SUMMER HOLIDAYS ARE HERE (Poem)

                                            
Month of May brought long, hot days,             
And now we have our summer holidays

Summer holidays mean no to school,
Waking up late with no set rule.

Little home work, easy to be done,
Lesser studies and lot's of fun.
   
Playing and talking and watching cartoon,
Fun continues till the end of June.

Beautiful time comes once in a year,
Summer holidays are best days ever.
                                                      - Aunt Mary

                                                    

THE STORY OF PRINCESS MOUSE ( Finnish Folktale )

                                                 
 One fine morning a father was having breakfast with his two beloved sons. He told his young sons,'' My dear children, now you both are old enough to get married and according to our culture you should cut a tree and should go into the direction in which the tree falls to find your bride.

                                                 
"Alright father. As you wish." , the two brothers agreed. 
The elder brother already liked a girl and he made sure that the tree fell down in the direction of girl's home.
Younger  brother Mikko cut the tree and went the way the fallen tree pointed out. It was a lonely way which led him to the forest.   
There was a small house in the middle of the woods.He went inside but the house was empty.

                                             
Mikko became so sad , he sat down under a tree outside the house. 
"I am not going to find my bride...No one lives here.", he murmured.
"I live in this house, please don't loose heart, I will be  your bride.", Mikko heard a voice. He looked around but nobody was there. Mikko got a bit scared.
 
 "Hello, I am here." Oh! the voice was coming from the ground.
 The young man looked down and he saw a little mouse on the ground near his feet.
"I will be a very good wife ,please marry me'' , said the small mouse. 
"How can I marry a mouse ?", the amazed and surprised young man said. 
''Stay with me for some time , I am sure you will like me and will select me as your wife.'', said the little mouse.
Mikko felt pity for her, he smiled and said, ''Alright I will stay here for a while."
He stayed with the mouse , she sang a beautiful song for him. Mikko liked her a lot, she was so nice.

                                                                       

Mikko went back to his home, he didn't tell his father that he had met a mouse.
''Dear sons, I want to give a little test to your to be brides, they have to weave a fine linen cloth for me'' Mikko's father told his sons.
Next day Mikko went to the mouse and told her about the test. 
"Don't worry, believe me everything is going to be fine.", said the little mouse.
Mikko was tired he fell asleep. The mouse wove a beautiful linen cloth with the help of her mouse friends. She folded the cloth and  packed it in a nutshell.
Mikko got up, the little mouse gave him the nutshell and said'' I have woven the cloth, I hope your father will like it.'' Mikko took the shell and returned home.
When his father opened the shell he got amazed to see the yards of  fine, beautiful fabric. ''Your bride is such a wonderful weaver, I am lucky to have her as my daughter-in law.'' said the happy father.
Next morning Mikko visited the mouse and told her that today is the day of their marriage.
The little mouse climbed into a carriage which was pulled and driven by rats.
They reached home, everyone was astonished to see the mouse,''Look! Mikko's bride is mouse.''
''How can you marry a mouse?'', his brother shouted with anger. He threw the carriage into the river.
Mikko's eyes filled with tears, ''You killed my sweetheart, I can't live without her!", he cried.
And just then, a beautiful princess came out of the river along with four horses.

                                            
''A witch had cursed me and turned me into a mouse.'' ,she told Mikko and his family,''The curse could only end if my lover's brother would hate me.''
Everybody got so happy that Mikko's bride was not a mouse , she was a princess, and what about Mikko?
Well.... he was the happiest man on the earth.
He got married to the princess and they lived happily ever after. 
                                                                  
                                                                   (A folktale from Finland)
                                                                      Retold by- Aunt Mary

United We Stand, Divided We Fall ( Moral Story )

Once upon a time a man lived in a village with his three sons. All three of them were good, hardworking fellows. The old man  had no complaint with them except that they fought with each other all the time. 

                 'They fought for every single reason , big or small.'

                                        
 The poor old man always told them to stop fighting with each other and to stay united but all his efforts failed. He got so worried, ''My sons fight all the time even in front of my eyes, what will they do after I die! I have to do something about their quarrels. He continued thinking.
Next day he called his three sons, when they came he gave a bundle of sticks to his elder son, ''Come on let me see if you can break it or not ?''
The elder son tried but couldn't break the sticks.
 "Now it's your turn." , said the old man to his second son. ''Break it.''
The second son tried with all his strength to break the bundle but he failed too.
"Can you break these sticks my son ?" , asked the father to his youngest son .
The young man tried so hard but did not succeed.
Now the old man took back the bundle of sticks and separated the sticks and gave one stick each to his sons and told them to break it.
The three boys very easily broke the stick.
Listen my boys said the old man to his sons,'' You become as weak as a single stick when you are divided, but when you are united you are as strong as a bundle of sticks . So  if you want to be strong and powerful do not fight with each other and stay united.'' 
The three young men had now learnt a big lesson of life. They promised their father that they will not fight again and will maintain their unity as brothers in the upcoming life.

                                                                                     

    Moral of the story is-United we stand divided we fall

                                                    Aesop's Fable Re told by -Aunt Mary


You may also like 
Unity is strength (Moral Story)
Good things come in small packages (Moral Story)
    

Did you know these amazing facts ?

Dear kids, here are some amazing facts that you would love to  know.

              Without air sky would look black even during the day.
                                                   

 Frogs have sticky tongues. They flick them out to catch flies.

In Japan people are employed to push the passengers on to crowded tube trains.

In Australia some farms are so big and large , farmers use planes to get across these farms.

Panama hats are made from Palm tree leaves that grow in Ecuador.

Some singers can sing a note so high that it will shatter a glass.

The golden-white coat of Arctic foxes turn white in winter to hide the animals in the snow.

The German composer Beethoven was only three when he performed his first piece of music.

In 1963 a volcanic island suddenly appeared in the sea .It is called Surtsey.It is now home to plants.

In South America some bridges are made of plaited grass.

                                                                

At the age of two years, a boy is half his adult height.