YOUNG WORDSMITHS- 2nd Issue 2019

And many more Read about Lekha’s published YOUNG AUTHORS !!!

June 2019

YOUNG WORDSMITHS Young Wordsmiths is the online magazine of Lekha Writing Center.

It is dedicated to publishing writing BY and FOR children.

FOUNDER: JYOTI YELAGALAWADI

Text Copyright by Lekha students as noted in the Lekha Anthologies published by Lekha Publishers LLC. Material in this magazine is drawn from student writings’ from Lekha Anthologies published over the years as well as from current student writings’ from Lekha Writing Center classes and camps.

Images Used are Copyright Free and Royalty Free.

Fonts Used: Segoe Print , Segoe Script and Adobe Devanagari.

FOUNDER’S NOTE

Dear friends of Lekha,

To create a curriculum that will inspire children to create has always been my goal. To do so, I put myself in the shoes of the age group of my audience. I try to look at what they see everyday and write poems and stories using these everyday things. An example is the ubiquitous pencil, which is always in their hands in a Lekha class. This thought inspired me to write a few couplets about a pencil.

Teaching poetry to young children is a lot of fun. Imagine a six-year old spouting poetry. At Lekha, we see this all the time. Our young wordsmiths don't just write acrostic poems or color poems, they write couplets, and quatrains, sonnets and story poems.

In this issue we have chosen to highlight some wonderfully illustrated story poems written by Lekha’s young wordsmiths which were published by Lekha Publishers LLC. Hope you enjoy reading!!

Love, Jyoti Yelagalawadi.

Founder of Lekha Ink, Corp.

YOUNG WORDSMITHS is a quarterly magazine.

2nd issue of 2019 EDITOR: Radhika Rajesh Raikar

If you love to write and love telling stories, then please send your submissions to the following email address: submissions@lekhaink.com

Inside this issue…..

The mystery of the flying ghost

...Page 6-9

Lekha Author– Makenzie

….Page 10-11

The tales of Veggie-Ville

…Page 12-13

Names of Characters

….Page 14

Character Word-Puzzle

...Page 15

The Unicorn

…Page 16-21

The Silly Hippo

...Page 22-27

Lekha Author–Neha

...Page 28

Connect the Dots

…Page 29

Word Puzzles

...Page 30-31

Saving the fairies

...Page 32-35

Queen and her new pets

...Page 36-37

Lekha Author–Aashka

....Page 38-39

Picture prompt

….Page 40

Character-Word puzzle answer

….Page 41

THE MYSTERY OF THE FLYING GHOST

A STORY BY MAKENZIE TOMIHIRO, AGE 8 YEARS

Prologue Hi, my name is Isabella Otioba. I love to explore cool abandoned houses. I usually do my exploring in my grandparents neighborhood, since all of the houses next to their home are abandoned. Before I go exploring, I always pack a snack, a flashlight, water, an extra pair of shoes, and some clothes.

The most recent house I explored was one that I had never noticed before in my grandma’s neighborhood, and I was very excited to find out what was inside.

Chapter 1:The Abandoned House My grandma had told me about an old abandoned house that she saw when she was driving home from her friend's house. I was so excited that I packed my bag and went out to go find this house. I walked down the hill to find it, but all of the houses down there I had already seen. Then I went up the hill in our neighborhood, and there it was. I saw a black sooty house that I had never noticed or seen before. I checked my bag to make sure I had everything, and then walked in.

Chapter 2: The Room I walked into the house and saw a door to the left of the entryway. I tried to open the door to enter the room, but it was locked. Then I saw a string hanging nearby.

I pulled on it and a big hammer came down from the ceiling and hit the door, which caused it to swing open. I walked in and saw that there a bag sitting on the floor in middle of the room.

Chapter 3: The Bag of Secrets I approached the bag slowly. Then I grabbed it and quickly ran home to my grandma's house. I showed the bag to my grandparents and we opened it together. We thought it contained only scrunched-up paper until we looked further. Then we found that it was filled with treasures.

