YOUNG WORDSMITHS - SPRING - 2019

And many more STORIES POEMS ESSAYS

Read about Lekha’s published YOUNG AUTHORS !!!

March 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 and Adobe Devanagari

FOUNDER’S NOTE Dear friends of Lekha, In this issue, you will see a blend of the old and the new-writings by children trained by Lekha and those with natural talent.

The one thing that I have come to understand in these many years of teaching is that there is no better creative mind then that of a child. I have worked with adults during this period who seem too be stuck in their ways, who learn a lot of new things but can only see what is visible.

A child’s creativity knows no bounds. They see within them and they observe what is outside and think about it. When they are trained to put their thoughts on paper, wonderful things come to be. Some of these examples are reflected in the written works of Adam, Roxanne, Shaurey, Reva and others.

I took a walk down memory lane yet again and was reminiscing about some of Lekha’s old students who have grown up to become authors and continued their life’s journey in creative fields. We have chosen to showcase and highlight some of their written works in this issue too.

Hope you enjoy reading!!

Love, Jyoti Yelagalawadi.

Founder of Lekha Ink, Corp.

YOUNG WORDSMITHS is a quarterly magazine.

1st 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…..

Bub, the chicken

...Page 6-7

Acrostic Poems

….Page 8-9

The True Princess

…Page 10-15

Jemmy’s Adventure

...Page 16-23

Alien Adventure

...Page 24-25

Mr. Piggles

…Page 26-28

Personal Narrative

...Page 29

The Sassy Divas

...Page 30-31

Evil Smiley Face

…Page 32-33

Soccer-Poem

...Page 34

Golf-Opinion Essay

...Page 35

Singing your Heart Out

...Page 36

Clarity

....Page 37

Birds and animals can be interesting characters in a story.

The attribution of human traits and emotions to them can make for very entertaining story-telling.

BUB THE CHICKEN

BY ADAM TIEU, AGE 8 Bub was a chicken. He was forty years old. He was brown and had long legs.

His strength was running. His weakness was walking. He wanted to learn how to walk.

His owners were a brother and sister. They looked like farmers and they had black hair. His red barn was in a meadow.

Bub had black eyes and he was really small. He lived in the 1980s. There were no other animals in the barn, except Bub. His meadow was full of worms so his owners didn't have to feed him.

One day, Bub was feeling really sad. He wanted to explore the world. The thing was that there was a very tall fence in the meadow, so he couldn't get out.

Bub flew as hard as he could and flew over the fence. But his owner was outside.

His owner chased him, but Bub was too fast. Bub ran away.

He ran and ran. Suddenly, Bub was scared. There were millions of people walking around. Bub ran and stopped at a train. It was going to the town. When Bub got off the train, there was a butcher store in front of him. The butcher grabbed him and took him in his store and was about to pluck him. When a man came in, the butcher let go of Bub. Bub zoomed out of the store and out of the town.

Bub was very hungry. So, he went to a grassy area and started to eat. Bub used to run around, but because he was so tired, he actually walked! He didn't

even take the train.

When he got home, he showed his owners that he could walk.

His owners didn't understand. So, Bub had to run back to the town and learn how to speak. When he got to the town, he found a school. The teacher didn't let Bub in, so Bub watched through the window.

Finally, the teacher wrote on the blackboard, "Look, I can walk."

Bub ran into the classroom and took a slate and a pencil and began to write the sentence on the slate. Then he raced back to his barn and showed to his owners that he could walk.

And to his surprise, they fainted.

LOOK,I CAN WALK

ACROSTIC POEM In an acrostic poem, the first letter of each line spells out a word, message or the alphabet.

BENJAMIN MCDAID, AGE 7

Grows in bunches, ripples in the wind, as sharp as a sword, scattered around me, so many different types.

RAINBOW

BY POOJA YARLAGADDA, AGE 9

Rain Atmosphere Is

there such a thing as a rainbow?

