and they influence a child’s behaviour so much. This story has outlined a father who is a role model to a child.
If I could change something in the story, I would have added the family background of Priya clearly and also the reason why her friend had complained about her to the teacher.
The writing style was so easy to understand for the kids. The age group for this story is 7+.
On a scale of 1-5, I would rate this story as 5.*
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘The Magical 4 Potted Plants,’by 7 year olds Vaani Jain and Saanvi Rajgarhia, Tangram#43
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s Tangram story by 7 year olds Vaani Jain and Saanvi Rajgarhia from Kolkata is a cute magical tale. Read for yourself.
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Vaani and Saanvi are friends. One day while playing in the school garden, during break time they found a strange key with number 4 written on it.
They decided to keep the key.
The girls took a small potted plant from the school garden to take home. But accidentally, they dropped it and it broke. They decided to replant it. While replanting it, the strange key fell from Vaani’s pocket into the new pot.
Suddenly, there were four new potted plants instead!
The girls realized the magic of the strange key. These new potted plants were no ordinary plants. They grow whatever the girls wished for!
With the help of the four magical potted plants the girls helped their friends’ neighbors and also the poor.
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#ScienceIsForEveryone: Pssst Ears, what’s buzzing! Understanding Sound with Sara and Ditto
Hey everyone! Sara here, along with my best friend Ditto. Have you ever wondered why we can hear the sound of thunder, from so far away in the sky! Or that our windows shake when there is a loud thunder outside.
Come on and ask the magical Book X for the answer.
‘Famous Personalities’ Book Review by 10 year old K. S. Mohammed Daanish from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! I am so excited to see all your wonderful entries pouring into this section of ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
We are onto something special, isnt it?
Today’s lovely review is by 10 year old K. S. Mohammed Daanish from Chennai.
Mohammed Daanish is a student of NSN Memorial School, Chitlapakkam and has been recognized by his school for his book reviews. His mother has set up a home library for boosting up his learning skills, and clearly that has helped him a lot. He is interested in learning languages English, Tamil and French
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16 years. His great interest in politics drew him towards it. He was much interested in learning arts. Because of rude nature and anger he became a cruel ruler. It was because of him the phrase “The banality of evil” gained exact meaning.
President of India and an admirable teacher for all the students. He was
born in a simple family and his curiosity towards learning mathematics
and science made him to pursue aeronautical engineering. He became a
person, fondly known as ‘Missile Man’ or ‘Rocket Man.’ Because of his
determinations he achieved what he dreamt and secured more awards.
How should I give shape to my dream
How to achieve the goals
How should I learn good things and identify the bad ones
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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Friendship of a Swan and a Duck, by Anaya Bachawat 7yrs Shaurya Dugar 6yrs- Tangram #42
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s Tangram story by Anaya Bachawat 7yrs and Shaurya Dugar 6yrs of Little Readers Nook is a great lesson in friendship! Read on.
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Once upon a time there was a park with lots of trees and a lake. A swan lived in the lake. In the tree near the lake lived a bird.
One day the swan heard the bird crying. He asked the bird,“ What happened ? Why are you crying?”
The bird replied, ”I have laid eggs and I cant leave them, I have no food . Can you help?”
The swan happily said yes and after some time got something to eat for her. Everyday the Swan helped the bird. Soon the eggs hatched and the swan would sing songs for the babies .
One day some naughty boys came to the park and caught the swan in their net. The swan cried out for help. The bird heard her friend and told her babies, “Come on kids, our time has come. We need to help our dear friend.”
They flew around the boys and scared them away.The Swan was saved.
Then they were all happy.
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‘The Diamond Brothers Series’ Book Review by 10 year old Anwesha Nag from Bangalore
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries. So excited to be running this movement of ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
Anwesha studies in 5th grade at The Samhita Academy and loves reading books, travelling and art. She has her own travel journal on the places she visits.
Book- The Diamond Brothers Series
Author- Anthony Horowitz
The lead character in this series is Nick. He is the most intelligent character in the book. My favourite part of the book is when the suspense ends and Nick finds out who the criminal is.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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Owls are Fascinating Creatures: A wonderful poem by 9 year old Sanvi from Kolkata and some cool facts
Hey, your friend Sara here! I am amazed by the flow of your entries for our recently launched ‘Nature with Sara’ section, kicking off with birds that fascinate us.
Today, I am happy to share this lovely poem along with a lovely artwork, by 9 year old Sanvi Atul Sharma from Kolkata. And do not miss the cool facts which follow later.
Sanvi is a 9 year old poet from Modern High School For Girls, Kolkata. Her hobbies are reading, singing and drawing.
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Owls are fascinating creatures,
With the most amazing features,
They fly without making any noise,
And are just so full of poise.
They say owls are wise,
They even improvise,
This bird has great judgement,
And are abundant.
Owls’ necks are flexible,
And they are very respectable.
This bird is Goddess Laxmi’s steed,
How sweet!
I really want one, let’s!
Flying in the night sky,
Owls are saying goodbye.
Owls have very small brains proportionate to their body size, and they are less trainable than crows, hawks, parrots or pigeons. In fact, most owls can’t be trained to do simple tasks.
However, some types of owl do have complex behaviours. The little owl uses stashed meat to grow maggots for food in a way that other birds of prey don’t, for example. Its cousin, the burrowing owl, will take dung into its burrow and cultivate dung beetles.
Owls have extremely good night vision. This is enabled by their large, tube-shaped eyes that contain many more rods than human eyes, which allow them to be more sensitive to light. Their irises widen to allow more light to reach their retina at night. Because the iris adjusts, owls can also see during the day (unlike other nocturnal animals that can only see well at night), but their vision is slightly blurry and they cannot see colors well.
Unlike most birds, owls make virtually no noise when they fly.
Owls swallow their prey whole and regurgitate the parts that can’t be digested as pellets. If you find a spot where owls roost, you can find these pellets below that spot. You can dissect these pellets to find what the owl had eaten.
Wow, thats really cool, right? Would you want to get published on this global writing platform? Here is how to go about it-
https://bookosmia.com/submit-a-story/
‘The Adventures of Joey,’ by Aadya Kheria (8yrs) and Vanya Khaitan (6yrs) from Kolkata-Tangram Story #41
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s Tangram story by Aadya and Vanya of Little Readers Nook, Kolkata is an adorable coming together of an adventure loving kangaroo and a fairy who enjoys shopping! Read on.
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Once upon a time there lived a kangaroo named Joey. Joey was playful and also enjoyed adventures. One day he was playing in the fields with his friends and family, when suddenly he realized he has lost his way and started to move deeper and deeper into a dark forest.
After a while he saw a cave and was nervous to go inside. Then he remembered his mother always said not to be nervous and face challenges. So he became his brave self and went inside the cave. It was empty but cozy so he decided to stay inside and pray.
After sometime there was a flash of lightning in the dark sky . A beautiful fairy appeared before him and said, “I will grant you one wish.”
Joey said, “I want to return to my family” and when he opened his eyes the fairy had vanished and he was back with his family. Joey thanked fairy god mother.
Joey was even happier because only he could see the fairy god mother. Next morning Joey and the fairy went to the playground where Joey got hurt so the fairy came to the vet with him. Soon he felt better and they came home for lunch.
Joey wanted to express his gratitude to the fairy so he took her shopping and bought her lots of goodies. The fairy and Joey lived happily ever after.
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‘In my picture I want to show how beautiful and colourful nature is,’says 8 year old Krrish Mehra from Kolkata
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’s wonderful artwork and thoughts around it, are shared by 8 year old Krrish Mehra from Kolkata.
Krrish is a fun loving and playful boy. He loves music, playing and dancing with his little sister and likes playing tennis, cricket, carrom, etc. He loves to travel and is an excited and observant traveler. His love for nature is apparent in his artwork. Krrish is a student of La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata.
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Having a new-found interest in drawing and colouring, I decided to try to make a few drawings. As I saw a beautiful bird outside my window, I decided to make a bird. I gave the bird so many colours as I was imagining a bird like this somewhere in the forest.
I was quite happy and excited at the start of making this drawing, and was stunned to see it at the end.
In my picture I want to show how beautiful and colourful nature is.
My parents,my little sister and I visited a mountain last October and I liked it very much. Thats why I decided to make a picture of mountains. We visited so many places and on the way I saw mountains, the sun, waterfall and a hut, all at once and it felt good.
I was quite happy and excited while making this drawing.
My favourite art-work is Mona Lisa that my mother showed me a few months ago (attached Mona Lisa artwork)
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‘Story of a Candle’ by Aaravi from Mumbai- Tangram Story#40
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s Tangram story by Aaryavi of Little Readers Nook from Mumbai asks a simple question-What can parents do to reassure their kids? Often, the simplest of things!
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Era and Joy live in a town with their father, who used to work for a church. He
used to work for whole day and used to come home late.
One day Era and Joy told their father that they get scared in the evening when it is dark and he is not around. Their father got worried and was thinking what to do. Next day he came home with a candle. He told Era and Joy that this is special candle from church. “Whenever you get scared just light this candle and you will be ok. ”
One day when father was out, it started raining heavily in the night and he couldn’t come home. Era and Joy were scared. They remembered the candle given by their father. They lit up the candle and felt very comfortable and slept. They were not scared any more.
Next morning when father returned, he was really worried but then happy to see that Era and Joy were comfortable. They told their father that after lighting the candle, they felt very confident and were not scared. “Thank you father for giving us the magical candle, ” they said.