We took out all of the treasure and found a message written on a piece of paper, shoved in a bottle. There was nothing on the paper except for the words, "A flying ghost horse haunts this house."

A FLYING GHOST HORSE HAUNTS THIS HOUSE.

Chapter 4: The Ghost Horse My grandparents seemed scared. I wasn't scared at all, so I told them I would go back to the house and check things out. They said I could go, so I packed my bag and set off for the house again. When I got to the house I went through all of the rooms and they were all empty.

Finally, I got to the last room and there I saw it, the floating horse. It looked friendly enough so I asked if it had a name. It turned out it was a she.

She told me her name was Califregisimin. Then she asked me my name and I told her that my name was Isabella Otioba. She told me that she was a ghost and that she was dead.

Chapter 5: The Sad Story She proceeded to describe her history and how she died. She said she belonged to a wizard named Merlin. I listened, as she went on. "I was one of his best horses. Then one day I broke my leg. The doctor said I would die soon. He took pity on me and turned me into a flying ghost after I died. He sent me to this house and said if I could find the mystery in this house that I would be able to come back, and live.

I've been trying to find the mystery for I don’t know how long."

Chapter 6: Helping the Horse I decided to help the horse search for the mystery in this house. We searched it over and over, going through every room. Cali had almost given up it seemed, then her face became all red. I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she remembered Merlin had given her a clue.

Chapter 7: The Clue I asked her to describe the clue. She told me that the clue was a message written on a piece of paper left in a bag in the room left of the house entryway. I shouted with happiness and led her to my grandma's house to search the bag I had found.

I showed her the bottle with the message on it. Cali took it and returned quickly to the house.

Chapter 8: Mystery Solved The next day I started back up to the house up the hill. But when I got there the horse wasn't there!!! I looked in every room and as I entered the last room I saw a message hanging in the air. It read, "'Cali has returned back home to me' -Merlin.

“Thank you for helping her.”

“P.S. Once you spend a gem from the treasure, it will reappear in your hand again, as if you never spent it.”

Cali has returned back home to me.

Thank you for helping her -Merlin P.S. Once you spend a gem from the treasure, it will reappear in your hand again, as if you never spend it.

I smiled and went outside. As I looked back at the house, I saw it slowly fading away.

I sighed, and to myself, "WOW!!"

Books written by young Lekha author Makenzie Tomihiro

To order the books, please visit www.lekhaink.com

Makenzie was part of my first group of students who joined Lekha Writing Center when it was still in its evolving phase and I was the only instructor.

I learnt a lot as I interacted with this small group of kids and Mackenzie was one of the kids who taught me how to teach. My interactions with this initial group helped me to develop the Lekha method of teaching.

As a child Makenzie cared about the world and the people in it which was always reflected in her writing. She wrote many stories which were published in Lekha Anthologies.

She wrote two wonderful story poems– Cats Are Liquid and The Two Finned Schwinn which were published by Lekha Publishers LLC. Her sister Madison, who was also a Lekha student did the illustrations for both her books.

These books were well received at the book fair when we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Lekha Publishers LLC. Over the years, Makenzie has discovered her love for teaching. She was always a supportive mentor to younger students at Lekha and worked as an intern for Lekha Writing Center. We are happy and excited that she will be working as an Instructor for Lekha summer camps this year.

JYOTI YELAGALAWADI

THE TALES VEGGIE-VILLE

BY ELIANA MARKS, AGE 9.

Once upon a time, there was a school teacher named Ms. Zucchini. She lived in Veggie-Ville, a nice little town with a population of 235 vegetables, just enough for everyone to have friends and family. She taught at Veggie School and she always walked there in the mornings.

On her way to Veggie School, she ran into her student, named Patrick Pickle.

"Hi Ms. Zucchini!" said Patrick. He was a very nice boy and also very polite.

"Hi Patrick, how are you?" asked the teacher.

Before Patrick could answer, the teacher said, "Oh my, it is almost time to get to school, see you in a few minutes."