Nobody

hates rainbows

Beautiful rainbows

make me smile

Optimistic feelings come

to you

THE TRUE PRINCESS WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY REVA GOKHALE, AGE 10

Part One There lay an open park, with tall trees from which sunlight drizzled through, with flowers of all shapes and sizes sitting amidst the tall green grass, and butterflies soaring gracefully through the air as families came for some relaxation. Most lay down their blankets and took out their snacks, scolding their kids when they ran around, trying to catch squirrels that were hurrying by. Others preferred to sit on benches, taking out a book, or playing games of chess with their friends, taking in the sweet smell of nature wafting through the air.

At night, however, it was completely deserted. Right adjacent to the park stood an old palace which was now rusting and full of cobwebs, and it was said to be haunted. There was a legend that only a ‘true princess’ could restore the palace to its former glory. Nobody dared go near it when darkness set. Not a leaf seemed to move in the silence.

Nevertheless, everyone loved the Palace Gardens as it was their favorite place to spend summer evenings.

Part Two Princess Shannon looked down at her necklace... there was a silver, flame-like pattern hanging from a silver chain. The shape attached to the center of this flame resembled a large raindrop. It shone in the faded moonlight, and seemed to be dancing around happily. The necklace represented the two qualities- kindness and courage. The girl who had both these qualities would be the next princess to the palace.

It was time to pass it on to someone worthy of it, as was the tradition.

The princess steadied her voice, and trying not to think about how much she would miss her necklace, said,

“I hide my necklace on this night Based on what I think is right, And the chosen girl who finds this charm Will be the next princess, and save all from harm.”

She then gathered up the necklace, looked at it for one last time, and buried it carefully in the earth.

Princess Shannon sighed, cleaned the mud off her hands, then silently walked back towards the palace.

Part Three Amania Winston was very shy, with a soft voice. She was a tall, thin girl with smooth, straight black hair. She had hazel eyes, and her red lips were almost always curled in a gentle smile.

Lily Wave, Amania’s best friend, was about the same height as Amania. She had blond hair, with blue eyes.

The two friends collected their books from their lockers, then set off down the hallway, checking their schedules.

1:00 - 2:45

Music Room 101

Amania and Lily smiled at one another.

Music was their favorite class, not to mention their last class before summer, and they were together for it.

Mrs. Maryrose was a tall, thin woman, not unlike the girls. She had a sweet voice.

“Settle down, everyone, we’re going to learn a new song today,” called the teacher. “ Okay, then, repeat after me, please!”

“When I am down, and oh my soul so weary……”

She sang, and the class followed. It was beautiful. The words flowed together so nicely!

The bell rang to signal the end of school, and everyone in the hallways yelled for joy. Summer vacation had started!

Part Four Amania and Lily sipped their lemonade, sitting in the shade of a tree at the Palace Gardens. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a basketball hit Lily straight in the face.

The two girls jumped to their feet in horror when a boy with brown hair came out.

“I’d like that back, thank you,” he said coldly, snatching his ball back.

Then he sneered. “Who’re you?”

The girls reluctantly introduced themselves, then stalked off to their homes, angry at the boy, who was called Marcus Frenzy. Marcus teased Lily each day after that, and always came up with a reason to hurt her.

Amania remained quiet, but felt hurt inside.

Part Five One day Marcus and his friends were chanting something. Amania was shocked when she realized what they were singing.

“Lily, Lily, she’s so silly, Lily, Lily, she’s so silly,”

Amania was furious, thinking hard what to do. She dug her toe into the ground.

She felt her foot touch something metallic, but that was the least of her concerns right now. She looked at Lily, who was happily busy collecting leaves before the chanting had started. As she walked towards her, she could see Lily’s eyes were now filled with tears and she was trying hard not to let them show. Then came the ball, knocking Lily down. Lily stood up but now the tears were rolling off her cheeks uncontrollably.

That infuriated Amania more than anything. Not only were they teasing Lily, they were throwing their ball and laughing loudly!

Amania knew this had to stop and she had to do something about it now. She was suddenly filled with a courage she never knew she had. Her fists curled up and she was fuming. She marched up to Marcus.

