LAL KALO

By Bapu

We went to watch a movie. That was in Bengali. The name was Lal Kalo. It means Red-Black. We all watched it wuth Calcutta International School at City Centre. It was about war with red ants and black ants. The red ants had a snake to battle with them, and the black had a mongoose. They found peace at the end.

And now for a poetic interlude

A Mustard Seeds Mother has given her kind permission to post some of her beautiful animal and insect poems. She believes a poem a day keeps the blues away...She may have something there!

THE SPARROW
Perched on sunshades,
narrow or wide
Turning its head
from side to side

It chirps all day long,
little brown bird
Often goes unnoticed
yet constantly heard

Flitting merrily
from wire to branch
Looking for grains
and worms to munch

Fluttering its wings
It bathes in dust,
A flock full of sparrows
Is a sight, that's a must

THE EARTHWORM
From dawn to dusk
in fields they toil,
The natural tillers of the soil

Wriggly, slimy soft in form
None other than
Our little earthworm.

Burrowing and turning
It seldom stops
The more it digs
The better our crops

Learn to know a friend
from foe
It's these who helps your garden grow
We owe so much
To this friend of ours
For draping the earth
With fruits and flowers

THE COCKROACH
Awfully ugly, sturdy
and brown
Hastily scurrying up
and down

The oven or
the cupboard door
Along the wall
Across the floor

Be it biting cold
or scorching heat
Survives all odds
Knows no defeat

For centuries it has
walked the earth
And even today
There is no dearth

Feared by many,
despised by all
Cockroaches BIG
cockroaches small

ODE TO A GECKO
Slithery and vigilant
the common lizard
No less a wonder
than a wizard

Elegantly glides
on walls and roof
Without the aid
of a broom or hoof

A single flick of its
long, sticky tongue,
To the insect world
Sure - death knell rung!
Glossy round eyes
Roving left and right
Be it day
or
be it night

Each step taken
is a cautious one,
every fly gobbled
as the battle is won

Every detective
Can owe his fame
To the tik-tiki:
It's Bengali name...

I'm Turning Green. Are you?

by Pujarinee Earthinker

Last Friday, I found an old notebook from my Environmental Science (EVS) class and I came up with a great recycling idea. I decided that instead of just tossing it away, I could staple the pages I had already used in the front of the notebook and begin to use it like a brand new notebook from those pages onward. I knew this was a fantastic way to save precious trees.

But when my teacher saw the notebook, she said I needed a new one for her class. Puzzled and a bit saddened, I asked her, "How can you say this -- YOU are the EVS teacher!" She smiled and told me I should bring a new notebook next time.

If adults are not willing to change their attitudes so that we can protect the environment, how can we children be expected to really make a difference for our future? We cannot do it alone, though we really want to DO SOMETHING. We hope that adults will cooperate with our efforts and ideas for helping take care of the planet we all share.

Talking about Books that Speak to Us

Mango Smiles: Magic Tree House
Originally uploaded by dalbhat

A quick glance at our sign out book shows that the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne includes some of the most popular books at Mustard Seeds at present. I decided to ask Tapaswinee and Rahul a few questions about the series to get the inside scoop.

When did you start reading these books?
Rahul: When I was six years old, in 2007.
Tapaswinee: When I was eight years old, in 2007.

What do you like about Magic Tree House?
R: You can learn a lot by reading these, like what it was like in olden times when there were knights.
T: They have such exciting adventures, like in Ghost Town at Sundown when Annie and Jack went to a place with a cowboy. They had to save a little pony.

Tell me about the character Morgan le Fay...
R: She's the Master Librarian and the tree house actually belongs to her. She asked Jack and Annie if they want to be her librarians in order to free her.

What is your favorite book in this series?
R: I have probably read about 14 of them. Dinosaurs Past Noon, Knight at Dawn, Mummies Before Breakfast and Dolphins Past Daybreak are my favorites.
T: Well, I am taking out Hour of the Olympics today. There are 25 or 26 books in the series.
R: I think there are 31.

Whose the author?
T: Mary Pope Osborne. Will Osborne is Mary Pope Osborne's husband and he helps her write the research guides that you can now get too.

What kind of personalities do the main characters have?
R: Jack always says, "EEKS!" and suddenly he disappears. Jack is always checking his notebook and keeping notes. Annie always says, "Come on, Jack!"

Tultuli's Birthday

by Jhimli


It was the third of December, and we had a good move towards the gift shop because it our friend's birthday, Tultuli's birthday. We bought some gifts for her, wrapped them up, and went to her house, well dressed. After a few moments, everybody else arrived, all the children -- Sroyona, Srijata, me, my sister Pujarinee, Tatai, Nini, Rudrani, Makhon, Malini, Bapu and everybody -- we sat playing the singing game known as Antakshari, quizzes, and a bit of dancing!

After that, Tultuli led us to the dining table where a cake stood. It was shaped like a book. She cut it and gave a piece to every one of us. Then we enjoyed playing Paper Dance and then sat on the table to have our dinner. Sheela Auntie served our food and we ate with a heavy heart and did not stop until we were full. Then we took our return gifts from Tultuli (nice soup bowls and chocolates), and headed back home.

*Paper Dance is a game you play by folding a piece of paper over and over again, dancing on it until you cannot stay on it anymore!

The Picnic

by Puja


On 31st December, we packed for a picnic at Nalban, a boating park which neighbours Nicco Park in Salt Lake. We packed our things and boarded an Ambassador for going there. We had no idea who would come for the picnic because it was our first ever with the "Vidyasagers!" We met one of the girls of Vidyasagar whose name is Rinky. She introduced herself to me, my sister, and my friend Piu. We enjoyed playing bandminton with her. After that, we were called for our breakfast which consisted of a light meal of 'luchi' and 'alur dom.' We enjoyed eating this together with our friends. Feeding the Goat was a funny game we played too: you had to find goats and feed them. The one who could feed the maximum number of goats was the winner. Then we had our lunch with fried rice, a chicken curry, vegetable curries, and chutney. We played Ghost in the Graveyard after that. It was real excitement and enjoyment until we finally returned home in the evening, happy and tired.

*Puja wrote this piece one year ago when she and her sister were still quite new to Mustard Seeds Library. Now they are both very regular members!!
* Wondering what alur dom is? A tomatoey potato curry with coriander leaves served with little round fried breads called luchi.