Dear friends, How are you all? We have come back with another exciting issue. For this week, read interesting stories on bird in the snow and how precious a gift is! For those who love to draw not to forget to read the cover story section. Best of luck! edi
Designed by Sohail Abbas
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Cover story
Story time
WWF
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Movie Review
Hey kids, kindly send us letters, stories, poems and events detail on the following address: youngnation@nation.com.pk Or Editor Young Nation 4- Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore.
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do
publish
this
Thank you,
letter and also do
Your biggest fan,
take the stories
Zunaira kashif
into consideration
Beacon house school system
that I am sending. Can I send you
Dear edi,
hand made draw-
Hope you are fine. Your maga-
ings by email.
zine is amazing. I am a regu-
Regards,
lar reader of your magazine. It is very informative. Please
Usama Rashid
publish the posters of Harry Hi edi,
potter and Winx club again.
Hi edi,
How are you? I hope you
I would be very thankful to
I like your magazine. I am
are fine by the grace of God.
you.
your regular reader. But I am
You and your team are doing
Keep up the good job!
not happy because you didn’t
awesome job. I am a regular
God bless you and your team!
publish my letter. I am very
reader of your magazine. I will
Your fan,
disappointed because it has
be obliged if you increase the
Fizza Babar
happened many times. Please
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Gujranwala
Words of wisdom “Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another.” -- Marva Collins Marva Collins grew up in Atmore, Alabama at a time when segregation was the rule. Black people were not permitted to use the public library, and her schools had few books, and no indoor plumbing. Nonetheless, her family instilled in her an awareness of the family’s historical excellence and helped develop her strong desire for learning, achievement and independence. Collins has received many accolades in recognition of her outstanding work with children.
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A Guardian As I entered the room, I saw what I hated most. It was a horrible, ugly little doll with dark brown skin and hair as red as blood. It was about the size of my thumb, with a creepy smile on its face. It was a fourteenth birthday gift from my grandmother who believed that if you hung it from a thread over your bed, you wouldn’t have nightmares. I had only acted as if I loved it so I wouldn’t hurt my grandmother’s feelings, but everyone else in the house knew I hated it. My friends had come and had seen the thing hanging above my head. They had hated it so much; they’d told me to either burn or bury it. I told them that my grandmother would be hurt but they told me to say that I had lost it and couldn’t find it anywhere. They had convinced me and that day I was about to do it. I pulled it away from the string it was attached to and took it outside. Before anyone could call me back inside, I picked up one of the gardener’s shovels, pushed it into the soil and made a deep hole. Then I dropped the thing into it. It grinned at me from the bottom of the hole. I quickly covered it back with soil. The next day, when my grandmother asked me where the doll was, I gave her the story that I had lost it. When she heard that, she looked so hurt that I regretted having gotten rid of it. But then I remembered my reasons and said, “I’m sorry, Grandma, but I looked everywhere for it. I really can’t find it.” One day when both of us were alone in the house and I asked her why she was so depressed all the time. For a while she said nothing and I thought she hadn’t heard me. But then she said sadly, “I miss that doll.” I knew she was waiting for me to say something, but I didn’t. She paused and then said, “It’s
the only thing I had left of my grandmother’s, and now it’s gone too. I know it was a bit ugly, but it reminded me of my fourteenth birthday when she gave it to me. She… died three weeks later. But, to me, the doll felt like it was part of her soul. Now… it feels like she’s died all over again.” I was shocked. I knew Grandma had been very close to her grandmother, and missed her a lot. And now I had buried her last reminder of her. But what could I do? It had been made of wood. It must have rotted already down there in the ground. “I’m sorry, Grandma,” I said, about to cry, “I wouldn’t have lost it if I knew.” “Did you love it?” she asked softly. “Uh…yeah,” I lied. She looked at me for a long time and then said, “Tell me the truth, darling. Did y o u
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By Arhamah Zahid
STORYTIME love it?” I knew I couldn’t lie anymore. “Grandma,” I said, crying. “It was creepy. I’m sorry, but I didn’t like it. If I’d known it was so special to you, I would have tried to keep it safe.” “Do you think you would have tried to not bury it?” she said. She smiled at me, reached into her pocket and pulled something out. The doll. “I saw you bury it,” she explained. “I’m sorry, Grandma…” I said, weeping. “It’s okay, darling,” she said, putting her arm around me. Now the doll always hangs over my bed. My friends don’t understand why I’ve kept it. But every night I say goodnight to it. And every night the doll stays above me, keeping me safe from nightmares.