“What? You think you can beat me and my friends alone?” breathed Marcus.

“STOP TEASING LILY RIGHT NOW,” Amania said firmly. If Marcus was going to be loud, then she would raise her words, not her voice.

“Yeah, I’ve had enough of her. I guess you’re next,” Marcus snarled, raising his fist.

Amania didn’t know what she was going to do. But one glance at her wailing friend was all she needed.

“If you dare raise your fist at anyone anymore, or try to bully anymore, then I’ll fight you for real and I MEAN IT!” Amania spoke with confidence.

Marcus was shaken. Everyone was glaring at him. A few people in the park started to walk towards him. He quietly slunk away, mumbling something about “...... all right… back off… won’t bully anyone again,”.

Lily came over, lost for words. People were all gaping at the two friends. Then, as Lily gave Amania a hug, everyone cheered.

Part Six Lily and Amania sat in the shade of an oak tree, covered in floral jewelry. Amania was still severely shaken by the afternoon’s events. Amania and Lily were watching the burning sun set over the horizon when Amania suddenly remembered.

“Hey- Lily?” Amania asked.

“Hmm?” “Earlier when I was upset with Marcus, my foot hit something metallic in the ground. You want to go find it?”

“Sure, let’s go!’’ Lily laughed, and so the two friends searched.

“Here, Lily!” Amania exclaimed some ten minutes later. Lily crawled over.

Amania pulled it out. It was a casket. There was a small carving that read:

Open this chest and you will see That you are the one who is most worthy Princess Shannon

Amania carefully opened the treasure box. It was a necklace.

She stopped, staring. This proved the legend of the princess was real!

After so many years, the necklace had chosen a new princess – HER !

Unprepared for what was going to happen, Amania put on the necklace, Lily watching in awe.

Amania rose into the air, hands outstretched, eyes closed, spinning slowly.

Everyone around was awestruck, as Amania was surrounded by a shimmering globe. Her dress was changing. It was now light blue like the amulet, silver sparkles sliding down. A flowered, jeweled tiara appeared on her head. She came down slowly, and gave everyone a shaky smile. “ I can’t believe it chose me,” she said to Lily.

“Well, you did stand up for me,” Lily smiled.

“Also, you are… OH...look...!” she exclaimed. Amania whirled around.

The old, crumbling palace was reforming. It was now a shiny silver, with guards dressed in uniforms. Everything was remade fresh. A sweet smell came in through the kitchens, there were luxurious beds in the bedrooms, the gardens’ wilted flowers burst into bloom. Everything was perfect. For the first time in her life, Amania felt really special.

Part Seven Everyone was gathered in the Great Hall at the Palace Gardens. News of Amania becoming a princess had spread, and now people wanted to see her. They were all chattering noisily when Amania entered. She raised her hand for silence. As she lifted her arm, an accidental bolt of magic went whizzing past, creating fireworks, which quieted the onlookers.

“I’d like to thank you all,” she began, “for being here at the best moment of my life. I would also like to thank my friends for being here today.”

Just then, Amania spotted Marcus, standing alone in a corner with his head down.

Amania called Marcus and asked him to stand next to her.

Confused, Marcus pushed his way to the front. “Thanks, Princess Amania. But I don’t understand why you’re being good to me,” he said.

“First of all, it’s Amania. And I forgive you, Marcus,” Amania replied.

“I don’t really care for the palace or its riches, I’m just happy to be spreading friendship everywhere.”

With that, she took off the crown.

Amania was going to prove that true princesses do not need fancy gowns & tiaras. All they need to possess is a little bit of courage and a lot of kindness!

About The Author Reva Gokhale is thirteen years old.

She lives in Fremont, California. She had a necklace just like the one described in the story. After she lost it, she has been thinking how magical it had seemed to her, and that was where she got inspiration for her story. In this story, she wanted to express her feeling that if you have a kind heart, you can be a real princess, because ruling the world and looking pretty is not important.