When she reached Veggie School, the bell rang, meaning that everyone had to go to their classrooms.

In Ms. Zucchini's class, Ms. Zucchini said, "Cassie Corn, go get the flag. We will sing 'Stay Safe Veggie-Ville, the Veggie Ville National Anthem."'

On their way home from school, Benny Bell-Pepper said to his friend Cody Cauliflower, "I can't believe that Ms. Zucchini gives us so much homework!

Veggie Science and Veggie Math also, five pages of Veggie Spelling! I just can’t take it!" “Me neither." said Cody, who usually didn't like to complain.

At 5:30 pm, there was an invasion of ninja french fries.

Everybody in Veggie-Ville was so scared. They didn't know what was going to happen to them.

Then suddenly, the mayor of Veggie-Ville said, "I command you to take your flying box and leave!" Sure enough, it worked.

At Ms. Zucchini's house, her children Zack and Zoey didn't want to go bed.

"We want to see if the french fries come back!" complained Zoe. "No Zoe," said her mom, "You need your sleep."

Zack didn't want to go to sleep either, but he didn't say anything because he was good and never complained.

The next day the french fries didn't come back, and the town of Veggie­Ville was happy. In the end, the french fries never came back because they were afraid the mayor of Veggie-Ville would hurt them.

Then the french fries flew to McDonaldland and stayed in that home forever, because it was where they belonged.

Back at Veggie-Ville, there was a big parade to celebrate the leaving of ninja french fries, who would never come back. Their land was safe for now and that is what they really wanted.

NAMES OF CHARACTERS

The tales of Veggie-Ville written by Elaina demonstrates very effectively how one can bring characters in a setting to life by giving them names which feel appropriate to the theme of the story.

In Veggie Ville, the students study in Veggie-School, where they have do so much homework like Veggie-Science and Veggie-Math and Veggie-Spelling assigned to them by their school teacher Ms. Zucchini. With Ninja french-fries as the antagonist Elaina used humor to enliven the story.

Elaina also demonstrated a very effective use of alliteration with character names like Patrick Pickle, Cassie Corn, Benny Bellpepper and Cody Cauliflower.

This story was written by Lekha student Samyukta, age 7 using the write4joy app at Lekha Spring camp in 2019.

Use the write4joy app and become the writer you wish to be.

An illustrated story poem about a silly hippo who had his head stuck in an urn !!

THE SILLY HIPPO AUTHOR – NEHA MANDAVA

Neha Mandava was a student of Lekha Writing Center, which she attended since 2011. An avid reader and writer, she was innately creative and loved to tell stories and dance.

She was always very joyful in class, jotting down story ideas and thoughts on her ipad. Rhyming words came easy to her and she loved to draw.

One day, she picked out a hippo from the Lekha character jar and wrote a fun creative story poem– The Silly Hippo-which was published by Lekha Publishers LLC in 2016.

Jyoti Yelagalawadi

CONNECT THE DOTS COLOR THE PICTURE CREATE A STORY

Send your submissions to the following email address: submissions@lekhaink.com

SAVING THE FAIRIES MEGAN YANG, AGE 11

Meet Cecelia Kapine. She is part rabbit, part cat, part elf and part human.

Cici was twelve and about five-foot-two. She had wavy black hair down to her shoulders, and pretty blue eyes. She loved to wear funny quote-tees and Converse sneakers.

Her personality was balanced, with a bit of adventure and a little generosity.

When Cici met someone she shook their hand and nodded.

Cecelia was created by scientists in a laboratory so she didn't really have any family. Her dad and mom just donated their parts to make her mostly human.

Most of her friends were human-animal hybrids like herself. She was very good at dancing and jumping, but an amateur at singing and artistic creativity. Her goal was to save Fairyana, a world of fairies that was currently in poverty. She hoped to achieve this by honing her magical powers and using them to defeat an evil lord called Draculoro who was ruining the world, minute by minute.

Cecelia lived in a special school called The School for Unique Children, which was located in the city of New York. All sorts of lab kids lived and studied there.