Art of
sketching Cover Story
Sketching is a popular hobby which requires regular practice, so that one can become better at the art. If a professional like an artist, an architect or an animator, wants to get better at sketching, along with a lot of practice, observation and study of the particular subject are also required. Listed below are the sketching tips for beginners and professionals. Sketching Tips for Kids and Beginners Given below are some sketching tips for kids and beginners? If you want to polish your skills, you can read sketching tips and tricks, for advanced sketching detailed
later in the article. To get started with basic sketching for beginners, the equipment required are, a sketch pad, some 6B pencils, eraser and sharpener. * Before starting a sketching session, always draw circles, ovals and horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines on a sheet of pa-
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per. This will help you gain control over your hand movements. * Start by doodling stuff, like objects, gestures, nature, etc. The sketch doesn’t have to be perfect. Just get your hand flowing on the paper, so that your confidence on your drawing skills rises. * After your hand movements become steady, start sketching with easy subjects like nature, still life and cartoons. You can always refer to books on these subjects for drawing lessons. * For the above subjects, first practice sketching the form, for example, if you want to draw a house, see that the proportions of the different parts of the house are correct. * After you get the form right, start shading or texturing the drawing. There are various types of texturing styles like smudging, hatching, cross-hatching, etc. You can buy some illustrated books, to learn basic texturing. Advanced Sketching Tips: Many times, professionals or students of arts and crafts get stuck in the vicious circle of perfecting their own art work. For sketching, three things are very important. First understand the sketching rules that apply to a particular subject. Second is observation, and the third most important factor is regular practice. Equipment: It is important that you have the right equipment
depending on the subject you are drawing. For architects, it is very important to master perspective drawings. So, things like rulers, technical pens, mechanical pens, etc. should always be kept handy. If you are a fine arts student, it is important that you master sketching subjects like nature, still life and portraits. For art students, basic equipment and a live subject (to pose as a model) are very necessary. If you are studying animation, make sure you have basic sketching equipment and a digital camera to capture moving subjects for gesture drawings and expression drawings. Books: There are many advanced books for learning the art of sketching particular subjects. Observation: Constant observation is an important key to improving your sketching skills. Wherever you are, keep observing. The place can be a bus stop, or an airport, but observation will only make
you a better artist. If you are facing problems sketching a particular subject, observe that subject more patiently and precisely. It is difficult to observe a moving subject, so you can refer to photographs or sketches of the moving subject. If you want to learn how to sketch people, then pay observe them and pay attention to details. When observing a person at a public place, observe a person subtly and do not stare at the subject for long as it is considered rude. Practice: Practice, practice and practice some more, to get better at sketching. Practice is the single most important factor that contributes to good sketching. If you have difficulty at drawing a particular subject or object, practice sketching the subject. Always, keep your sketching equipment handy so that you can sketch at any public place like a bus stop, train station,
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airport, etc. Do not feel shy to sketch in public, just ignore everybody and concentrate on drawing the subject. Guidance: Guidance is also important when learning advanced sketching. Show your sketches to your teachers or seniors in your profession, twice or thrice in a week. They will guide you in ways that will help you in getting the proportions and the form of the subject right. Keep asking questions if face difficulty in sketching something. If you are an art student, form a group with your classmates for sketching and seek their help if you are struggling with a particular form of drawing. (Courtesy: Pragya T)
By Zabreen Hasan Once upon a time, a little fish called Firy lived in a river. She lived there with her mother and father and little brother, and went to school like all the other little fish did. The river where they lived had lovely, fresh, clean water. There were reeds in it, and all sorts of fish loved to swim in and out of them. On clear days the sun shone right through to the bed of the river. One morning Firy was sitting in school with her friends, when a very strange thing happened. First, her friend Eli started coughing. Then Lila
started sneezing. Then the teacher started sneezing. Suddenly something horrible floated past Firy. It was a glob of… a glob of… well, she didn’t know what it was a glob of, but it was awful! It was dark in some places and light in others, and smelt yucky. Everyone was having trouble breathing, and the lovely clean, clear water they were all sitting in had gone a murky brown. Firy could hardly see her teacher. “I think,” gasped the teacher, “we should all go home!” There was a scramble to get
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their books packed, and in the dirty gloom it was hard to do. Then all the students ran for home. The teacher ran too, and got home before anyone else! Firy was very worried about her mother and father, and her little brother Mik. It was difficult to find her way, because all the water was a murky brown now, and Firy couldn’t breathe properly. Suddenly Firy saw her father. “Oh, Firy, my child!” he said. “We were so worried, and I came out to find you. Come on, we have to leave home.