Besides reading and writing, Reva loves to sing, paint and spend time with her friends. She loves to read books by P. G. Wodehouse, J. K. Rowling, and Shannon Hale. Reva hopes to someday write a series that people will love. What she wants more than anything is for people to appreciate and comment on her stories. Reva also encourages people to write their own stories, even if they don’t get famous for it, because she also wrote this story just to have fun.

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY SHAUREY VETSA, AGE 8 PUBLISHED BY LEKHA IN 2007.

Once upon a time there lived a dolphin named Jemmy. He was a little black dolphin with gray and white stripes. His pure eyes were blue and shiny. He was funny and friendly and very curious about things.

Jemmy lived in the northern part in a vast ocean. He loved to play amongst the waves. Near the place where he lived, there are eel, sharks, and many types of fish.

One day when Jemmy was jumping back into the ocean he got transferred to an underwater magical land. Jemmy was scared at first. Jemmy saw many unusual things that were new to him. At first he was scared, but after one day he got used to it. Jemmy had a lot of fun.

He rode on a bicycle that went on a track. This bicycle had only one pedal and he used his tail fin to push it down. He also buckled his seat belt. Then off he went!

One day Jemmy slipped off the edge of the country. Scared, he went in the ocean. He had to start his life again or he would die. It took Jemmy three years. He had to learn how to do his chores.

There is a magic box that will give you anything you want. It will even let you keep it.

He was very hungry, so he asked the magic box to give him some food. The magic box opened a door in an underwater mountainside. .

He went thorough the door and he found a secret cave. Jemmy was curious, so he went in the secret cave.

He found cutters that could cut your body in half. He quickly passed through it and a jaw, a scary jaw.

There he found hidden gems, money and food to eat. He ate and decide to take the gems and the money home.

Jemmy became lively and used to the ocean again and lived happily ever after.

OF

SOME FOND MEMORIES

Shaurey was my student for 3 years.

When he started he was not very confident about his writing abilities and was very shy about his artwork. As he became more engaged in the Creative writing classes, he grew more confident about his writing. But, when it came to his artwork, as most of us do, he tried to compare his work with other big artists and thought his work was never good enough. He tried out different kinds of artwork for his stories, but never felt completely satisfied.

I encouraged him to try out the Collage technique. He worked on that for a few stories and for this book he used it for the front and back cover of the book. We used matte finished thick construction paper to create the front and back cover and the book was bound using Balsa wood.

Rain or shine, Shaurey always showed up to the Lekha class and would be upset if classes were cancelled for holidays or other personal reasons.

It is always a great pleasure to teach and engage with students as enthusiastic as Shaurey. Just one such student makes a teacher’s work day very pleasurable.

-Jyoti Yelagalawadi.

ALIEN ADVENTURE

BY REINE CHOY, AGE 9 Hi guys! I'm Sunny. Let me tell you a few things about myself. For one, I am an alien with green skin. I also have wings.

You might be wondering, "What? If aliens exist, then why haven't I seen one?"

Well, we live on Pluto, the "dwarf" planet. Our population was about 20,000 back then, when the things in this story took place. I was just an alien child.

I was about nine years old, and I had just gotten out of A.L.A. (Alien Learning Academy). I excitedly rushed home to our miniature cabin. It was beside a whole line of cabins, all about the same exact size as ours.

My best friend, Mellie, was our neighbor, so we came home together.

I was in such a good mood because that day. It was the day I was going to adopt my life-long companion, Laurel my pet firefly.

As we hurried home, I begged Mellie, "Please come, it'll be fun! You could help me choose the best one and ..."

"Fine! But you owe me big time, because we have an enormous project due next week!"

"Okay," I replied. Though it was a dull, gloomy day, my spirits were high. I had pleaded forever for a pet. A few minutes before we flew to the pet store, it started to rain. Unfortunately, because of the rain, we couldn't pick up Laurel.

I was disappointed.

Just as the rain started, my mother turned on the TV and went to the news channel.