Father was happy to know this and thought how lighting a simple candle can give confidence to kids.
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”Who Was Anne Frank’ Book Review By 9 year old Seeyona from Hyderabad
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries. So excited to be running this movement of ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
Today I share a very thoughtful review of a book based on the life of an important person.
9 year old Seeyona Guha from Hyderabad shares the review of ‘Who was Anne Frank,’ a book she loved so much that she wrote a review on it and also drew a picture of Anne Frank.
Book- Who was Anne Frank
Author- Ann Abramson
One day, I was browsing through a bunch of books to choose from, when I came across a book called ‘WHO WAS ANNE FRANK’ by Ann Abramson.
I wanted to have this book but before I told my mother to buy it, I wanted to know a bit about who Anne Frank was.
My mom told me that Anne Frank lived for only 15 years. That really got my attention. So I got this book to know how come she lived for such a short period and what was her journey like?
This book tells us about the life of Anne Frank from her childhood. It is the story about Anne and her family going into hiding from Hitler’s army and all the rules they had to follow in the Secret Annex . Adolf Hitler was a German politician and leader of the Nazi Party who started World War II.
I feel the book is important because, apart from facts about world history, it tells us a real-life story of how we must not give up hope even when things around us are out of place.
My favorite part of the book is to know that on Anne’s 13th birthday she had got a diary that she wrote in, every day. Later, her father got it published for the whole world to read it. And today almost 90 years later, we can still read her story in her own words! Isn’t that exciting to know?
This book has lots of black and white photos of her. In fact the pictures are so simple that I actually drew one myself.
At the end of the book there is a timeline of Anne Frank’s life.
The best lines I read in the book were also the last lines she ever wrote in her diary. This is what it said –
“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
The book is written in a very simple language for young children to easily follow and understand.
I would give a rating of 5 out of 5 stars to this book.*
This book is perfect for children in the age group of 8 to 10 years, who like to read inspiring real-life stories.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘I like many drawings, especially all princess,’ says 5 year old Omeraa Shriwardhankar from 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 young artist, 5 year old Omeraa Shriwardhankar from Mumbai sharing her adorable thoughts on her adorable artwork.
Our art section wont have been complete without an image of the Frozen princess Elsa, isnt it?
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I love to draw since i was a baby.
I Love Rainbow.
I drew this because its a beautiful scenery.
While drawing i felt nice and excited. Life is beautiful.
I like many drawings especially all princess.
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Happy Onam! – Poem by 11 year old Aparna Rajesh from Sharjah
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here…Holi, Onam, Eid, Durga Pooja, Christmas…the festivals are endless and pep us up, in the dullest of times!
Happy Onam! Lets tap into the festivities and joy of this lovely festival.
11 year old Aparna Rajesh from Sharjah gets all of us in the festive spirit for Onam! Lets join in the fun.
Aparna is a student of Our Own English High School, Sharjah.
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Ten days of happiness, love and care
Beautiful set attires I wear
Fragrance of flowers everywhere
When this beloved festival arrive
Poverty does not thrive
The festival is Onam
The sun above the land shines with joy
We arrange different flowers in different designs and enjoy
Boat racing, Tug of war is some games played
The inviting taste comes from the sadya made
Onam comes straight from the god’s own home town
It has the power to make people smile and to erase away that frown
My family and friends happily celebrating together
All these memories always in my heart forever.
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‘Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer’ Book Review by 13 year old Swastik from Jaipur
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries. So excited to be running this movement of ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
So keep reading and keep writing in to me.
Today’s heartfelt and thorough review comes from 13 year old Swastik Kumar from Jaipur. He is studying in class 8 at Maharaja Sawai Bhawani Singh School, Jaipur and is a student of Young Orators.
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Book- Magnus Chase and The Sword of Summer
Author-Rick Riordan
“As soon as the flaming blades of Surtr touched me I knew it was the end. I had only one choice to make.”
‘The Sword of Summer’ is the first sequel in Rick Riordan’s Magnus Chase series of three novels
that has sold millions of copies worldwide.
It is an amazing story which puts a cheerful smile to the young and old alike.Rick Riordan is known for his humor, and the twists that we get at the end of the stories.
Magnus Chase is the story about a young demigod son of the god Frey, who dies valiantly fighting the fire lord Surtr and goes to Valhalla (the place of the noble dead) to spend the remainder of his time preparing for Ragnarok. Ragnarok is often called as the end of the world. It is believed that it would start on the event of Fimblewinter {the last winter}
People say that Magnus Chase is a must read. I think that they could not be any more right. Rick Riordan spins the story in such a way that you cannot resist yourself to think, what I would have done if I was in that position.
You can see many of the characters in our everyday life. Take Magnus for example. He is gullible and trusts anyone and everyone. He lived a hard life at the street after his mom died.
Let’s take a look at Samirah. Father has a bad reputation but still she is trying to get along with the society. As most of his characters are taken from everyday life, it is easy to relate and understand how they feel.
The main characters of the story are, Magnus, a young Demigod son of Frey who used to live at the street after his Mom died. Samirah, a daughter of Loki who is struggling to make her place among the demigods. Blitzen, a dwarf who has an expertise in clothing and Hearth stone, an elf who cannot hear or speak but has a mastery in runes.
The protagonist of the story is Magnus Chase, while the antagonist is the flaming demon lord, Surtr.
Valhalla is truly an amazing place to go after you die. The never ending fun. The constant partying. Atop of all this Rick Riordan has described it in lubricious words and spun it into a tale so great that you feel that you are actually in the halls of Valhalla reliving the experience. But the main aim of Valhalla is to train the troops for Ragnarok. Even getting in Valhalla is not that easy, you have to go through harrowing trials, and prove that you are worthy for Valhalla.
But for Magnus, things just do not just end there. Many adventures follow the duo Magnus and Samirah as they go on regular quests. Sometimes to prevent Ragnarok from happening or on the quest to find a missing weapon of the gods, that can determine the fate of the world.
This is not the first series of Rick Riordan. He has done it many a times and has been nicknamed the story teller of gods. He has also won the literary award on the Percy Jackson. He is best known for his works on the Kane Chronicles and the Percy Jackson series.
I really like this book because it takes care of the problems that society face nowadays. I would rate this book a 4.5 out of 5*
It is recommended for the ages of 13 and above.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Rainbow Frock’ by 5.5 year old Toshan G Rao from Mysore. Tangram Story #39
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s Tangram story is by 5.5 year old Toshan G Rao from Little Readers Nook, Mysore. What do you think will happen when wild animals meet a little girl with Avenger power? A whole new world of creative imagination, of course. Walk into this one.
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Once there was a beautiful and dense forest. It was full of wild animals. People were scared of this forest and stayed away.
On the other side there was a cute girl who was working in the Avenger station. She was bored with her regular work and decided to go on a holiday and flew from the Avenger station.
While she was searching for a good place she saw this forest and chose to spend her holidays here. She took a walk all over the place and enjoyed the nature happily.
Suddenly, a lion jumped towards her, roaring and wanting to eat her. But, the girl flew up and disappeared by her Avenger power. The lion was shocked and ran away. Likewise, she faced lot of other animals and did the same trick of disappearing.The wild animals got scared thinking she might be a witch and they all ran away and the girl was walking happily.
While this happened, it started to rain in the forest. The girl was so so happy to see the rain and a little sun together. With this there appeared a beautiful rainbow…the girl was shouted “WOWWWW!!!”
She got an idea-to wear the rainbow colors on herself.Admiring the colours she made a beautiful umbrella frock with rainbow colors using her Avenger power.
She wore the beautiful frock and spent her holidays happily in the forest. After her return to Avenger station, she told her forest umbrella frock story to all her friends and lived happily ever after.
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‘Lockdown and the Magical School’ Book Review by 10 year old A . Hanu Vardhan from Chennai
Hey book lovers, your friend Sara here!
Today, I am proud to bring this special review-an example of what young minds can achieve when allowed the freedom to express themselves.
Here is a story written by a 7 year old Sanvi from Mysore, enjoyed and reviewed by a 10 year old A . Hanu Vardhan from Chennai. Isnt it beautiful what we are created? ‘Book reviews for young readers, by young readers on stories by young writers!’
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you want to read the story? Click below-
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‘When I start my artwork, I dont expect perfection,’ says 13 year old V. Jai Sankaranand from Chennai
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 publish the work of a very talented artist from Chennai- 13 year old V. Jai Sankaranand . He is a student of NSN Memorial Senior Secondary School.
In addition In addition to a great spread of artwork, he is also very interested in doing science projects.
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I have been interested in drawing since my childhood days. I started drawing when I was in IV std and am continuing even now.I always enjoyed art from my childhood.
Here I have attached some of my art pictures. My recent art work is Lord Ganesha, as a Ganesh Chathurthi special.
My favourite picture is Charlie Chaplin and Lord Ganesha.
I am also very fond of 3d drawings
I was very interested in drawing cartoon characters. To take my drawings to the next level, I chose portraits of people.
Mother Teresa’s is my favourite art work. I tried 5 times and it came out very well only at the sixth time.
When I start my art, usually I will just give a try and I will not expect perfection in it. But after finishing it, I myself wonder at my perfection.
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‘Bird Friends’ by 8 year old Shifa Zahra Touseef from Lucknow +Cool Facts #NatureWithSara
Hey friends, Sara here!
Lock down doesnt mean locked in fully! The birds, plants, trees, wind et al are all there, waiting for us.
