9 years and below
My favourite storybook
The name of the book is ‘Ghost Stories’. It’s about a family that’s moving into a new house. But the boy, Patrick, doesn’t like the new home because it is old. There is a broken clock in the house. When Patrick turned the key of the clock, a ghost named Flibbertigibbet came out of it. The ghost says that the family that lived in the house hundreds of years before had locked him inside the clock and never came into the room. He thanks Patrick for letting him out. Then they become friends and the clock starts to work again.
I like this book because I like ghost stories. They are very exciting. I felt sorry for Flibbertigibbet the ghost, for being locked inside the clock for hundreds of years. I thought it would take a lot of time to read this book but it didn’t take much time because it is readable. It didn’t have a lot of hard words. It was like watching a movie. I am happy because Patrick and Flibbertigibbet became friends. The name of the writer is Jane Launchbury.
Kavin Herath (9 years)
St. Anthony’s College, Kandy
10 – 12 years
A sequel to one of my favourite fairytales
It was the night before Cinderella’s marriage to Prince Charming. She was staring at the moon and stars through her window. She felt very happy thinking about her wedding which was to be tomorrow. Suddenly she felt the presence of someone behind her. She looked back. Bang! Something hit her hard on the head and she fainted.
The next morning Prince Charming was getting ready for their wedding. Back in Cinderella’s room, Anastasia was dressing up. “Wow, my Anastasia look so pretty in the wedding gown! With the wedding veil on no one will be able to recognize you!” said Cinderella’s stepmother to Anastasia. Anastasia, with a cruel laugh said, “I won’t let Cinderella have a successful wedding! I will ruin it and somehow marry Prince Charming!”
After a few hours, Cinderella opened her eyes and found herself tied up with rope in a chair. She was surprised, scared and also very worried. She recognized that she was locked in a dark room. She looked for a way to escape. Suddenly she heard a scratching noise from a corner of the room. She looked in that direction and was surprised to see Gus and Jaq. She called them and asked for help. The mice nibbled the rope and it fell far apart into pieces. Finally Cinderella’s hands and legs were free but still there was no way to escape from the dark room.
Prince Charming was in the wedding hall waiting for Cinderella. The announcement was made, “Bride, please enter.” Anastasia with her veil on, pretending to be Cinderella entered the hall.
Meanwhile Cinderella found a piece of paper and a short piece of pencil on the floor. She wrote a letter to the King. “Gus, Jaq, please give the letter to the king. Make him see this note. Whatever happens, you must give this to the king,” said Cinderella to Gus and Jaq in a kind voice as she tied the letter to Gus. They ran fast to the castle and Gus and Jaq found the king in his room, getting ready for the wedding. Gus went and nudged the king’s leg. The king bent down to see what is was and saw Gus and Jaq. The king saw that there was a note. He untied it and read the note and ran to rescue Cinderella. He was relieved to find her unharmed. He quickly called out to the servants and dressed her up.
As Cinderella entered the hall Prince Charming was about to put the ring on Anastasia, her face still covered with the veil. Cinderella shouted “Stop!” Everyone turned and was surprised to find two brides. Prince Charming was shocked, and lifted up the veil in anger. Everyone was shocked to see it was Anastasia.
The king called the guards to come and take away Anastasia. The wedding was restarted from the beginning. As the rings were exchanged, the Prince told Cinderella, “I love you,” and kissed her. Afterwards they lived happily ever after.
Vinudi Ranaveera (10 years)
Horizon College Int., Malabe
13 – 15 years
A letter to the author of a book you read recently
Change of Heart – Jodi Picoult
Dear Jodi Picoult,
I must say that ‘Change of Heart’ is a wonderful book which tugs at your heart strings from start to end. I was so absorbed by your novel that I wanted to read the whole thing at once and didn’t want to put it down.
Each chapter is told by a different character and are all written in first person narrative. This made me feel very concerned about what happens to the characters and I could get a sense of their emotions when the words come straight from themselves. The motives of each character are not made clear from the beginning of the book, making it extremely interesting to try to discover them as I read on. This is shown mainly through Shay Bourne’s character which is my favourite.
The part I loved the most in the book is when Shay Bourne reveals that he would be killed by hanging while in prison, in order to donate his heart to Claire so that she can survive. This touched me immensely and I was deeply moved as he is a person who was not guilty but had stayed in prison and was ready to die for someone else.
Towards the end of the novel, when Shay Bourne dies, I felt like crying at this dramatic and emotional scene.
Also, I thank you Jodi Picoult for making me learn a lot of facts through this book as there are plenty of religious references, particularly to do with the Gnostic gospel which I had never heard of before.
Overall I think that ‘Change of Heart’, is a wonderful book. As a writer I believe you have done a great job in making the story seem realistic and intense. Thank you for writing such a great book which I enjoyed reading.
Mihini Ranasinghe (13 years)
Horizon College Int., Malabe