Mellie and I sat down with my mom on the couch. My dad was at work, and my older sister was still at school.

I thought the news reporters were kidding about a strange robot satellite landing on our purple, furry planet. But later that day, I found out it was true. The show told us to stay in our houses and close our doors and windows. The rest of the report talked about how a space shuttle was believed to have put a robot satellite on our planet, Pluto. We were terrified.

Back then, I hated humans' beliefs, mainly because they didn't believe in aliens. They also thought Pluto was only a "dwarf� planet.

I am not a Dwarf planet

PLUTO

We stayed in our house for the rest of the day and night.

Finally, we filed out of the house. The three of us had heard on the news that an alien named Adam had thrown the satellite robot off of our furry planet, and there was no sign of it in the hours following. Our nation called him a hero, and he remains one to this day.

Some of our wordsmiths believe in aliens !!

DO YOU??

We do exist

Fictional talking animals are anthropomorphic, possessing human like qualities.

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions or intentions to non-humans.

Most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters.

It’s Mister Piggles

By Roxanne O’Rourke, Age 11 There once lived a pig named Mr. Piggles. He was forty years old. He wore an eyeglass, but only over one eye. On top of his head was a tall, black hat. He also walked with a cane. He sounds old-fashioned, because this story took place in 1940.

Mr. Piggles lived in France. He spoke French. He lived in a mansion, because he was rich. He was rich because he was a retired secret agent and now he owned a small restaurant. Of course, his favorite food was snails!

Mr. Piggles thought he was awesome, because his friends all said he was cool. It was good that his friends thought he was cool, because Mr. Piggles wanted more than anything to be awesome. Mr. Piggles liked to walk around a lot; it was one of his strengths.

When Mr. Piggles walked around, he often said, "Teedleet," to strangers just because he liked to. Last but not least, he hated pig eaters, which was one of his weaknesses, because he did not like to hate.

So that's it about Mr. Piggles.

Now here is his story: Once Mr. Piggles was polishing his big, blue crystal pearl when all of a sudden there was a big crash!

Two giant kangaroos hopped in, covered in clothes. They kicked Mr. Piggles to the wall. From the floor, he could see the kangaroos grabbing the pearl and running away. Then, he fell asleep.

After a while, Mr. Piggles woke up. He found himself in a hospital. “Where am I?" Mr. Piggles wasn't sure who he was asking.

A doctor came up to him and put a long bandage on a big wound Mr. Piggles had.

"You're in a hospital," the doctor answered. "You got knocked out and got a big wound. It's all fixed up now, so you can go. We called one of your neighbors to pick you up. Do you know Harry O'Snickery?"

"Yes," Mr. Piggles answered.

The doctor put Mr. Piggles in a wheelchair and wheeled him out to the car.

Mr. Piggles got in and the doctor went back inside.

Then, Mr. Piggles and Harry drove away.

"How are you doing?" Harry asked.

"How do you think?" Mr. Piggles replied, frowning.

"Oh," Harry said and kept driving.

Soon, Mr. Piggles was home. Harry drove away.

Mr. Piggles decided to sit down and eat so that he could think about what to do about the stolen pearl. He looked in the fridge but did not find any food, so he went to the store. He took his two pairs of handcuffs with him just in case. When Mr. Piggles got there, he began looking around for food.

He was about to pick up an apple, but he found that the apples were all gone. He looked for some more, all around the store. The cheese was all gone, and the watermelons were all gone. He heard an employee yelling at two people.

"Come back and pay for that food!" she yelled.

He looked over and saw two kangaroos running away. Something big, blue, and shiny was in one of their pockets. Just then, he recognized them! They were the two thieves who had stolen his crystal pearl! He ran as fast as he could to them. Once he caught them, he put the cuffs on them.

"I caught you now, thieves!" Mr. Piggles shouted.

The thieves sighed and gave up. Mr. Piggles called the cops. Soon, the thieves were in jail, and Mr. Piggles was more awesome than ever!