The school was owned by a lady named Mrs. Applebaum, who was said to be a very old fairy that had come to the human world to seek help. But, Cecelia never believed it.

The day that Cecelia Kapine was called to the head of the school's office was a very typical day. She had just finished music class and the school secretary caught up to her with a small piece of papyrus paper.

The secretary left abruptly, leaving Cici clueless as to what was inside. She opened it up.

Mrs. Applebaum’s neatly written cursive said: Dearest Cecelia, Could you please come over to my office immediately?

I have something very important and valuable to tell you.

Thank you for being a great student.  D. Applebaum. 

Cici thought that this would be quick, so she went on her way, not knowing what was about to happen.

Inside Mrs. Applebaum's office, there was a big mahogany desk, two chairs, a soda, a coffee table, and a large-sized library.

The head of the school motioned her to take a seat on one of the red leather chairs in front of the big desk.

"Hello, Miss Kapine! I know a lot about you. And I have decided to give you a very important task. Let me tell you something first. Indeed I am a fairy, as I have come here to seek help of someone. Our world, Fairyana, is in great peril and we need help. You have been chosen by the Great Fairy Queen to help us by defeating the evil lord, Draculoro. You shall be given a mass of magical powers and be taught how to use them. Draculoro is the one creature who is trying to destroy Fairyana. He needs to be sent away from this dimension. I hope you will succeed in your mission.

GOODBYE!" And at that moment, a spray of fairy dust came out from Mrs. Applebaum's charm necklace, heading towards Cecelia. It circled around and around her, and whooshed her out of the human world. Then all movement stopped and all Cecelia could see was darkness.

Once she opened her eyes, Cici was amazed by the things around her. Eyes fully opened, she could see that she had landed in a patch of very soft and fluffy grass. There were many flowers around her.

A pixie was fluttering right next to her, whispering softly, "Go to the place where the stones meet at a circle. A Pegasus carriage will be waiting for you."

"What?" Cici pondered, but went in the direction she thought was correct. After about half an hour of walking, she saw where the pixie had told her to go. Smooth pebbles were placed in the shape of a circle and a very beautiful carriage pulled by a group of four Pegasus ponies stood right in the middle of this circle, waiting for her to get in. At the right and left side of the carriage door, an escort helped her up into the heavily furnished carriage box. Once aboard, the carriage master got all the horses to go up and away.

They arrived at a fancy battleground, laden with jewels and weaponry. There were two sides. One of the two escorts brought her to her side of the grounds and suited her up.

Another fairy who introduced herself as Cinnabon, started tutoring Cecelia how to use magic powers in battle, and sharpening up her skills on how to use fairy weapons in close combat.

Arriving a little too early Draculoro's team set up on the other side of the grounds.

All of a sudden, a hundred thousand fairies joined Cecelia as a team and began warming up.

The fight began once both sides were warmed up.

The air was full of slashing, magic powers, knifing, sword fighting, and hand combat.

One after another, bloody bodies crumpled to the ground resulting in a team of 10,500 evil dragons against 10,550 fairies. As the end of the battle neared, all of the fairies, including Cecelia, combined their powers and spells and potions into one big concoction. "3... 2... 1... 0!" The fairies counted down and sent the pot of magic hurtling towards the opponent.

A few seconds later, all one could see were 10,500 dead dragons, as well as their evil master, Draculoro.

"Yippee!" The fairies cheered and returned to their houses or schools.

Another hurl of magic dust whooshed Cici back to her own school. She sighed. It had been a full day of action and adventure.

Lekha Summer camps… Where kids have fun and play And work together to write a play

QUEEN AND HER NEW PETS

BY CHLOE JUNI, MADISON DEE AND PRAGATI METTU, ALL 7 YEARS OLD. Characters: Maria: A cat Pup: A puppy Queen: A girl who loves animals Snow: A tiger

Scene1: At the pet shop Queen and her mother are shopping for new pets at the local pet shop.

Maria: Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!

