THE BED AND BREAKFAST STAR- (Book Review by Caitlin Smith)

This book is written by Jacqueline Wilson and illustrated by Nick Sharratt. 

This book is about a young girl called Elsa who lives in a bed and breakfast hotel with her mum,her step dad [Mack the Smack],her step sister Pippa and her step brother Hank. 

Elsa loves to tell jokes but no one really laughs anymore and she dreams of being a comedian some day. Elsa and her family found it hard when they had to move from house to house and switch jobs and losing both house and job and when they had no house nor job they had to stay in a bed and breakfast hotel not a posh one but one that has bugs and insects in the room. Elsa also finds school hard when she gets put in the ''special class'' with a boy called Funny Face and an annoying, nosy  teacher called Mrs Fisher. 

My favorite part is when Elsa wakes up everyone in the hotel when one of the kitchens caught fire.I also like it because she likes to tell jokes and like to tell funny knock knock jokes. 

I find this book funny and full of adventure and it teaches about respect and to never never give up hope.

I would recommend this book for 6 year old's to 14 year old's.

Reading while getting my hair done :-)

SAMMY FERAL'S DIARIES OF WEIRD-(Book Review by Caitlin Smith)

This book is written by Eleanor Hawken and illustrated by John Kelly.This book is filled with adventure,mystery,thrill and excitement.The story tells about a 12 year old boy called Sammy Feral and his family who own and operate a zoo.The zoo is called Feral Zoo.It has lots of regular animals.

One day Sammy's family turns into werewolves after they are bitten by their pet puppy Caliban who happen to be a werewolf pup.

So with the help of Donny the Cryptozoologist [a person who studies mythical creatures] and Red [Donny's sidekick] they try to find a cure for the were-virus.This virus also infects the other animals at the zoo.

The adventure bit in the story is when Sammy has to find a cure before the next full moon and to save the Feral Zoo from evil Professor Pickett.

This book is rather funny and I was engrossed in it.I like the way it is written especially the descriptions of Sammy's family and the other characters.I would recommend this book to anyone,especially those  who 7 and above.

This book was one of my Christmas (2016) presents .

My Journey with Blessing in a Backpack Christmas @ Project Tikar

Every year I write a letter to Santa telling him how good or how good I tried to be all year and give him my list of presents that I wished for. Every year I get almost everything on that list. I knew Santa uses my family to deliver those gifts because I don't have a chimney. This year I wrote a long list of things that I wanted and gave it to my mom. She was at first baffled reading my list and so I had to explain it to her. 

After my very small contribution to PIT STOP from the sale of my paintings, I was thinking there was more I could do. I listened to the stories Ms.Joycelyn tells me about our street friends. Many of them are very old people like my granny in Scotland and my grandma here and they still have to work like collecting old newspapers to earn  some little money like RM 1.00 for every 2 kg of newspapers. Many have jobs but earn very little to rent a house and buy food. Many are abandoned with their babies on the streets or have run away because they are beaten all the time. Many lose their jobs due to injury or illness and cannot work any longer. There is a lot of reasons and I may not know all of them but I do understand  this people become homeless not because they are too lazy to work.

Project Tikar is a fortnightly walkabout to distribute some items to these people sleeping on the streets. They need a tikar which is a sleeping mat because they don't have a bed and they sleep on cardboard sheets. They need a bag-pack because they don't have a cupboard to put their things. They need mosquito coils because they sleep outside and get bitten by mosquito. They need toiletries like soap, bath towel, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and wet wipes as there is no regular place to bathe to keep clean. They need blankets and ponchos because they don't have shelter to keep away from the rain and keep warm.They need band aid and Panadol because they cannot pay to see a doctor when they fall ill.They need bottled water because they don't have access or money to buy clean water.
My mom put out my Christmas wish list to all our family and friends because I knew I could not get everything myself. What I received from the day my wish list went out was surprising. I wanted 100 of each item and more was a blessing and I got just that.  I spoke to A LOT of people about my wish list and some were glad to contribute while a few made promises but did not deliver the items, others just gave their opinions and a few scolded my mom for encouraging me to help the bums on the streets. My mom told me it best to just smile, say thank you and walk away from them. 
I also sold some of my story books  and I bought some Christmas shaped butter cookies for PIT STOP to sell which they sold at 
RM 2.50 each.