So in this beautiful section, I will share everything that kids write to me about nature.
Remember the phrase,’ birds of a feather, flock together?’ Today, 8 year old Shifa Zahra Touseef from Lucknow shares a beautiful story on a similar theme, followeded by some cool facts on actual bird behaviour.
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Have you ever seen birds making friends with other birds?
Have you ever seen a bird rescue a bird ?
No? Well I have.
This story is quite unbelievable, but it is true. I was five and I regularly went to the park. One day I noticed 2 birds sitting on a branch and singing. I had never seen birds singing together. As they finished, I started clapping happily. As a reward, I gave them breadcrumbs that were in my pocket.
After that, I went there daily. These two birds would sing and I would feed them. Over time we became friends. In my neighborhood there was a competition named ‘Best Bird’ Competition. It sounded silly to me.
Here is what was to happen in the contest-
‘You need to capture a beautiful bird. The owner of the best bird is the winner.’
Many people were trying to get my little friends. Poor things!
Finally my neighbor Mr. Glegg managed to catch one of my friends. The other one went free but it did not leave. It wanted to hurt Mr. Glegg so he would set its friend free.
The little bird failed. It looked at me for help. I nodded and smiled and went to Mr. Glegg and said, “ Er… Mr. Glegg that bird is…. Er… my pet!”
Mr. Glegg thought for 5 minutes and guess what? He set the bird free!
The bird went to its friend when everybody went away and started to sing.
One week later I went to Dubai and stayed there for five years, before coming back. One day while I was sitting in the park, I noticed two beautiful birds staring at me as if I were yummy food. Suddenly as a flash it came to me.
Who were they? The birds I had helped all those years ago?
I smiled at them.
They started singing my favorite tune.
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Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy that lovely story? And now its time for some cool facts about birds and their behaviour, shared by Subhadra Devi, a passionate birder.
Cool Fact#1:
Do birds make friends with other birds?
A study shows that many species of birds are quite friendly with others of their species and even other species. Some types of chickadees and titmouse have been known to let other birds know when they discover a well-stocked feeder, rather than keeping all the food to themselves.
Cool Fact#2:
Do birds watch out for other birds?
Geese are flock birds but studying them will show that when everyone is feeding, there will always be one or two with their heads up, watching for trouble. These guard geese are watching over their friends while they eat and then will take their turn while someone else stands watch.
Source– https://thefinchweekly.com/study-shows-birds-like-nest-near-friends/
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‘Abduction’ Book Review by 13 year old Taneesha from Singapore
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries. So excited to be running this movement of ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
So keep reading and keep writing in to me.
Today’s lovely review is by 13 year old Taneesha Sheth from Singapore,an 8th grader in Singapore American School. Apart from art, reading, writing, and playing various sports such as basketball and badminton, she loves taking part in social activities.
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Imagine a day, when the sunshine has warmth in it’s brilliance and spreads it’s precious golden rays in all directions, everything with a bright glow. Just perfect until you realize that your brother has been kidnapped – and that too from the bathroom.
Overwhelmed with fear, you wake up to discover that your adorable little puppy has disappeared into thin air. Imagine a night when you tuck yourself in your blanket, with constant fear instilled in your mind. Scratch that, in the book Abduction by Peg Kehret, the main character feels that way, after suffering 2 losses, her beloved dog, Pookie, and her half brother Matt after they are kidnapped.
In the book Abduction by Peg Kehret, Matt, a gullible 6 years old is missing. Bonnie’s younger brother left his classroom to use the bathroom – and disappeared. A police dog traces his scent, later everyone identifies that apparently, he got into a vehicle. But why would Matt go anywhere with a stranger? Isn’t everyone taught not to say ‘yes’ to strangers? Buried with fear Bonnie also discovers that her dog Pookie is missing. Was Pookie used to indulge Matt by going with him? Meanwhile when Bonnie desperately tries to search for the two favorite things in her world,she makes à terrible mistake.
Did she fall into her own trap? Determined to be with each other, together again, can Bonnie and Matt outsmart the abductor?
Peg Kehret, the author of this book, and 50 other books have swiftly combined a pinch of humor with a handful of suspense and mystery in the book Abduction.
Instead of moving the story really quickly, Peg Kehret has written a bit-by-bit, persuading the reader to read another page, indulging the reader to find another clue on the condition of the 2 precious sweethearts. In this book the author also writes and moves the story very slowly to help the reader digest each part of the suspense created.
This is a great book because the character traits of the main character can easily connect wit anyone reading this book. The author has crafted this story in such a way that it awakens the tension inside you and creates a lot of depression, building word by word inside of you.
Another point that I would like to mention about the author’s craft and her style is that she has tried to include a lot of description which draws an image or paints an image in the reader’s brain, to help them visualize what is going on. While I was deeply engrossed in this book I also noticed that at the end of each chapter, the author has a cliffhanger to create more suspense and motivate the reader to read the next chapter without putting the book down.
Overall this author did a fabulous job in terms of including our five senses in the book so that we as readers can be completely inside the book instead of just reading it.
I think that I wouldn’t change any aspect of the book because the author has crafted it based on what would happen in real life if someone were to face the same situation. Therefore I like it the way it has been laid out and how the story moves ahead.
I would definitely recommend this book if you love mystery combined with a little bit of mischief. To end this, I would rate this book 4 out of 5*. This book is definitely a page-turner and the author does a wonderful job in keeping you engaged throughout.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Lost Bruno’ by 6 year old Vetharithika from Kadampuliyur, Tamil Nadu- Tangram Story #38
Hey 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 patterns.
Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Today’s story is by 6 year old Vetharithika and it is special for many reasons. Not just that Vetharitika is from a small town Nevyeli in Tamil Nadu or that she has cut out her Tangrams by hand or that it is the first time someone has shared chameleon and pigeon shapes using Tangrams, but that with all of this her story is stunning in itself and speaks of her empathy and creativity.
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Once upon a time, there was a girl called Rani. She loved puppies.
So her Mom and dad gifted her a puppy.
She named him Bruno. She fed him, put him to sleep,made him take bath and always played with him. They loved each other so much.
One day Bruno got lost. Rani became very sad. She started crying very badly and searched her whole home. But she could not find him. So she told her mom and dad about it. They went out to the street searching him.
First, they met a Cat.
Rani asked the cat “Catty, did you see my Bruno anywhere?”
Catty told “Yes. He was taken by a girl and a boy in the south direction.”
Rani became more sad and started crying.
Then they walked south. Next they met Chamy, the Chameleon. Rani asked the chameleon “Chamy, did you see my Bruno anywhere?”
Chamy told “Yes. He was taken by a girl and a boy in the West direction. Bruno was barking a lot”.
Rani became more upset and cried very much.
Then they walked West. They met a Pagi, the Pigeon. Rani asked the Pigeon, “Pagi, did you see my Bruno anywhere?”
Pagi told, “Yes. He was taken by a girl and a boy this way. I followed them and found the place where they have him. Come behind me.”
Pagi started flying. Rani and her parent followed Pagi. They reached that place. As soon as Bruno saw his family, he jumped out of the gate and ran towards them.
Rani became very happy. She thought she will get the kidnappers arrested but they looked so sad so she decided to let them play with Bruno for a while. Rani never ever left Bruno alone after that.
‘Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone,’ Book Review by 14 year old N. Sai Deeptha from Chennai
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, shouldnt we ask the kids to tell us how they liked it?
That is exactly what we do in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers’!
Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries
Today’s review of an iconic book is by Sai Deeptha ,a 9th grader in N.S.N Memorial School, Chennai. She loves reading books and not being able to buy more books is depresses her.
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Book- Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone
Author- J K Rowling
Publisher- Bloomsbury,UK
When I first saw the cover of “ Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone,” I thought that it would be a very droopy and boring story, but it was so not what I had expected. The cover has him, Ron, Hermione and Hagrid,the school’s gatekeeper, of whom he is very fond, with Hogwarts in the background.
The saying ‘ Don’t judge a book by its cover’ is used quite literally here .
I was engrossed in the book and I was experiencing all those adventures .
My friend recommended this book to me, but I tried to stall as much as I could, to not read the book. I did not even try to watch the movies.But, as I started reading it, I found it very compelling and kept reading it.
The story is basically about a young wizard called Harry Potter , who had survived a death curse and was living with his cruel aunt, uncle and cousin because his parents were killed trying to save him.But as he turned 11,he was taken to Hogwarts, a first rate wizard school. He was to be trained to be a skilled wizard. There, he made friends with his best friends for life, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They have all sorts of adventures together during the quest to protect the philosopher’s stone from the villain, Voldemort, who had tried to kill Harry Potter.
The lead character is Harry Potter, who is a powerful young wizard. He is undeniably brave and extremely loyal to all his friends and family, so much so that they don’t mind giving their lives for him. It is interesting that even after so much pain and suffering, he stayed strong and continued fighting. That is really impressive .
In this story , Harry is mistreated and shunned by his own family and lots of people would be questioning their existence.But, even though his parents weren’t alive and he was cruelly treated by his aunt and uncle, he was still loved by his friends and they supported him no matter what. I feel that the central idea of the story is that love is more powerful than anything and it is proved when his mother’s love actually saved him from Voldemort .
The illustrations of the book is what that gave the book its magical feel but as I said before, I’m not very fond of the cover. The writing style makes me feel like I’m with them, experiencing all the adventures and undergo all they went through .