Pup: Roof! Arf! Arf! Arf! Roof! Arf! Arf! Arf! Queen: (To Maria and Pup) I'm gonna buy you two.

Queen: (To her mother) Let's go to another aisle.

Snow: Roar! Roar!

Queen: (Pointing at Snow) I want this one too.

Queen and her mother pick up the animals and walk over to the cashier.

Queen: I would like to buy these pets.

Cashier: That will be three dollars.

Scene 2: At home Pup: Arf! Arf! Maria: Meow! Meow!

Snow: Roar! Roar!

Pup and Maria: (To each other) That's a very scary tiger!

Queen: Pets, it's time for lunch!

They sit down to eat lunch. Suddenly a zombie appears.

Zombie: I will eat you, Queen! Ha! Ha! Ha! Queen: Ahhhh!!

Scene 3: In the backyard Queen runs out the back door, into the backyard. The zombie and her pets follow her.

Snow: Roar! I'll save you, Queen!

Pup and Maria: So will we!

The three pets attack the zombie. Snow bites the zombie, and the zombie turns into a prince.

Narrator: The zombie prince and Queen fell in love instantly. The prince married Queen and they lived happily ever after.

THE PRICE OF BEING ASHLEY RICH BY AASHKA PANDYA PUBLISHED BY LEKHA PUBLSIHERS LLC

This story, and Aashka Pandya’s interest in writing, began one afternoon when she and her friends wrote a story out of boredom.

Their story was about six girls: Thalia, Ashley, Alexa, Jenny, Lily, and Analise, or “TAAJLA,” as they called it. This simple story turned into a series of skits that Aashka, her friends, and their sisters performed for their parents. One skit was about the wealthy character Ashley’s sudden loss of her fortune. This particular skit remained close to Aashka’s heart, and when she started taking classes at Lekha in 2010, she knew exactly what she wanted to write about.

Aashka’s passion for writing grew during her years as a Lekha student.

She continued to work on the story about Ashley, and her story and its characters grew up along with her, developing into something more mature than the simple skit she had written with her friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aashka Pandya was one of Lekha’s distant learning students’, who would often join a Lekha class via Skype sessions.

In addition to being a writer, she has also been very involved in theater and dance. Aashka studied Kathak, an Indian classical dance, for about nine years. She participated in four school stage productions. She was the stage manager and played the Queen of Hearts in her favorite story- “Alice in Wonderland,” in school. Aashka loves to make movies, and has written, edited directed several films with her friends for her drama class.

She is currently studying filmmaking at UC Santa Barbara and has received many accolades for her screenplay writing skills.

To order the book, please visit www.lekhaink.com Part of the proceeds from the book will go to Sewa International.

PICTURE PROMPT

Look at the picture below and start writing down the first thoughts that come to your mind. See if you can develop these first thoughts into a story, play or poem.

Send your submissions to the following email address: submissions@lekhaink.com

Artwork by Suzy Capra.

Suzy Capra is an artist, animal lover and activist who has worked at shelters and has been involved in rescuing animals since 1986. In the last 8 months, she has been involved in rescuing cats within the burn zone in the Paradise and Magalia, California fires. She is currently heads FUR-Friends of Camp Fire Cats.

Her paintings depict peace and oneness with the Universe.

Some of her Artwork, including the painting above was used for fundraising for the cats of Paradise. To donate to FUR by purchasing her Artwork, please visit her Facebook Artpage– Galactic Goat Art.

Answers to the FANTASTICAL CHARACTER puzzle on Page 15

BUILDING CREATIVE YOUNG MINDS Young Wordsmiths is the online magazine of Lekha Writing Center.

Lekha Writing Center is committed to developing a generation of children who think beyond the book! We do this by teaching them to write creatively, using a blend of time-tested and newly-developed methods that stir one’s IMAGINATION.

write4joy This app will help children and adults learn the art of writing creatively.

Writing stories, poems, plays, and essays will become a joy.

Use the write4joy app and become the writer you wish to be.