We’re going to stay with some friends.” “But what’s happening, Daddy?” asked Firy. “I’ve never seen the water like this before!” “Somebody,” said her father, “is pouring effluent into the river.” He looked very, very angry. “What’s eff… effl… er, what’s that?” asked Firy. But her fa-
and they tried to settle in and get on with their lives. But of course they couldn’t, because this wasn’t home. Firy and Mik longed for their own bedrooms, and their own toys, and their own books – oh, how they missed their books! And their friends, and school… One day Firy asked her father
ther had no time to reply. He hurried her home. On the way they saw lots of other fish, and they were all hurrying to and fro, some looking sad, others angry. Firy’s parents quickly did their packing, and then set off for where their friends lived in a tributary of the main river. It was a long way off, and the going was hard because of the darkness, and the horrible smell. The tributary of the river was quite clean, and everybody heaved a sigh of relief when they got there. The friends gave them a warm welcome,
what effluent was again, and this time he told her. “Effluent,” he said, “is the horrible chemical waste that comes out of factories.” “What are factories?” asked Firy. “They’re places where
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the humans who live on the surface make things. And then, all the waste that’s left, they just throw it away. A lot of the time they throw it into the water.” Firy and Mik were very unhappy to learn all this. They wondered how their friends were. How many of them had managed to get away? How many were all right? Firy was specially worried about her teacher, who had gotten so sick before she ran from school. Was she all right? Firy was very sad. She hoped that one day the silly humans would stop dumping their waste into the river, and they’d all be able to go home again…
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STORYTIME
By Summer Iman Ahmed It was a dark snowy night. The bright moon illuminated the cobwebs making them shimmer. It was quiet, in fact, it was eerie. I could bear it no longer. I had to do something. As quick as a flash I had jumped out of bed. Put my slippers, dressing gown, socks and a teddy bear in a bag along with my pyjamas and then I got changed. I put the bag on my back and crept quietly downstairs. I picked a bar of Galaxy chocolate, crunchy apple and some dried fruit. At last I began my adventure. I opened the back door and stepped out into the cold night air. By the time I had started walking it was snowing. I tasted the gentle but cold snowflakes landing softly on my lips and nose. The trees were silhouetted spookily across the ground. I walked out of the garden and shut the gate behind me with a small click. It was just a beautiful sight. The snow was all over the village. It was fun walking all alone. The snow made won-
derful crunching noise when stepped on it. But just then the snowy trees made a different noise a sort of “swish swish”. The icicles made it very peculiar. I said it loud to myself. “I wonder what is happen-
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ing to me.” As if in reply, all the icicles flew around me and formed wings and it was just then most wonderful feeling soaring through the air at top speed. I was so busy flying that I didn’t notice that the snowy landscape was changing. The buildings were getting whiter, in fact everything was getting whiter. It was a cold wintry wonderland!!! My wings murmured “It is the land of snow.” “Whoa” I said. It was awesome. The houses looked so sweet and they were decorated with tiny pieces of ice carved into jewel like shapes. “So, do people live in these houses?” “Of course!” muttered my wings. “What kinds of people?” I asked. “Snowmen” whispered the fluttering wings on my back. At last I landed: with a bit of a bump too. I picked myself up and began walking steadily towards one of the houses and
picked up the carved ice doorknocker and gently knocked on the cold, hard door. Slowly the door opened and a snowy person came out. “Hello” said the snow person dreamily. “Hi!” I said. “What’s your name?” said the snow person. “My name is Summer” I said. “What is your name” I asked the snow person. “My name is Frost” she replied. “Do you want to come and play outside?” I asked. “Oh yes please” replied Frost eagerly. So out we went!!! “Here is the Ice Lolly tree”. “The Ice Lolly tree?” “Yes” said Frost “it gives you any flavoured ice lollies you want. When we had finished our ice lollies we had a snow ball fight! “Catch me if you can” Frost chanted. After that Frost and I went to her house. Inside it was adorable and I enjoyed every minute of it. That night I slept on Frost’s bed. Then we went outside to build snow castle. It was such fun! Soon it got dark and I grew
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tired. But tonight was different. I went to bed but I couldn’t get comfortable. There was a noise that brought fear to my heart; A drumming noise that came from the ceiling... I woke Frost and we both grabbed our bags and tiptoed out of the house. Frost grabbed hold of my waist. I started to fly. It was seemingly impossible to fly with Frost holding onto my waist. It was bitterly cold and I was extremely tired. I could barely see. Frost’s weight was holding me down. I had to go on. But just then, a miracle happened; Frost sprouted wings too! “Frost, fly!” I shouted. We both flew through the misty sky. I began to wish that I could land. We flew, and flew. Frost and I held each other’s hands. Frost said to me “Here take this, it’s a gift from me” I opened the little box and inside was the most beautiful little glass snowflake model ever! “Thank you so much Frost, and carefully I put it in my bag. Suddenly I heard a powerful applause of thunder echoing around me and a knife of lightning seemed to slice the sky in half. My wings disappeared and I started falling. Falling at a tremendous rate.... THUD!!! I woke up in my bed “It was a dream” I told myself firmly. But then I realised something. In my hand, I still had the glass snowflake. It must have been real.....
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Yousaf Raza
Shoaib Rashid
Artist’s Corner Sehrish Suleiman
Krona Emanuel
Subha Farda
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Hina Shabir
Iqra Rasheed
Artist’s Corner
Daniyal Ali Harris Abbassi
Syed M Raza
Hajra Rasheed
NOTE: Kindly email your drawings at youngnation@nation. com.pk Young Nation-March 12,2011
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