My favourite part of the book is when Harry,Ron and Hermione take on a fully grown Troll all by themselves.It is really impressive how they work together and vanquish it without any proper knowledge of spells .
My takeaway from this book is that love is more powerful than anything and even a powerful villain can be conquered easily .
The one thing that I would change in this book is that Draco Malfoy can be portrayed in a nicer way, so that he might not seem so cruel and arrogant. Draco is forced and brain washed by his parents to act the way he does ; to be as if he was better than anyone. I would have made Harry and Draco have an almost civil relationship and defeat Voldemort together .
Any person above 8 years can read this.It is in a very easy language and is appealing to all age groups.
I would definitely rate the book 5/5* because I couldn’t put it down and was so engrossed in the book that I didn’t notice what happened around me at all.
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‘Disney Minnie Storybook Collection’ Book Review by 9 year old Vetrivel K from Chennai
Hey there book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, shouldn’t we ask the kids to tell us how they liked it?
That is exactly what we do in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’
Today 9 year old Vetrivel K from Chennai shares what he feels about his favourite book.
Vetrivel got into the habit of reading story books, after enhancing his English through Phonics Power, . He loves to read books and play chess.
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Book: Disney Minnie Storybook Collection
Author: Disney
Publisher: Penguin Random House India
I bought the book in a book stall which is in the Phoenix Mall. I got this book to enjoy reading it with my favourite Disney characters.
Inside this beautiful book there are six fabulous stories to enjoy. Solve the mystery of the missing brownies, join the search for Pluto, and enjoy a classic Minnie Mouse fairytale and lots more!
My favourite character in the book is Mickey Mouse which supports Minnie Mouse in all the stories.
In this collection of stories, Minnie is a lead character, supported by her friends Mickey, Daisy, Donald duck, Pluto and Goofy on various mysteries and adventures.
The pictures in this book are my favourite. The high quality printed pictures explain the story easily and supports my reading habit. It is definitely a visual explanation. The story is narrated in a simple manner were early learners can read it easily.
My favourite part of the book is Minnie’s New Hat story because lot of adventure and excitement was there while reading the story.
I learnt to visualize the story while reading using the lovely and supporting pictures given in each pages. I read Rapunzel and Little Red Riding hood with a lead character as Minnie, which gives different experience while reading and visualizing from its original.
My recommended age group for reading this book 8 – 12 years
Rating of the book is 4.5 out of 5*
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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The Christmas Lantern by 6 year old Krisha Gehi from Mumbai- Tangram Stories#37
Hey 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 patterns. Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
6.5 years old Krisha Gehi of Little Readers Nook, Mumbai shares her creative Tangram and a wonderful story. Can we all have our Christmas Lanterns to make a wish come true!
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Long time ago in the kingdom of falls, a king and his wife were sad. They had always wished for a child but never had one. At last the wish was granted. The Queen gave birth to a baby girl on Christmas morning.
One day the princess was in her garden, when a seller came by and asked if she wanted his special Christmas lantern.
The princess was very happy. She gave him lots of money even if he didn’t ask for it. One day she asked her lantern, “Please take me for a trip to the moon.”
The lantern said,”Hold on tight!”
And flew up to the moon and back to earth.
‘Percy Jackson and the lightning thief’ Book Review by 12 year old Meher Gandhi from Vadodara
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, shouldnt we ask the kids to tell us how they liked it? That is exactly what we do in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers’! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries.
Today’s book review is by 12 year old Meher Gandhi from Vadodara on one of the books in the popular Percy Jackson series.
Meher is an avid reader who also loves to play keyboard and likes to swim and dance. Meher goes to Navrachana International School Vadodara.
She is a student of Young Orators.
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Book – Percy Jackson and The lightning thief
Author- Rick Riordan
For a girl like me who is very picky and unsure of many things in life, I was very sure about one thing after glancing at the cover page of this book-I instantly decided that I wanted to read it.
The book with its catchy book cover caste a spell on me and I was compelled to read the book.
So, Percy the protagonist is a normal boy next door doing all the usual activities until he discovers, he is the son of the Greek Sea God, Poseidon. He is accused of stealing Zeus’s master lightning bolt.
This 16 year old kid, unaware of his identity was going to school and suffering from dyslexia. Percy’s mother Sally, wanted him to go to a secret place called Camp Half Blood, since he was a demigod and his life was in danger. How his life changes after this unexpected consequences and how he deals with it, is the crux of the story.
Percy goes on a thrilling quest and during his journey he encounters many challenges, meets ample number of monsters and other characters. To know how he finished his task is an absolute delight to any fiction lover.
The book is very well paced and full of surprise elements. I loved the author’s description style throughout the story. It is embedded with every possible minute detail about characters and surroundings which makes you visualize the scene clearly. The book actually takes you to the world of Gods and Monsters.
The enriching vocabulary is another big plus of the book. The author has the ability to mesmerize and engage the readers so well that it simply captivates you and it becomes very hard to put the book down.
Young readers between the ages 12-14 will find it fascinating and will surely enjoy delving deep into a different world. It is a must read for fiction lovers – not to be missed!
I would give 5 out of 5 points* to this book for its well-crafted plot, spectacular imagination and detailed description. This enchanting book makes us believe the most unbelievable things, through its brilliant narration.
This book compels you to yearn to read the next part – Sea of Monsters.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Peacocks fascinate me’, by 9 year old Nandini from Delhi and some cool facts
Hey friends, Sara here!Lock down doesnt mean locked in fully! The birds, plants, trees, wind et al are all there, waiting for us. So in this beautiful section, I will share everything that kids write to me about nature.
Today 9 year old Nandini Maheshwari from Delhi shares this beautiful and mature piece of writing on her favourite Peacock.
Nandidi is a kid full of life and enthusiasm.She gets joy from the smallest things of life.
#NatureWithSara
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The bird that fascinates me is the King of all birds- Peacock .It is India’s National bird which brings pride to our nation because of its mesmerizing beauty.
A peacock feather is one of Krishna’s important symbols,adorning his head.
Its feathers are also used in pooja.
Peacock fascinates me because…it has feathers that are simply divine. The feathers of peacock are also very soft and colourful. When it rains they do a wonderful rain dance. But still many times they are hunted for their feathers…which is bad.
They should also not be hunted because they are a big help to farmers.As they eat snakes and insects etc.
So we should SAVE PEACOCKS! Which is the right thing to do.
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Hey, Sara here again. Did you enjoy the poem? After that beautiful write up, how about some some cool facts about peacocks, acknowledged by Subhadra Devi, a passionate birder. Since Nandini’s write up mainly focused on the feathers, so will our facts 🙂
Cool Fact#1:
Nandini rightly spoke of how peacocks are hunted for their feathers. While we all love the beautiful feathers that make this bird stand out, we must not look to buy or sell the feathers, which may lead hunters to hurt these birds.
Cool Fact #2
Peacocks can fly, even with their massive tail feathers, that can reach up to six feet long and make up about 60 percent of its body length. Despite these odd proportions, the bird flies just fine, if not very far.
Cool Fact #3
What makes the peacock’s feathers so brilliant? Microscopic “crystal-like structures” that reflect different wavelengths of light depending on how they’re spaced, resulting in bright fluorescent colors. Hummingbirds and shimmering butterflies have mastered a similar visual effect on their own wings.
Cool Facts #2 and #3 Credits- Mental Floss https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/62371/9-feathery-facts-about-peacocks
Blast to the Past- Book Review by 9 year old Sanjith D from Chennai
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, shouldn’t we ask the kids to tell us how they liked it? That is exactly what we do in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers’!
Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries.
Here is 9 year old Sanjith D from Chennai sharing a wonderful review of his favourite book. He is interested in reading books related to Space and celestial events.
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Name – Blast to the Past
Author- Scott Nickel
Publisher-Stone Arch Books
Illustrator-Steve Harpster
The book’s cover page was a dinosaur chasing David and Ben.When I saw the front page, it was so fun. I got impressed.
I got this book from a kids library. I wanted to read it to know more about dinosaurs.
The story is about two boys who get a time machine from their uncle and planned to retake a test, but they traveled a long way back instead.
The characters are David, Ben, Mrs. Franklin and Darrin. David and Ben are brothers.Mrs.Franklin is their school teacher and Darrin is their Uncle. David and Ben traveled back past few days, in order to retake a test which they failed.
The writing style was very easy to understand. The illustration was so good and meaningful. My favorite part of the book was when they were trying to escape from the past, a dinosaur took the remote and when they were trying to come back, they traveled to future instead.
After reading the book, I got to know more information about dinosaurs.
If I were one of the characters, I would change the reason for which they used the time machine. I would instead use the time machine to save people from danger.
The best age group for this book would be from 7 to 10 years
I would give the book 4.5 stars out of 5*
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Counting by 7s’ Book Review by 11 year old Ganeev Kaur Kapoor from Delhi
Hey book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, who should be reviewing it? Kids, right? That doesn’t happen but we are here to change that, in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’ Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries.
11 year old Ganeev from Delhi sends us her comprehensive book review.
She goes to Springdales School and is student of Jabberwocky.
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Book-Counting By 7s
Author-Holly Goldberg Sloan
Counting by 7s is a heartwarming book written by New York Best Selling author and award-winning director Holly Goldenberg Sloan.
The story is of a 12-year-old genius girl named Willow Chance who loves learning about diseases, skin problems, has a knack for planting, and loves counting by 7s. But when she returns from a counseling session from the school counselor Dell Duke, her whole life turns upside down. Her loving parents are no more and she has no relatives who can take her in.
