A magazine of features and articles for kids focussed on the world we live in. Non fiction features for children on festivals, customs, traditions, art, craft, dance, music, culture, ways of life, history, cinema, sport, champions, rare feats, artists, education, thinkers, famous people, and much more. Also articles BY kids who write on the world around them.
264 items in this section. Displaying page 21 of 27
Pablo the Pigeon Painter
Pablo Diego Jose Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Maria de los Remedios Cipriano Santisma Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. Phew! A mouthful, but a name reckoned to be among the greatest artists of the 20th century. His paintings are worth millions and millions have seen and admired his work. A handful is fortunate to own some of his paintings. He’s better known to the world as just Pablo Picasso. To his family he is simply known as – Pablito!...
Romance of Postage Stamps
In earlier days the stamps of British Guiana were printed by a British printer, Waterlow & Sons. In 1856, the stock of stamps was exhausted but a fresh supply had failed to arrive. So the postmaster hurriedly had 4-cent stamps printed locally using the existing designs, the seal of the colony – a ship and the motto ‘Damus Petimusque Vicis sim’ (We give and we seek in turn). These new stamps were printed on magenta paper in black ink but the quality was so poor that the postmaster, to prevent forgery, asked the postal officials to initial each stamp before selling it....
Super Moms
Japan: Mothers for peace Did you know that mothers in Japan were among the first to protest against nuclear weapons? This happened 45 years ago, in 1955. In 1945, at the fag end of the Second World War, the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombs killed 3,40,000 people. About 300,000 were left alive, but they suffered all through their lives from the horrible effects of radiation. Super Moms [Illustration by Biswajyoti Ghosh] For a long time no one spoke about the terrible tragedy....
Chip off the Old Block
Long ago in the year 1853, one Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, a big business tycoon , was having dinner at a resort called Saratoga Springs in New York. After eating a few fried potatoes, he sent it back complaining that they were too thick. The chef, a native-American called George Crum, was apparently miffed at the Commodore’s complaint and decided to give a sarcastic reply. He sliced potatoes paper thin, fried them to a crisp and salted them....
The Emperor and Chitranjan Cheetah
Mughal emperor Akbar loved hunting. Four hundred and twenty eight years ago, when he was passing through Rajasthan, he decided to go for a hunt. He used to keep cheetahs in his hunting party. Being very fast they were quick to catch their prey. But on that day he chose to hunt without the help of his cheetahs. He only took his attendants with him. Without meaning to do so the attendants freed a royal cheetah in the hunting area....
The Making of a Prodigy
When Siva Kalyan was born, his spine or backbone was deformed resulting in a lifelong difficulty in walking. But that hasn’t stopped the nine-year-old from becoming a prodigy. This child, who loves reading comics, writing stories and enjoys sketching cartoon strips, is learning advanced mathematics and physics from one of the most reputed universities in the United States of America. The Hindu reports that Siva’s parents were in Tamil Nadu when Siva was born. His backbone was not straight, his joints were loose and the muscles were weak....
The Emperor who Rolled his Eyes
At the age of 18, Akbar had been emperor of the Mughal empire for four years. This was 440 years ago, in the year 1560. But the king still had many desires that any ordinary young man would have at his age. He loved cock-fights and he liked to play practical jokes. He also had a great curiosity to know about the lives of ordinary people. For that reason he would go to places where festivals were celebrated — not as emperor but as an ordinary man without any fanfare surrounding him....
Why Mother's Day?
Why have a particular day to tell your mother that you love her and respect her, some of us might ask. Why indeed? We could do that everyday. Right. We could. But, do we? So, is it such a bad idea to have a day to honour mothers? After all, we have specific days to honour freedom fighters, leaders or other heroes. And mothers are no less than heroes, considering the amount of effort they put into making their children’s lives a bit more easy and happier....
Dress Relief
The doorbell rang. ‘Now darling remember all that I have told you,’ said Ma for the umpteenth time as she nervously opened the door. There stood Grandma in her white saree, as upright as ever with the perpetual stern look on her face. ‘Jeetiraho’ boomed her voice as Ma touched her feet. I followed her example and then helped Papa who was struggling with the suitcases, tins and sacks. Grandma always carried her kitchen with her, no mixer or microwave or for that matter even a gas stove would do for her....
We Would All Scream Without Ice Cream
Can you imagine a summer without ice creams? It seems the Chinese, too, couldn’t. For it was they who gave the world its first ice cream. In India, the Mughals are said to have introduced their kind of ice cream — the kulfi. The exact date of origin of the ice cream is not known. Kulfi is a mixture of khoa, pistachio nuts and saffron essence frozen in conical metal containers after sealing it with dough — exactly the same way as it is made today!...