Winner: Reading, my favourite hobby

My hobby is reading. I read story books, magazines, newspapers and any type of interesting books that I come across. I read English, Sinhala and Tamil books. I enjoy reading articles in the Junior Observer issued free with the Sunday Observer and other newspapers too.

I started reading when I was a little girl. First I started with simple ABC books and after that I read fairy tales and other stories. Reading improves my knowledge of English and I learn many things. Books provide much information and facts around the world. I borrow books from the library. My parents buy books for me. I have a good collection of children’s books. I exchange them with my friends. Books are valuable to students. We must read good books to gain more knowledge and discipline ourselves.

There are many books in libraries and they are kept on the shelves, it is known as the “House of books.” The wonder about reading is that I do not have to learn things the hard way. Reading good books develops and elevates our character. Books are written by great authors. They are our silent companions. They contain grains of wisdom.

The famous saying, “Reading maketh a full man” is said by the celebrated English author Francis Bacon. I spend my time profitably. Reading is a useful hobby which enriches our knowledge.

Fathima Hafsa Gaffoor,
Grade 7B,
Mukarramah International School.

Winner: Trees, a gift of nature

Trees are a great gift of nature. They purify the air and provide shelter for birds and animals. They increase the beauty of the environment. People cut down trees for their needs such as to make furniture and handicraft. Cutting trees is forbidden but still people cut down trees.

If there are no trees people will suffer without water and pure air. Both man and trees depend on each other for life. Trees are essential for human lifes. Therefore, we must prevent cutting down trees and plant more trees.

M.S. Afnaan Zuhaa,
Grade 7K,
Muslim Madya Maha Vidyalaya,
Sammanthurai.




 

Winner: My unusual hobby

We may all have hobbies to do during our leisure time. It may be collecting stamps, gardening, painting, cycling or reading. These are some common hobbies that everyone does. My hobby is a strange one which I do during my leisure time. It is collecting feathers.

This is an interesting hobby. I started collecting feathers when I was 11 years old. First I found a feather of a parrot. Now I have about 145 beautiful feathers of various birds. Some of the feathers that I have are of the parrot, kingfisher, owl, hen, pigeon and peacock. We have a place in our garden where birds come and eat. When they eat and go sometimes they drop some feathers.

This helps me to collect more and more feathers. This is an interesting hobby which improves my knowledge.

W.D.Shanika Rasangi,
Grade 9A,
NCEF Buddhist College,
Mulleriyawa New Town.

Winner: My favourite film series

Among the films that I have watched my favourite is Merlin. It is a BBC TV series. It has many adventurous stories. There are five seasons in this film.

There are many characters and the main actor is Merlin. The other characters are Arthur, Guvenevier, Morgana and Gayas. The film series consists of magical spells, magical people and magical creatures.

My favourite characters are Merlin and Morgana. Merlin is a young wizard. Morgana is also a wizard but she is very cruel and dreadful. The best season in the film is season five. It is the most adventurous.

Merlin is televised on Saturdays and Sundays. I like to watch Merlin more than any other film.

Chamudi Deshapriya,
Grade 9D,
President Girls’ School, Nawala.

Winner: The value of diary writing

Many of us have diaries of our own. We share our joy, happiness and sorrow by making an entry in the diary. The diary is one’s own secret world. We may have such secrets that we cannot share with anyone else. In such instances we write them in a diary.

A diary is a constant companion. Diaries are used in many ways. In crime investigations they help the police to solve them. They are also useful to record happy and sad feelings.

We can reduce our sadness by writing in a diary. Diary writing develops our literary and language skills.

When we look at the literary world, we can see such great stories such as the Diary of Anne Frank, based on diary entries.

Some diary entries are helpful to recall past incidents. What is more, the diary is something you can take wherever you go.

K.M.T. Maheli Kulathunga,
Grade 10A,
Holy Family Balika MV,
Kurunegala.

My village

My village is Kudagama. It is a small village. My village has various kinds of trees, flowers and many birds come to it. It is surrounded by beautiful hills and paddy fields. It has a big church and a temple.

People in my village are helpful and kind to everyone. I love them a lot. I have many friends in my village. It is a pleasant place to live. I like my village very much.

Tharusha Bandara,
Grade 5,
Lexicon International School,
Kurunegala.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

The most revered attraction in Kandy is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The city of Kandy is famous because of it.

The Sacred Tooth Relic was first brought to Kandy during the reign of Wimaladharmasooriya I in the 17th century. The present Temple of the Tooth was built by King Weera Narendra Sinha.

The temple is surrounded externally by a moat and low white walls with simple carvings. Its distinctive octagonal tower is called “Pattirippuwa.”

Everyday thousands of devotees and visitors come to pay respect to the Sacred Tooth Relic and offer flowers to the Buddha. The Sacred Tooth Relic is placed in a casket embedded with gems.

The museum at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, has Buddha images. The Bogambara tank gives beauty to it.

Annually the Esala Perahera is organised in August by the Dalada Maligawa. It is the most beautiful perahera in Sri Lanka. We must protect and respect this place everyday.

Shashikala Wijesinghe,
Holy Family B.M.V,
Kurunegala.

Let's protect the environment

The population in the world is increasing day by day. At the same time pollution too is increasing. Is there an answer to this problem?

Papers is made from trees. The more we use paper, the more we cut trees. We should not cut trees. We need 17 matured trees to make one tonne of paper. We can use cloth bags instead of polythene bags.

Why can't we make this world a better place? We should recycle some of the things we throw away. Let us all join hands and make this world a better place for future generations.

Dewmini Jayasinghe,
Grade 6C,
Methodist College.