Young Willow Chance’s life is shattered as her adopted parents die in a car crash. Will she be able to cope with the loss will she ever count by 7s again?
Her new friend Mai Nyung takes her in and there shines a little light for Willow. In a concrete building, Willow brings bright yellow sunflowers.
The book just connects with the reader, somehow making them feel warm reading it. The book is for anybody who likes coming of age stories and books with happy endings.
Willow has no antagonist in her life except that fate always is one step ahead of her but Willow listens. She listens for things that most people don’t and she uses them in her real life. She is a ‘genius’ as stated by Dell Duke.
The book is very beautiful and draws you in from the very first page. The interesting characters build up and the story-line does not drop.
My favorite character for Jairo a taxi driver who thinks Willow is his angel as whatever she says to him turns. But in the end, he pays off her favor in mysterious ways. It was not what I expected it to be it was better in many ways.
It was more humorous and the point of view of the different characters enhanced the overall experience. The book is for all kinds of readers- it may drag along but it improves throughout and I would recommend it to anyone who loves realism heartfelt books.
In the words of Willow herself, “books=comfort.” This book will make you feel comfortable and warm the second you pick it up.
The recommended age for the book is 11 to 16 years.
The book is an award winning New York Times Bestseller. I would give this book 5 stars.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how
‘Art means the world to me,’says 14 year old Samaira Agarwal from Kolkata
Hello young artists, your friend Sara here! Welcome to my vibrant ‘Art with Sara’ section, where I publish the writings of young artists from across the world, who not only share their beautiful work, but also manage an equally challenging task of ‘expressing their art.’
The young artist Samaira from Kolkata helps us broaden our view of ‘art’, not only reflected in bright colours or vibrant paintings, but as a beautiful expression of our perspective.
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‘5 Mice without a House’ by Taarini, 5 years, UK – Tangram Activities with Sara#36
Hey 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 patterns. Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
5 year old Taarini from UK, a student of Little Readers Nook shares her cute Tangram and a wonderfully creative story,underlining how simple it is to be of help to someone in distress.
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Once upon a time there were five mice without a home.
One day a farmer saw the five mice crying. He asked them why they were crying.
One mouse told the farmer that they don’t have a home.Their house got burnt because of a fire.
The farmer took off a shoe and gave it to the mice.
The mice climbed into their new home and snuggled into their beds.
‘Pashmina’ Book Review by 11 year old Ditya J Nair from Bangalore
Hi there book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, shouldnt we ask the kids to tell us how they liked it? That is exactly what we do in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers’! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries.
Here is a delightful review by 11 year old Ditya J Nair, studying in 6th grade in The Samhita Academy, Bangalore. Ditya has a keen interest in books, music, and travel. She is an avid reader, enjoys playing her guitar and writes her experiences on her own blog. Her review is of a book recommended to her by Kahaani Box Library- Bangalore.
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Book-Pashmina
Author & Illustrator- Nidhi Chanani
Publisher- HarperCollins Children’s Books.
When I first saw this book, I was amazed. Of all the books that I have read, this one probably had the simplest cover page. However, it did speak a lot in itself.
Pashmina is about an Indian-American teen Priyanka Das, who has never seen her homeland India. She doesn’t know about her father and her extended family. When she finds a Pashmina in the attic, she wraps herself in it. What she sees next is a world filled with beauty and diversity. Along with it, there is a mysterious shadow trying to tell her something. She feels the need to go to India to find answers to her endless questions.
Priyanka, who prefers to be called Pri, is the lead character in this book. She is an amazing cartoonist and is very close to her uncle Jatin. I loved Pri’s curiosity and her interest in drawing and driving.
The central idea according to me is the curiosity of a girl to find out more about other members of her family and her homeland. She lives in a little world comprising of her mom, uncle, and aunty. The shock that each of them faces because of her sudden desire to visit India gives the story a nice twist.
Nidhi Chanani’s illustrations are amazing. Her writing style is simple and narration is to the point and ideal for a graphic novel. I loved the way she has shown the curiosity of Priyanka in the cover page itself.
My favorite part of the book was her interaction with kids in the slum during her visit to India. The happiness of the children on meeting her and her appreciation of their skills was shown very well in the story.
It left me feeling happy and motivated about how someone can bring a change in the life of less fortunate children. In most books I have read, the story is always about kids who lead a different life with hardships and I always have a takeaway. Pashmina too has a takeaway ready for its readers.
‘Nobody can stop you from making a decision, it is your thing.’
Lastly, if I could change something in the book, then I would make Priyanka’s character have a couple of friends who have her back. Now when she will find the Pashmina, she doesn’t need to keep the secret to herself. She would let her friends know and they would decide to accompany her to India. And her mom doesn’t forbid her citing safety concerns.
The best age group for this book is 10 + years
I would give this book a rating of 4 on 5.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how
#BookReviews
“I create my own designs,” says 9 year old Aarush from Bangalore
Hello everyone, your friend Sara here! Art is not just about drawing beautifully or colouring wonderfully within the lines. It is also about the ability to imagine or create a design from scratch.
Today I am very excited to share the artwork of one such brilliant artist who not only drew and coloured but also conceptualized a humorous idea himself- 9 year old Aarush from Bangalore. He is a student of BGS World School, Bangalore.
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My big passion is playing cricket. I am an RCB fan and practice cricket with full gear everyday. But I also try my hands at art.
I love super-heroes and have been an Avengers fan.
I decided to create my own super-hero. Stand back Iron Man, Hulk, Spider Man, here is a a real life super-hero who is a detective.He helps people find lost laptops , books and gadgets!
I have designed his full get up myself, in keeping with his personality and role.
Thank you.
Cuckoo- A bird that fascinates me’ by 10 year old Pratham H Shenoy from EPS Mysore+ some cool facts #NatureWithSara
Hey, your friend Sara here! I am amazed by the flow of your entries for our recently launched ‘Nature with Sara’ section, kicking off with birds that fascinate us.
Today, I am happy to share this touching essay by 10 year old Pratham H Shenoy from EPS Mysore.
Dont miss this beautiful coming together of a cuckoo bird, a child’s empathy and a wonderful lesson from his grandma.
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I love animals and birds so I quickly took it and put it in my cycle basket and went to my house. I asked my grandparents to help me out to save the bird. I put it in a small box and gave it food and water.
After an hour, I came back running and asked my grandmother how the bird was doing. My grandmother told me that the baby bird was wounded, it tried to fly a few times but it fell down every time. I felt very bad for the baby bird.
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‘Matilda’ Book Review by Adrian, 10 years, Chennai – Book Reviews with Sara#11
Hi there, book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, who should be reviewing it? Kids, right? That doesnt happen but we are out there to change that in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers!’ Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries
Today’s book review is by 10 year old D. Adrian from Chennai on an all time favourite book by Roald Dahl.
Adrian studies in Grade 5 and has enjoyed reviewing his favourite book Matilda by Roald Dahl.
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Book- Matilda
Author- Roald Dahl
Illustrator- Quentin Blake
Hello Everyone,
I am Adrian and I love reading books. This is the review of one of my favorite books- “Matilda” by Roald Dahl.
It is a classic, light hearted and inspirational book.
The story is about a female character who is kind, compassionate, humble,
intelligent and outspoken. Her name is Matilda Warmwood. She has an elder
brother by name Michael. Her parents are not very supportive and they often
ignore her while her brother was treated well by them. Her parents were biased to the extent that she was even deprived of education. Her mother felt that girls should give importance to their appearance and boys should be educated well. So, Matilda decides to learn by herself by reading books. When her parents were away for a while, Matilda used the opportunity well by going to a public library and eventually she managed to join a school. The class teacher Ms. Honey admired her intelligence and was very supportive. She decides to promote Matilda to a higher grade where another evil character enters the story by name Ms.Trunchbull who is the principal of the school. She hates children and does not agree to promote Matilda to a higher grade.
The story highlights a lot of emotions among the characters involved in the story. In short, this is a very interesting story to read and I will definitely recommend this book for beginners.
While the recommended age group for this book is 8-11 years, I feel it will be loved by children of all age groups. It is not too heavy and easy to hold. The font size is big enough to read without any struggle and most of the pages have an illustration that help us to relate to the story better.
I will give this book a 4 star rating
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how
A Meadow full of Daisies- Tangram Activities with Sara #35
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.
8 year old Meera Menon of Little Readers Nook, Mumbai takes us into this beautiful faraway land, where a child can alone sit in a meadow without any fear, not meet any big bad wolves on the way to grandma’s and where parents can build a house overnight to keep that child happy. Thanks Meera for helping us understand what a world without fear and limitations, looks like.
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Once upon a time there was a little house in the woods.
In the house, there lived a couple and their child Viveca, who loved nature very much. One day her mother told her to take a basket of cookies to grandma because she wanted to see her.
On her way to grandma’s cottage, she saw a gorgeous meadow of daisies. She sat there for a few minutes and enjoyed the experience. She also thought of taking some daisies for her grandma, so she quickly planted some of them in a pot. Grandma loved the flower pot and the cookies.
When Viveca reached home, she told her parents about the meadow. Then her parents had an idea to surprise Viveca. At night when Viveca was asleep,they went out to get some logs and went straight away to the meadow Viveca told them about.
The next day Viveca woke up to a lovely surprise. She was so happy & excited about it. Do you know what was it ??
