[Winner]

I am a butterfly

Butterflies are the most beautiful and attractive insects and I am one of them. I am glad being a butterfly in a beautiful garden. I have many friends such as the earth worm, robin and many others. You can find many flowers in this garden such as roses, temple flowers and jasmines and so on. There is no one to harm me or hurt my feelings.

I fly over the garden every morning. When the morning breeze touches my wings I feel fresh. There are lots of flowers to fulfil my hunger. More flowers means more nectar. I play with my friends in the evening and talk with the earth worm, dance with the ladybirds and sing with the robin.

I sleep on the most comfortable petals of the roses in the night and for the cold I have the petals of the temple flowers.

I am a butterfly in a beautiful garden with no harm to me and my friends. But, sometimes I think what will happen to me if I had to leave my friends and this beautiful garden?

Sachinthani Umendika
K. Ketakumbura,
Grade 7,
Mahamaya Girls’ College,
Kandy.

[Winner]

Importance of food

Sri Lanka, our motherland is rich in most aspects. It is known as the ‘Pearl of the Indian Ocean.’ We have a rich food culture and this exists even today.

There are many traditional food that are endemic to our country, such as milk rice, kevum, kokis and weli thalapa. This type of food is made during the festive season. We have jak and bread fruit trees in our country. I like to eat them due to the nutritious value and taste.

We can prepare these types of food in our homes with the help of family members. Tourists like to taste traditional Sri Lankan food. Atu kos’ and Weli kos eta which have high nutritional value, though it does not taste good. All these food items are free of poison. When we grow it in our home gardens they are free of pesticides and insecticides. This type of food develops our health and produces healthy people.

Many instant food items are introduced by various companies. People use them as it makes work easy but they have no nutrition value. We must minimise using these instant food items and eat local food, to be healthy and develop our food culture for a better future.

D.K.Gavithri Dilesha Amarasinghe,
Grade 12,
Devi Balika Vidyalaya,
Colombo 8.

Winning a lottery!

Wow! I won a lottery. Mmm... What should I do first? First of all I thanked God for giving me this chance. I was so happy. Then I helped the poor and saved some money in the bank for my future.

I had a dream to buy a piano because I love music and bought it. I took my family shopping and bought them things. I bought some books for my home mini library. Now I have a beautiful house and a car.

Suddenly I heard my mom calling me from upstairs. It takes time to go down as we are in a big house. Again she called me. “Wake up to go to school now,” said mom.

My mom woke me from a wonderful dream. Oh! It was a dream of winning a lottery. I hope my dream would come true one day.

Fathima Rifa,
Grade 7E,
Atamie International School, Wattala.

[Winner]

My favourite newspaper

My favourite newspaper is the Junior Observer because it is a children’s newspaper. We can write articles, creative poems and contribute our own drawings and win prizes. Children and adults can improve their knowledge of English by reading the newspaper. Almost every article is useful to children.

These articles help us in our educational activities. We can gain knowledge in various fields. This paper is useful for children and I like this paper.

D.M.Jayam Chandu Dissanayake,
Grade 4B,
Royal International School,
Kurunegala.

[Winner]

The value of sports

Sports is useful to our lives. There are advantages as it helps to develop our personality, make our body strong and healthy.

A person who is engaged in sports is mentally and physically well developed.

Sports teaches us to accept defeat and victory in the same spirit. A person who does sports, generally develops special qualities such as patience, courage and a sense of responsibility. All these qualities help us to live as good citizens in society.

We also get an opportunity to share experiences with others and learn to appreciate others when we do sports.

When it comes to employment, having excelled in sports is an added qualification.

We meet people from many countries when participating in international sports. We can learn about many countries and also meet sportsmen and women. It is useful to interact with people of other nationalities.

Shirleen Dhanushka Titus,
Grade 10E,
St. Anne’s Balika Maha Vidyalaya,
Wattala.

[Winner]

The kite

I made a little kite.

It is blue and red.

It gave me great pride.

To see it in the sky.

Jumping up and down.

The kite went up and up.

Abdul Basith Irshard,
Grade 2,
Kiddies Castle,
Kurunegala.

A flower garden

Flowers burst with honey sweet,

No parsley, sage, rosemary or thyme.

Soft sounds where flower and dew drop me,

Not that I want this poem to rhyme.

Blossoms gleaming in the night,

Feathers glittering, not my kind.

Dove and leaf take parallel flight,

In my forest live deer and hind.

The wishing well takes wishes from a pine,

At the edge of a forest of pine.

For wishes to come true, it takes a while,

A beautiful thing, this flower garden of mine.

Dhiren Fernando,
Grade 3C,
British School, Colombo.

My mother

My mother's name is Padma. She is beautiful, tall and thin like me. She is 45 years old. She likes to eat rice and drink water. My mother is queen of our house.

She gets up early in the morning and prepares tea and cooks tasty food for us. She washes the dishes. When I fall ill, she nurses me well. My mother helps me with my homework too. She also tells me interesting bed time stories.