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

NELSON MANDELA

The first time I reached the top of the wall A Personal Narrative Essay by Connor DaCosta, Age 10 When I entered the rock climbing area, my heart stopped. As I went to harness area, I put on my harness. I had never reached the top of the wall. I was scared that I would slip and fall to the ground.

I started and then I slipped. I began to fall, but the harness slowed my fall.

I realized that the harness could hold me and I would not get hurt if I were to fall.

So I tried again and slipped, but by then I knew it was okay to fall.

I kept on trying to climb and I eventually got higher. Then I got to a point where there were little rocks left to use. As I was waiting to find a route, my hands gave way and I fell. The harness caught me.

I kept on trying to climb up again and I found a way up. Then I fell again.

I finally found a way up past the hard part that I had been stuck on.

"I made it! I made it!" I told my mom.

The wall had gotten easier to climb. I had made it to the top.

From that experience, I learned not to look down, and I learned that I could make it to the top if I practiced.

The Sassy Divas was published by

Lekha Publishers LLC in 2012

“……...a swift fable about navigating the perils of middle school” -Kirkus Reviews.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Yalda Alexandra Saii is an avid reader, writer, and was a student of Lekha Writing Center.

Her short stories and creative works have been published in numerous anthologies, including Adventures of the Imagination, the annual Lekha student anthology.

The Sassy Divas is her first solo novel.

Yalda began writing The Sassy Divas during a Lekha class when she was ten years old, and completed it at the age of twelve. Her passion for writing is ever-growing, and she hopes to publish many more books in the future.

Flip the page to read another sassy story written by Alexandra when she was 10.

EVIL SMILEY FACE

A STORY BY ALEXANDRA SAII, AGE 10 It was late at night. On the planet of Omigosh, the Evil Smiley Face woke up from 100 years of sleep.

"ROAR!" he yawned. He looked around. "CRATER?!"

The little peanut called Crater came running. His real name was PB, but the Evil Smiley Face (also known as Lord Smiley), for some reason, called everyone what he wished, and no dude (the name for "person" on planet Omigosh) would ever correct the mean Lord.

"Y-Yes, my Lord?" PB stammered.

"Take this message to Lord AppleBob in Charming Town...now!" Lord Smiley demanded. He handed PB a box.

"Yes, sir!"...and with that, PB jumped out the window to deliver the mail.

Every dude (that was a peanut) on planet Omigosh had the ability to fly.

Lucky them.

Then, Smiley Palace was filled with the sounds of rock music.

That was the attention signal. Lord Smiley's "speaker-man" started speaking through the speakers.

He said, "Dudes of Smiley Palace! The Lord has awoken!"

The castle rang with "WOOHOO!" and "YEAH!", and some dudes mumbled "Yippee" sarcastically. Lord Smiley was pleased with his crew. The speaker guy spoke again.

"Oh, and dinner is held in the Dungeons tonight. Hurry, and don't be late for dinner, unless you want to be thrown in the Dungeons and be LOCKED UP.

The whole castle was ringing with "RUN!" and "WHY THE DUNGEON?!"

Eventually, everyone went to eat dinner.

Lord Smiley was there first, because he teleported.

"You may now eat," Lord Smiley said, when all the dudes were seated.

The food was great! Turkey, peas, mashed potatoes with gravy, and scrumptious fish with fresh-squeezed lemon drizzled on top!

Sadly, the vegetarians could eat the entree, so they ate the potatoes and peas. The Lord hated that. He did care if you were vegetarian or even if you were allergic to something!

Ginaleena, a vegetarian, was chewing on a mouthful of peas.

"Ginaleena!!�, the Lord exclaimed. "Eat the turkey and fish!"

"I-I-I can't, sir! I'm a vegetarian. I could get sick if I do eat it!" Ginaleenareplied nervously.

"EAT IT!" the Evil Smiley Face demanded. Everyone was sad for Ginaleena.

She was terrified. Then suddenly, she got angry.

"No, sir," Ginaleena said boldly. "I will not." The Lord was boiling mad.

