Book Review

Dear Junior readers,

The Junior Observer launches “Junior Readers’ Club” to which we invite all you Junior Readers to join up! The Junior Readers’ Club will have activities and competitions to encourage you to read and read and read more, for fun and to learn. Do join in!

One activity will be introducing books for you to read. We will introduce a book from Vijitha Yapa Bookshop and tell you about it in a 'book review'. You are also invited to write in and tell us about a book you have read and liked. Write up to 150 words and email your entries to [email protected] or post them to Lake House, 35, D.R. Wijewardane Mawatha,

Colombo 10.

NOTE: Vijitha Yapa Bookshop will give prizes for a write up about a book available in their bookshops. The best book review will receive a book as the first prize, and the second prize will be a gift voucher from Vijitha Yapa Bookshop. Contact 2429237 to collect your gifts.

Rhymes in nature

Do you like poetry? Thoughts of Ruth by Liyana Ruth Perera is a collection of poems based mainly on themes from nature.

The poem titled 'Butterflies' is about the beautiful colours and designs of butterfly wings. The eight-year-old author thinks that butterfly wings are painted by fairies.

The poem 'Caterpillar turns into a butterfly' tells us about the change that takes place when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. 'The Night Sky' paints a dreamy picture of dusk, starlight and angels. The poem offers a child's view on nature and the way in which nature is alive in a child's mind.

In the poem 'River', a child talks to the river as if it is an individual. The poet asks the river, “What are you doing?”. The river seems to reply: “Catching some fish and letting them go.” The river comes alive for the little poet.

The poem 'Snow' lets readers go to snow-capped mountains of the Himalayas and hopes that it will snow in Sri Lanka too. 'Rainbow Cake' is about a birthday cake in rainbow colours of red, green, orange, yellow, blue, violet and indigo. The poet likes the aroma and taste of the cake which was given to her on her birthday in Autumn. 'Eraser' gives voice to the inanimate piece of rubber that children use in school. The eraser says, 'I am a small eraser with many colours and shapes but the people who use me cut me with a ruler, they eat me and they exchange me.'

The collection of poems presents a glimpse into the mind of an eight-year-old girl who is fascinated by nature and her surroundings. The poems also carry drawings and tell stories about family life and a child's relationship with her natural surroundings.

[Best Book Reviews]

First Prize: Jungle Book

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling is about a family that lived in India some time ago. Their occupation was selling firewood.

One day as usual, they went to the jungle to collect firewood with their newly born son. While gathering firewood they saw a huge tiger coming towards them. The mother and father ran away leaving their child behind. The boy reached the entrance of a cave. It was a habitation of a wolf family.

The wolf mother and the father treated him as their own son. The cubs treated him as their own brother. They named him Mowgli. After that the man cub grew up and studied with the beasts. He learned all the habits and strategies of the beast. He used it in his day today life.

Later he visited the village and saw his mother. He also studied and developed human habits for the benefit of his day to day life.

The tiger came to the village to grab the beast boy. But the beast boy was brave enough to kill the cruel creature. The boy did not find village life with humans satisfying. So he went to the forest and started living the life of the beast again.

Kipling combines the lives of both humans and beasts in the novel.

W.A.Pasindu Anjana Weerakkody,
Grade 7,
Royal International School, Kurunegala.

Second Prize: Peculiar Children

A novel by Ransom Riggs and published by Quirk Books in 2011, this dark fantasy story is called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and it's the book I adore the most. It's the first book in the Peculiar series and is soon to be a major motion picture in September.

The main character is Jacob Portman who had a mysterious family tragedy and all this leads to clues, strange creatures, time loops and of course the peculiar children in a remote island.

Journey on with the book and meet more characters like Emma Bloom, Enoch, Bronwyn, Miss Peregrine and more. This novel is addictive and a must read book with the most peculiar photographs.

Asma Gisthy Fahmi,
Grade 7,
Harcourts International School,
Dehiwala.