                           Christmas cookies for sale at PIT STOP at RM 2.50 each.

My job while receiving these items was to count and record them. I found many useless and used items among these things too. While on this project I felt happy, sad, disappointed and frustrated and I understood a little bit of how hard Ms. Joycelyn job was and how my street friends feels when people look down on them.

Recording the items received.

                                                                Counting the items received.

At the end of the project which was on 9 December 2016, I managed to collect 66 backpacks and canvas bags, 45 lighters, 120 pieces of mosquito coils, 395 bottles of water, 160 packs of individually packed crackers, 150 pieces of bath towel, 300 adult and children toothbrushes, 100 and more toothpaste, 200 and more bath soaps, 130 washing soap, 100 and more packs of wet wipes, 100 pieces of poncho,100 and more pieces of combs, 125 sticks of deodorant, 300 pieces of band aids,  35 strips of Panadol, 75 fleece blankets, 73 tikars (sleeping mats).

                                                          Buying wet wipes.

                                       Tikar purchased with money from donors.

                       Some of the items packed and ready to be delivered from all our generous donors.

                                         Children's toothbrush from Bangsar Village

                                     Buying fleece blankets with money from donors.

            Backpacks with all the items from the late Sakinah and her group of generous donors.

                                         More items packed and ready for delivery.

                                                     Washing soap , deodorant sticks and water from TESCO.

I did not do this project alone. I had my homeschooling friends, the late Sakinah and her friends, my dad and mom's friends , my uncles and aunties ,my grandma, my teachers, Tesco, Bangsar Village , many anonymous donors and some strangers who helped make this project possible by donating the items and money to get all these things. (Pictures coming soon)

Many people ask me why am I doing this project. I  don't really have an answer. I am grateful for all the things I have and am blessed and so I try to be a blessing by helping someone in the smallest way. 

My mom said you never know if the next great is waiting on the streets, homeless and if you never help these people, you may never see the great value that some could bring to making our world a better place.

I dedicate this project to the late Sakinah, my little homeschooling friend who passed away recently who in her own little way tried to make our world a better place too.

                                                    The late Sakinah

                                                     On my way to PIT STOP.

                                    Ms.Joycelyn Lim and me with all the items collected.

All these items will be distributed by Ms.Joycelyn and her Project Tikar team on the night of 24th December 2016. As much as I want to tag along, Ms.Joycelyn explained that some of the places they go to distribute the items will not be safe for me due to it being unhygienic and that it would be past my bed time when they go on their walkabout.

This is my biggest project this year and I am grateful to all who helped make this a success. I am not done, I still have plans for more projects with PIT STOP/PROJECT TIKAR and a new Project for kids in hospital so stayed tuned.
                                 But for now Caitlin out. 

Mother Christmas by Roald Dahl

Mother Christmas

"Where art thou, Mother Christmas?
I only wish I knew
Why Father should get all the praise
And no one mentions you.

I'll bet you buy the presents
And wrap them large and small
While all the time that rotten swine
Pretends he's done it all.

So Hail To Mother Christmas
Who shoulders all the work!
And down with Father Christmas,
That unmitigated jerk!"

Heroes

A hero is a person who is admired for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities (Cambridge English Dictionary)  In Star Wars the hero is Luke Skywalker. Baymax is the hero in Big Hero 6.
I have a few heroes too. They are not movie stars or singers. They are not ordinary either. They do things most people wish to do or only speak of doing.

My list of heroes are:
Ms.Joycelyn Lim the hero of the Street Friends whose job is to feed the homeless. I give her a cape of tiger as her hero costume. 

 

                       I  pencil sketched this picture.

Dr. Bubbles from Red Bubbles the hero of terminally ill kids in hospital whose job is to make very sick children laugh. I give him a colorful tutu as his hero costume. 

My drawing using oil pastel 

Me and Dr.Bubbles

Mr.Syed Azmi the hero for abused  children whose job is to educate people on child abuse and speaks up for them when they can't speak for themselves.I give him the cape from one of my favorite books the Little Prince.

Me and Mr.Syed Azmi

Mrs.Marina Mahathir who is a human rights activist whose job is to speak up about HIV and AIDS for women and children. I am still thinking of a cape for her.

