Book Competition Winners – February 11, 2024

9 years and below

 

Dear Santa, 

My name is Methuka. I am from Kotte, Sri Lanka. I am eight years old. My school is Vidura College, Nawala. I am promoted to Grade Four, in 2024. I got highest marks for Environmental Studies and Mathematics. 

 

My hobby is collecting Pokémon cards. I like to read ‘Wimpy Kid’ books. I can play the piano and sing songs. My future ambition is to be an astronaut. I have only one brother. 

 

I would like to come and meet you, Santa and take a ride on your sleigh with the reindeer. I’d like to walk on snow and build a snowman. 

 

Can you please send a pack of Pokémon cards for my brother and me, or a packet of sweets so I can share with my friends’? 

 

I hope you are in good health. If you come to my house at night, I will leave you cookies and milk. I wish you happiness. 

 

Wishing you the best Christmas ever!

Yours lovingly, 

Methuka  

 

 

 

10 – 12 years

 

After the economic crisis, prices of items were getting higher and are still getting higher. 

 

It is difficult to buy Christmas presents these days but I decided to be creative. I remembered the knitting yarn that my grandmother had given me. There were many colours: blue, bottle-green, yellow and magenta pink. 

At school we had been taught how to braid together three strips of ribbon or wool and I thought I could use this skill to make bracelets. I made bracelets and am still making them. 

But the Christmas cards…? 

 

On YouTube, my family had watched many ‘quilling’ videos. Quilling is the art of making shapes using paper and a special type of needle. I could make quilling flowers and paste them on Christmas cards. I could write, ‘Merry Christmas!’ My cards would be appreciated. 

 

Bookmarks would also be a great gift. I can do embroidery on a cross-stitch and a simple, heart-shaped, colourful stitch on a card that would look lovely… And my parents would like that!

From making these simple gifts I feel that a homemade gift from a loved one for Christmas would be something special to cherish throughout your life.

 

 

 

13 – 15 years

 

Christmas is an important tradition that holds great cultural significance and is rooted deeply in the Christian tradition. It commemorates the Birth of Jesus Christ and serves as a reminder of God’s love for human kind. Christmas symbolizes humility, faith, charity and the birth of a new hope. 

 

For me, Christmas is a festive season that goes beyond mere exchange of presents, decorating Christmas trees or the festive lights. To me Christmas is a time for familial unity and connections, family reunions, family bonding and a time to renew our broken friendships. Christmas brings our loved ones together and their shared laughter, stories help us to bridge the gaps and distances that may have existed throughout the year.

 

The Christmas season beckons the altruistic spirit within us, fostering the emotions of love, kindness and empathy. Christmas is a time that we must extend a helping hand to the less fortunate and show simple gestures of kindness which would become a testament to the inherent goodness that resides in the Christmas season. Christmas is a wonderful experience that urges us to reflect on the beauty of shared experiences, warmth of familial embraces and understand the importance of customs and traditions. 

 

In summation, Christmas, for me is a season that carries a transformative potential along with altruistic emotions that makes Christmas a sanctuary where love blossoms.