It was a beautiful house right in the middle of daisies! That day onwards they lived happily in the MEADOW OF DAISIES
‘A Race to secure India’s top secret document’ by Jessica Rachel,9, Chennai- Book Reviews with Sara #10
Hey book lovers, your friend Sara here! Today on this special day of India’s Independence Day, I am proud to bring this special review-an example of what young minds can achieve when allowed the freedom to express themselves. Here is a story by a 11 year old writer from Surat, enjoyed and reviewed by a 9 year old from Chennai. Isnt it beautiful what we are created? ‘Book reviews for young readers, by young readers’!
9 year old Jessica Rachel from Chennai studies in grade 4 in N.S.N Mat. Hr. Sec. School. She chose to review a story she read on the Bookosmia website, by another young writer.
Title: A Race to secure India’s top secret document
Author: Dheryaa Mehta
Publisher: Bookosmia
My first reaction to the cover page was an excited face because I like
mystery stories very much.
I was reading some of the stories on the Bookosmia website, when I came across this one.
This story is about a girl and her friend named Riddhi. She worked for the government. Once, the minister gave her some very important and confidential documents. But she looked quite upset and tensed. When her friend asked her about it, she told her that she had to take the documents to Delhi to hand over to the Parliament but because of a death in the family, she also needed to head home immediately. She told Riddhi that she will take the documents properly and hand it over safely. What follows is a thrilling series of events, as the girl loses the top secret document in the inadvertent exchange of her suitcase at the airport, then spinning off into a series of thrilling events.
The lead character was a girl who was clearly very clever and brave.
The central idea of the story was getting the document back to ensure that information critical to India is safe.
The writing style of the book is excellent
My favourite part of the book was when the lead character fooled an international spy.
My understanding was that when we have made a mistake, we should not panic rather think of ways to correct it.
If I could change something in the story, I would give a name to the lead character, Riddhi’s friend.
I think the best age group for this book is 9+
I would give the story a 5 star rating*
Read this exciting story here-
Read with Sara: A race to secure India’s top secret document
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how
“My artwork is a salute to the real heroes of our country,” says 5 year old Aadi Jain from Kolkata
Hello young artists, your friend Sara here! Bright and colourful is how ‘Art with Sara’ section is. Today on the eve of India’s Independence Day, I am happy to dedicate this section to the artwork and expressions of a young artist, who wants to use his art and skills to convey a message for the country.
5 year old Aadi Jain from Kolkata shares his artwork and his understanding of freedom and who the real heroes of the country are .
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‘Smile’ Book Review by Vibisha L.M, 13, Bangalore- Book Reviews with Sara#9
Hi there, book lovers, your friend Sara here! If a book is written for kids, shouldnt we ask the kids to tell us how they liked it? That is exactly what we do in this wonderful section – ‘book reviews for young readers, by young readers’! Thanks for pouring in all your wonderful entries.
Here is a delightful review by Vibisha L.M studying in 7th grade in The Samhita Academy, Bangalore. She enjoys reading both non-fiction and fiction stories! She has a blog where she writes poems and stories and aspired to be an author😊 Her favourite library is Kahaani Box Library- Bangalore.
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Book: Smile
Author & Illustrator: Raina Telgemeier
Publisher: Scholastic
“Weird…something happens when you smile at people. They smile back”― Smile
When I saw the cover I was excited to read the book as I was too getting my braces soon and was at the same age as the protagonist of the story, Raina.
I borrowed this book from my favourite library in Banglore, This book was suggested by my friend.
Smile is a wonderful story written by award-winning author Raina Telgemeier who received many awards, the recent one is the Eisner Award for best writer. This graphic novel takes us through the feelings and changes that we undergo when moving from middle school to high school. The book is based on Raina Telgemeier’s real-life experiences with boys, dental drama, family, friends and earthquakes,yes earthquakes!
Raina just wants to be a normal teenager but on the night of returning from girl scouts, she trips and injures her two front teeth. Resulting in a long journey of on and off braces, headgear and retainers with fake teeth. Between all this drama, Raina is struggling with her not- so-friendly friends, boy trouble and an earthquake in her city! Will Raina be able to clear out the confusion in her feelings and stand up to her friends?
This novel taught me about standing up for myself and being proud of who I am. I was able to relate to Raina as she is the same age as me. The book is filled with colourful illustrations and fun characters. I couldn’t stop reading!
If I could change something in this book, I would have added a little bit more about Raina’s new friends at the end.
This novel is a must-read for teenagers(12+) who may be facing the same issues with its entertaining graphics and fun story line.
It keeps you on the edge and keeps you turning the pages. I enjoyed reading this book.I would rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. And would continue to read the series by Raina Telgemeier.
Suitable for age group : 12+
Rating : 4.5/5
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how
A Girl And A Robot Save The Day: Tangrams with Sara #34
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 patterns. Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
7 year old Nakshatra Kalambi from Mumbai tells us this very interesting story through equally creative tangrams.
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- One day a girl was eating some bread.
While she was eating, a tornado came and took her away. The tornado took her to an imaginary place.
When she landed a robot was standing there. She was scared and asked, “Who are you?”
The robot said, “I am Tobo. Come with me, you need to fight the dinosaur.”
Then they went on their way. The girl saw a beautiful flower and said, “Can I have the flower?”
Tobo said, “No, it is a trap”.
She said “Okay”.
Then they went to the dinosaur’s castle. No one knew that the dinosaur was scared of tornadoes. He could also be destroyed by tornado.
The girl and Tobo put tornado in the dinosaur castle by Tobo’s magic, which destroyed the dinosaur. They went away after destroying the dinosaur.
“I love to use Art to express my thoughts,”says 8 year old Ishita Achary from Chennai #ArtWithSara11
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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“I can paint for hours, if you let me,” says Ira,12, Hong Kong Art With Sara Series #10
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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AN ENORMOUS MOMENT by 6 year old Saisha from Kolkata-Tangram Activities with Sara #33
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.
‘Peacocks’ a poem by 7 year old Ayraa Shriwardhankar from Mumbai+ some cool facts #NatureWithSara with Sara
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.
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.
‘Divergent’ Book Review by Sachi Patel,15 Vadodara- Book Reviews with Sara#8
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
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
Do you have a book review to share? Click here to know how
Stars, Oh Twinkling Stars by 7 year old Riya Nagrani from Mumbai -Tangram Stories #32
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.
“When creating art, I feel calm and relaxed,”says Rhea,13, Hong Kong #ArtWithSara#9
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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Kahaani Box Children’s Library, Bangalore & Their Book Recommendations
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
Book Review of Mr.Wrinkles, by S. Aneesh Krithik, 8 Years, Chennai- Book Review with Sara #7
When I saw the book for the first time, I was so curious to know why the elephant got stuck inside a big hole.
Mr.Wrinkles is my favourite book. The book has a lot of colorful pictures of birds and animals illustrated by Jacqueline East .
The book was gifted by my friend.
The setting of the story is in the jungle. The most interesting character and the protagonist of the story is Mr. Wrinkle, the elephant. The interesting fact about him is that he remembers everything and never forgets.
The story is all about friends. Each one in the story is different- giraffe, lions, crocodile, cheetah, birds, meerkat, wilder-beast. But everyone is special indeed.
It also teaches the importance of team work. The key message from the story is – Never forget your friends.
Overall, the book is very good in terms of story and attractive illustrations. My review rating for the book is 5*.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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‘Home sweet home!’ by 6 year old Ryan from Chennai- Tangram Stories With Sara #31
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’.
Art With Sara Series #8-“Art tells beautiful stories, that bring a smile on my face each time,”says Aashesha,11, Gurgaon
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.’’
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Book Reviews with Sara #6: Thea Stilton MouseFord Academy by Sampoorna, 10 years, Chennai
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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‘A duck and an old man’ by 7 year olds, Prisha Chugh and Devansh of Little Readers Nook, Gurgaon and Hyderabad- Tangram Stories #30
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!
Book Reviews With Sara #5: Diving with the Dolphins, Review By Shikha Dholakia,11,Vadodara
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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Art With Sara Series #7- “Art helped me drive away the boredom of lockdown,” says Atharv, 6 years, Nagpur
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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Book Reviews with Sara #4: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Review By R.Sankruthyayan, 12 yrs, Oman
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*.
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“Art has made me much happier,” says Aayat,7 years, London #ArtWithSara#6
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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‘Love and Kindness are never wasted’ by 5 year old Kavya Joshi from Mumbai Tangram Activities With Sara #29
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.
Book Reviews #3 With Sara: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, Review by Raghunandan, 14 years, Cochin
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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Book: Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
Author: Mr. Rick Riordan
When I saw the cover page I thought this book should be something about myths and legends.
I got this book because my Mom’s friend suggested it to me.
It is a book about Greek mythology, a fantasy story about the Greek gods and heroes. The central idea of the story is about the dangers faced by children of Greek gods.
The story describes how children of Greek gods reach a summer camp which is safe for them. This summer camp is called camp half-blood. The children of Greek gods are called half-bloods or demigods. They go to this camp to train themselves against Greek monsters which feed on demigods. Now their fathers, who are the gods of Olympus (Heaven for Greek gods) are in danger because of The Titan Lord Kronos.
The lead character of this story is Percy Jackson. He is a son of Poseidon (God of oceans). The most interesting part about him is that he is a great swordsman. Percy Jackson leads the camp and other demigods in it to defend Olympus.