“GINALEENA!" he screamed. Lord Smiley dropped his walking stick, which had magical powers built into it.

Ginaleena knew that he was about to lay a curse on her or have a tornado swoop her away, so she jumped out the window. Everyone beamed, and jumped out the window too. One peanut took the walking stick that Lord Smiley had dropped and made a tornado. The tornado spun the Lord right out the window after all the of the dudes had escaped.

After the tornado spun the Evil Smiley Face out of the window, he was never heard of again. Dudes don't know if he's alive or dead, but if he's alive, he probably learned his lesson about being so cruel.

Sports is something that is very inspirational to young people.

SOCCER– THE GAME I LOVE TO PLAY

BY KAVYA MUNNAGI, AGE 11 Soccer soccer soccer is fun In Soccer you have to run Soccer is the game I love to play I play soccer almost everyday This way, and that you try to get the ball Sometimes it is hard and you might fall When it’s raining it gets really really wet!

And when you fall down, you will regret You dribble and kick and score a goal Sometimes the referee might call a foul In the beginning it is quite confusing But when you understand it, it is like cake with icing Goalie, attacker, midfield and defense You may get scared but don’t become tense Truly soccer is a very great game If you make a goal it will get you lots of fame.

GOLF AN OPINION ESSAY BY JONATHAN CHAN, AGE 9 Have you ever seen a sport more boring than golf? Just imagine yourself practicing all day just to get a ball into a small hole.

Also, golf has no exercise, no teamwork, and requires expensive equipment.

For example, a club costs about $100 and a bag is about $150.

If you have a to lose weight, do not play this sport. All you do in golf is hit a ball and drive to the next spot. Play a running sport instead. This will keep you fit.

Then you have the white, small balls. This is a main reason not to play golf.

These balls are not reliable like soccer or tennis balls. You will most likely lose a quarter of them after you hit them. If the balls belong to a golf course, the place will have no more and will have to buy more.

In a golf course, it is weird when they put water, because somebody might hit some balls into the water. Once the ball falls into the water, the ball is lost. This means that you have to buy another ball.

So whatever you do, do not play golf. It is the most expensive and boring sport ever. You don't gain anything, not even the loss of weight.

I don’t like golf.

SINGING YOUR HEART OUT

BY KAITLYN DAI, AGE 9 Libby shivered and shook. She peered out from backstage and gulped. Hundreds and hundreds of faces looked back at her. She quickly shrank back nervously.

"No," she cried, "I can't do it! Not in front of so many people."

Libby's mom put her hands on Libby's shoulders. ''Don't be afraid, Libby," she said gently. "Let me tell you about a story when I was little."

Libby sat down on the floor. She did enjoy her mother's childhood stories very much.

"When I was little," Libby's mom began. "I also loved singing. Every day, I'd do my chores, and I'd sing. I, like you, joined a singing competition. I was even more nervous than you," she said, smiling.

Libby's fear slowly shrank back. She liked to imagine her mother, as a child, singing her heart out. Libby smiled to herself.

Again, she peered out to the crowd. This time, she imagined them roaring and clapping for her, Libby Talom, after she sang. A wave of pleasure hit Libby as the thought came to her.

Suddenly, the speaker announced her name. Libby looked at her mom. She simply smiled. Libby stepped onto stage. The spotlight shone on her. She knew the thousands of eyes were looking at her. Libby walked to the center of the stage. She opened her mouth. She sang.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR The fictional narrative above was written by Kaitlyn when she was 9.

Since childhood, Kaitlyn has always been greatly inspired by fantasy books, some of which accompanied her into her adolescence. Her love for reading books led her to become a writer. She began writing CLARITY when she was only nine years old, by simply opening up a new Word document and asking herself a single question: What would happen if I tried writing my own fantasy novel?

Gradually spun from that single question and the untamed, vivid imagination that she has always possessed, CLARITY. CLARITY is Dai’s first published work, but definitely will not be her last.

BUILDING CREATIVE YOUNG MINDS Young Wordsmiths is the online magazine of the 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 to 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.