My favorite part of the book is when Percy Jackson single handedly defeated the army of Lord Hades(God of the dead)
My learning from the book is that I should always have a plan like Lady Athena, Goddess of wisdom and battle.
If I could, I would change the part where Lord Zeus (God of gods) offers Percy Jackson a position of god, but Percy didn’t want it because he loved Annabeth(daughter of Athena) and didn’t want to leave her. Annabeth was the architect of Olympus. So instead of declining the offer Percy could have asked Lord Zeus to make Annabeth God of Architecture and Percy could have been Poseidon’s lieutenant and served him eternally and also could have married Annabeth.
The best age to start reading this epic series is 9 years.
It is really good book. It is written in simple language so that everybody can easily understand. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5*
*On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest
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“Art takes me to my own world of imagination,” says Divisha, 7 years, Kolkata- #ArtWithSara#5
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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Book Reviews #2 with Sara: The Hardy Boys series, review by Adhiraj Gogna,11 years,Saugor, Madhya Pradesh
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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The Lonely Cat by 6 year old Mira Gohil from Mumbai- Tangram Stories #28
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.
Art with Sara #4- “I love art because I love decorating,” says Kiyan,5,Dallas
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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Art with Sara#3- “Art is my stress buster,” says Ayaan Sonthalia ,9 years, Kolkata
https://bookosmia.com/sara_activities/art-with-sara-submision-guidelines/
Book Reviews with Sara#1: Yaksha, by Harshika,8 years, Hyderabad
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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Art With Sara#2- “Every picture tells a story,” says Janvi, 7 years, London
Hey everyone, your friend Sara here again. I am so excited to see all the wonderful entries to my ‘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.’
Here is 7 year old Jaanvi from London, a participant at MeMeraki’s folk art workshops, sharing a write up as beautiful as her art.
I am an art-lover and I love all forms of art. Painting has always been my most favourite and when my Mum asked if I wanted to join a folk arts workshop, I jumped with joy and I have been loving these classes since then.
I used to spend hours and hours drawing and colouring stuff I imagine. But now with proper online classes, I am learning different types of art.
I enjoy the time spent in doing these paintings. The detail each painting has is amazing and I forget how much time I am spending on it.
how good I am at it.
It is difficult sometimes when the paintings are very detailed, but I still try my best to finish it.
Book Reviews with Sara: Submission Guidelines
Hey friends, Sara here! Read a book?Art With Sara #1- “Sometimes my art tells a story,” says Khushee Desai,9 years, San Jose
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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#Sara’sActivities: Tangram#27- Oorja in the enchanted forest
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.
‘Feels like Christmas’ by 7 year old Miraaya from Mumbai- Tangram Stories#26
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
‘The Cat and the Bird’ by 7 year olds Rajveka and Vaanya, Tangram#25
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.
Art with Sara: Submission Guidelines
Hello young artists, Sara here! Dabbled in some art lately, or perhaps a casual doodle?Sparrow and the Wild Cat by 7 year old Swara Sameer Pandit of Mumbai Tangram #24
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.
Suzy and the Grey Kite by 7 year old Naisha from Gurgaon- Tangram#23
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
#ScienceIsForEveryone: Hey nose, what’s going on! Understanding Smell with Sara and Ditto
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!
Jake’s Mysterious Day by 7 year old Saadhana and Harshit from Little Reader’s Nook, Bangalore Tangram Stories#22
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.
#Sara’sActivities: Tangram#21- Story of Tangram
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
‘Music makes us happy’by 7 year old Isha Nadkarni from Mumbai #WorldMusicDay Tangram Stories#20
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
The Happy Pyramid by 5 year old Nayara Tharakan from Mysore Tangram#19
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
A Happy Flower by 7 year old Arya Prashant Bhat from Mumbai Tangram#18
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
Crabby and Octo, a story on making new friends, by 7 year old Mihira from Mumbai-Tangram #17
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
#Sara’sActivities: Tangram #16- Meeting a Lion
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
#Sara’sActivities: Tangram #15- Superhero in a rocket
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
‘Three friends who saved the jungle’ by by 6 year old Arunima from Mumbai #EnvironmentDaySpecial Tangram Stories #14
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
Sara’s Activities: Tangram # 13- Princess Faye and the Kite
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
Bird, Dog and a lesson in building trust by Navika Jain 7yrs and Sharanya Mall 8yrs from Kolkata -Tangram #12
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
A clever fox- Tangram Story with Sara# 11
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 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
‘Pumpkin Girl’by 6 year old Ira Shenoi from Mysore- Tangram #10
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 herself 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 on the 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 in. 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.
Key message-Do good and be kind
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IRA SHENOI, 6 years old
Kitty the Cat, by 7 year olds -Takshvi Singh and Prachi Kothari- Tangram Stories#9
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 had no friends so she thought of making friends with the swan.
Kitty went to Shanny and asked if she agreed to become her friend. Shanny said, “Sure” and they became friends. Now that they were friends Kitty told Shanny 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.
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Takshvi Singh, 7years and Prachi Kothari, 7years
‘The Wise Lion,’ by 5 year old Ruhan from Ranchi- Tangram Stories#8
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.
The king of the jungle was a wise lion. One day all animals came to the lion very worried.
They told the king that there is a new beast in the jungle who is killing us. The new beast was called COVID.
The wise Lion King said he has a gun 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
‘The Man and The Fox,’by 8 year old Avni Kamath from Bangalore- Tangram Stories#7
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
The Kite by 6 year old Ishta from Hyderabad Tangram #4
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”😅
#Sara’s Activities: Tangram #7 Meoww
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.
Beautiful Insects by 4 year old Advik from Ranchi- Tangram #6
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
‘Staying Indoors,’by 7 year old Aarit Jain from Ranchi Tangram #5
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
‘A rocket called Rock’ by Raaisha Todi,6, Mumbai-Tangram Stories#3
Hey 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 patterns. Tangrams are a great learning tool for building STEM skills.
Rockets are popular we always knew, right! Here is another rocket Tangram and a cute story by 6 year old Raaisha 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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Raaisha Todi
Grade 2 BSS,Powai.
Rocket from India- Tangrams with Sara #2
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.
‘A King’s Story’ by 7 year old Ahaana from Mumbai -Tangrams Stories#1
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
Joginder Sharma-Once a hero, always a hero. Literally.**Sara’s ‘Be a sport’ series**
Hey everyone! It’s me, Sara, your new best friend who loves sports and stories.
Hey friends, your favourite drama-athlete, Sara here!
Sometimes we wonder what happened to a lot of heroes from the past. I thought of one such forgotten star of Indian cricket- Joginder Sharma. Till I realized, he is still a star, maybe not as visible but twinkling contentedly in the background.
Do you know that India won the first cricket T20 world cup thanks to an unknown bowler? And what if I told you that everyone had forgotten about this bowler until he resurfaced recently as a true superhero of India? Intrigued? My friends, this, is no fictional tale. This, is the incredible true story of Joginder Sharma, champion cricketer and human being par excellence.
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At the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg that day, no finger nails survived the tension. It was the year 2007 and the first ever world Twenty-Twenty (T20) cricket world cup final had two unlikely finalists – India and Pakistan.
After a see-saw start, the match went down to the final over. Pakistan needed 13 runs from 6 balls to win. It was do or die for both teams.
Newly appointed captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced the biggest decision of his life. Should he give the ball to Harbhajan Singh, a proven world class performer who was having a bad day or should he give it to newcomer Joginder Sharma? Dhoni chose the latter.
In the third ball of the over with just 6 runs needed, Joginder cleverly bowled a ball at the stumps and Misbah played a scoop shot that fell straight into Sreesanth’s hands.
That was it!
There was a deafening roar across the world as India won the first ever T 20 world cup. The unlikely hero turned out to be Joginder Sharma, son of a small shop owner in Haryana.
Joginder was not unknown anymore. A billion people chanted his name and even if he did not play another match in his life, he knew he would always be remembered. For most people, that’s enough. But Joginder, was not like most people.
Due to his heroics on the cricket pitch, the Haryana government offered him a job with the Haryana Police department.
No one paid much heed to it. He was a successful international cricketer after all, used to a fast life, travel, money, why would he take a policing job seriously?
No one heard much of him after that. Whenever people discussed that iconic final, they would always wonder where Joginder had disappeared to and that was that. Until, last week.
As the Covid-19 virus raged on, the government decided to enforce a lockdown across India to reduce the spread of virus. It was the police’s job to make sure the orders were complied with.
In the streets of Hisar in Haryana, a policeman with a mask roams the streets, day and night. He is the leader of a task force in charge of patrolling, assisting citizens with medical aid and making sure goods with essential commodities pass through safely. He is the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Haryana.
He is none other than Joginder Sharma. The very same bowler who had bowled India to victory in the first T20 world cup.
As it turns out, Joginder hadn’t disappeared. He is very much around. While many of his colleagues moved on to lucrative jobs after cricket, Joginder is still doing what he loves most – serving his country, this time with the police uniform.
And that was not all. In an interview to AFP, Joginder revealed that his contribution as a police superintendent is bigger than his heroics on the cricket pitch.
“It was also a big thing, winning the World Cup for India, but here we have to save the nation. And even if I am playing a small part in this, then it is huge,” said Joginder.
With his exit from cricket, Joginder’s fame may have vanished but his passion for the country hasn’t changed one bit.
The man who had once kept his cool to give India one of the most prestigious cricket trophies now uses his talents to keep India safe.
This, my friends, is what a real hero looks like.
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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. Express yourself and get published!
Poonam Yadav – The girl who bowled ‘impossible’ for a duck! **Sara’s ‘Be a Sport’ series**:
Hey friends, your favourite drama-athlete, Sara here! Sometimes, we get teased about how we look and it makes us wish we could change that about ourselves.
I know of a girl, who was teased for her short height. You know what she did? She went on to make her short height, her greatest strength. Curious to know more? I bet you are! Presenting, the story of Indian cricketer Poonam Yadav, a girl who bowled the word ‘impossible’ out of the dictionary.
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The boys in the colony had just finished arguing over how tall the drawing of the stumps on the wall should be. A small figure hovered around them.
“It’s her, again,” one of the boys sighed.
“Why can’t you go make rotis or play ghar-ghar like the other girls?” another boy remarked. The girl gave him a glare and sped towards the line they had marked as the bowling crease. Someone was threatening to complain about her to her mother for not behaving like a ‘girl’. Why couldnt she be happy with kitchen sets and pretty dolls. Don’t all girls enjoy that?
Not her.
The batsman at the other end saw a pint- size girl running towards him and tightened his grip on the bat. Those fiercely determined eyes, they could not belong to an ordinary girl, he thought. And he was absolutely right.
The girl’s name was Poonam Yadav and she was anything but ordinary.
Poonam loved sports but in the small city her army father was posted in, the idea of girls playing a sport, let alone with boys, was frowned upon. She was the first person in her family who had wanted to be a sportsperson, making it all the more difficult for her to convince them of her passion for sport.
When she was around 15, her father was transferred to Agra and she had her first taste of professional coaching . There she trained under the watchful eyes of her first coach M K Afghani and later Manoj Khushwaha.
For Poonam, it all seemed like a dream. The days of being ridiculed and being doubted on seemed far away but unexpectedly, a bigger challenge appeared.
The coach wanted a word with her, privately.
That was never a good sign.
The coach sat her down gently and explained that she was not effective as a medium pacer (a bowler who doesn’t bowl too fast or too slow). One of the reasons for this was her height, which was just a tinge below 5 feet. If she continued to bowl medium pace, there was likely no future for her.
Poonam felt devastated on hearing this. She had not come so far to give up for something that was not in her hands, her height. She asked the coach what she could do.
“There is one thing,” the coach said after some thought. “But it is a long shot. You may take a lot of time to pick up this skill or it is possible you may not learn it at all. If that is the case, you will never become a cricketer.”
“What is it, sir?” asked Poonam, feeling like her whole life depended on the answer.
“Leg spin,” said her coach as a couple of eavesdroppers around them gasped. Leg spin wasn’t just a challenge. It was a mountain. A tall, slippery and unpredictable cricket mountain where a young bowler had to have immense dedication to even learn the basics let alone excel at it.
“I will do it sir,” said Poonam and she was off to climb her mountain.
Come rain or shine, she was at the academy every morning at 6 am, the lone leg spinner there. Between her fitness and skill sessions, she averaged more than 8 hours on the field everyday, taking no days off.
When she was not playing, she was thinking. She would pick the brain of former India player and her mentor Hemlata Kala and a new idea began to form in her head.
Generally, spin bowlers rely on things like flight, trajectory, length and the right pace for their skill to be effective. And being tall, or at least of average height can be of great help.
For Poonam, her short height was a major disadvantage. But she realized something that most people fail to. A physical feature becomes an advantage or disadvantage depending on how we choose to use it.
Poonam decided to make her lack of height, her weapon.
While Poonam became an expert at bowling googlies like other great bowlers, her short height gave her the extra advantage of making the ball take longer to reach the batter. Waiting would make the batter impatient and they would often mistime their shots. With this combination of excellent flight of the ball and a longer wait time for the batter, even the best batting talent in the world gets fooled into playing the wrong shots.
Poonam had done it. Where others saw a problem, she saw a solution. She developed a deadly googly along the way and with it came a bucket of wickets in India as well as tournaments abroad.
In September 2018, she became India’s highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 Internationals with 57 wickets from 39 T20Is and continued to crush her opposition in every series. In August 2019, Poonam was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award for outstanding achievement in sports.
Many years ago, a young girl was teased for her short height. Her height almost threatened to derail her cricketing career. She had two options before her. She could either feel defeated by her height and give up on her dream. Or she could prove to the world that what they saw as her liability was in fact, her greatest strength. She chose the latter and the rest, as they say, is history.
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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.
Play, watch, enjoy, express sports and get published!
To listen to Poonam’s message urging Bookosmians to get out there and play, click – https://youtu.be/8nb6olSvgYo
Not the next Usain Bolt. He is the first Srinivasa Gowda! Sara’s ‘Be a Sport’ series
Hey, your best friend Sara here I love sports and I love drama. It seems only fair that my friends call me a ‘drama-athlete’. Any excuse to bring out the popcorn, am I right?
Today I will talk to you about a real life story that was recently in the news. It has lots of drama (he he..obviously) and makes you think about how for some people, sports isn’t always about the number of trophies or the glory or the size of the audience. Ok ok, stop staring at me, I will tell you the story right away!
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In a small village in Karnataka, 28 year old Srinivasa Gowda woke up feeling happy. It was ‘Kambala’ day.
Kambala means a muddy field which is used for growing crops. In this traditional sport, contestants race through the slushy field holding the reins of two speeding buffaloes. And they do this on foot, not sitting on carts!
Srinivasa was a construction worker, who helped build houses for a living, but his true passion lay in Kambala, even though it added almost nothing to his wages.
That day, as the two handlers let go of the buffaloes at the starting line, Srinivasa let out a cry of determination. With the spectators cheering for him, he held on tight, balancing himself on tricky, slippery slush as the magnificent animals ran in full speed. When he reached the end, there was a roar.He hadn’t just won the competition, he had covered 100 metres in 9.55 seconds.
This meant he had gone faster than the world record of 9.58 seconds set by Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt!
The next day, newspapers from across the world carried Srinivasa’s photo and feat and wondered if the world’s fastest man was actually a humble daily wager and not an elite athlete. From India’s sports ministry to Karnataka’s sports federations, everyone hailed his achievement and asked him to try out for track and field events so he could win a medal for India at the Olympics.
Srinivasa couldn’t believe the adulation he was getting. It seemed like overnight, everyone in India knew his name!
He was thankful beyond words, but he refused to be compared to Bolt. His 
love Kambala, was about knowing the buffaloes’ running rhythm as much as he knew his own. It was a rural race on mud where he did not even wear shoes. Athletics seemed too different to him.
After some thought, Srinivasa humbly declined to join the trials for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo.
Perhaps Srinivasa Gowda wouldn’t be able to match Usain Bolt on the running track but it is to be wondered. Would Usain Bolt be able to match Srinivasa Gowda on the Kambala track?
That’s the beauty of sport. It’s about passion and not just the number of medals or trophies you win.
So…what did you think about the story? Do you think Srinivasa made the right decision to not try out for the Olympic trails?What would you have done if you were in his place?
Leave your comments here and I will share the most interesting one on social media. See you soon with another awesome story!
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Notes:
*While Kambala is a much loved rural sport, it has faced criticism for its inhumane treatment of buffaloes due to which the sport was banned in 2014. Kambala races were allowed again in 2018 with strict new rules about not pressuring or hurting animals in any way.
*Two weeks after Srinivasa’s race, another Kambala racer named Nishant Shetty broke Srinivasa’s record by covering the distance in just 9.51 seconds!
*In an interview with India Today, Kambala academy president K Gunapala Kadamba said that they will install an automatic starting laser system for future Kambala races so the timings are accurate and transparent
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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.
Enjoy, express and get published!
Did someone say cricket is a boy’s game? Ask Shafali Verma.**Sara’s ‘Be a Sport’ series**
Hi, My name is Sara. My friends call me a drama- athlete because I have a natural flair for sports and a love for drama. And there is almost always enough inspiration in the dramatic lives our players lead to reach where they are.
This one is my favourite,on Shafali Verma. Did you say who? Read on.
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The girl’s name was Shafali Verma.
Shafali ate, slept and dreamt cricket. Her biggest hero was Sachin Tendulkar and she wished she could play for the Indian team one day. At her colony, she played with the boys, playing better than them on most days. Her father, Sanjeev began to take her to local cricket clubs so she could learn to play cricket from a coach, but to their surprise, she was not accepted by any of them!
“She’s just a girl.”
“We don’t play with girls.”
“She can’t match up to boys.”
“She will get hurt.” These are some of the remarks they heard.
Finally, one day, her father decided to get her a very short haircut and took her to a cricket club disguised as a boy. She was accepted and not just that, she destroyed the bowlers with her big hits!
When her neighbors got to know, they made fun of her. But she did not stop playing.
In 2019, at the age of 15, Shafali made her debut for Indi
a in the T20 series against South Africa making her the youngest ever Indian player to do so. She also broke her idol Sachin Tendulkar’s record when she became the youngest Indian to hit a half century (50 runs) in an international match.
The Womens’ T20 World cup is going on in Australia, with the top cricket stars. It’s her first major tournament but is Shafali the kind to be nervous? Not at all!With unbelievable knocks in almost all league matches, she is the reason why India was the first team to qualify for the semi-finals.
On Thursday, March 5, India will play their semi-final and the whole of India will be cheering her on, including the boys who once refused to play with her because she was ‘only a girl.’
Ha! Isn’t that an amazing reply to those who made fun of her?
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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!