My dad, me and Marina Mahathir

My biggest heroes are my dad and mom who gives me everything I need and tells me to think twice about the things I want.  I believe I can be anyone I want to be because they believe I can.

They don't need a cape. They are my very own heroes.

My lovely mom and dad.

GROOSHAM GRANGE (Book Review by Caitlin Smith)

Groosham Grange was written by Anthony Horowitz. This is my first book by this author.
This book has elements of humor, mystery, and scary spooky weird.
It is about a brown haired,green-blue eyed,freckled boy named David Eliot who is the only son and youngest child of a not so very charming couple Mr and Mrs Eliot.Mr Eliot  [Edward] is described as small, fat,bald man with a wrath on his neck in a wheel chair and he happens to be the head of a bank.  Mrs Eliot [Eileen] is a foot taller than Mr Eliot and has porcelain teeth, false eyelashes and is very thin. Mr Eliot has 'accidents' and his victim is always Mrs Eliot like when he accidently stabs Mrs.Eliot but she is all fine the next day.I found this shocking and funny at the same time

Mr Eliot is in a wheel chair from all the beatings and punishments he received from David's grandfather and when David gets expelled from Beton College Mr Eliot thinks there was not enough canning in the house,and so he cancels Christmas, presents, turkey and snow. [cancel snow?]
The next day,to their surprise ,they receive a prospectus[a printed advertisement about a school] in the mail and David is sent away that very afternoon. I cracked up at 'Pack your mother and kiss your clothes goodbye.' That is my favorite line from the book.
I found this book intriguing and has no pictures so you have to use a lot of you imagination to know what the characters look like. I really like that.
Imagine going to school located on Skrull Island, [an island off Norfolk ]where they only get one day of vacation a year and parents are not allowed to visit and all the teachers including the assistant headmaster are very strange.
David, Jill and Jeffrey(friends he made on the train to the new school)team up and try to figure things out while they try to escape.
In the end David must decide if he will remain at Groosham Grange or not and he discovers that he is seventh son of a seventh son. What is that-you have to read it to find out.
Did I like this book? VERY and have reread it about 3 times.
I recommend this book for those 8 and above.
I got this book for free at the DIGI stand at BIG BAD WOLF SALE 2016.

ADVENT 2016

Today is the start of Advent - a period of preparation, extending over four Sundays, before Christmas. 
Advent begins on the Sunday that falls between November 27th and December 3rd each year.
In churches as well as Catholic homes the main decoration for the next four weeks is the Advent wreath (not the Christmas tree). The wreath is made of various evergreens-laurel,pine,holly and yew and decorated with pine cones,nuts and seedpods. The circle of the wreath has no beginning or end symbolizing the eternity of God.
Four candles are placed in the middle of the wreath to represent the four weeks of Advent. Three of those candles are purple and one is pink and they are lit, one at a time, on each of the four Sundays of the Advent season.
On the first Sunday of Advent, the first purple candle is lit. This candle represents hope and is called the "Prophecy Candle".
On the second Sunday of Advent, the second purple candle known as Bethlehem Candle is lit.This candle represents love.
On the third Sunday of Advent known as Gaudete (Rejoice) Sunday, the pink candle is lit. This pink candle is called the "Shepherds Candle" and it represents joy.
The fourth and last purple candle which marks the final week of Advent, is called the "Angels Candle," and it represents peace.
Advent ends on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day marks the beginning of the Christmas season until the 12th day after Christmas.

*Picture from Pinterest.

Malay Bersanding Ceremony

Today my mom and I attended a Malay 'bersanding' ceremony. Bersanding means the bride and groom sits on the bridal couch and family members and relatives sprinklers them with scented water as a sign of blessing.

The couple walked into the wedding hall accompanied by kompang music.

The bride was pretty as a princess wearing a tiara on her head and a beautiful gold brown outfit.The groom was dressed the same color as the bride and he wears a head gear.

The bride and groom is known as king and queen of the day.

The wedding reception was grand with lots of sweets and cakes to choose from. My favorite was the buffet sweet table of course.The wedding cakes and all the other cakes were baked by the groom's sister from FAIRY LITTLE FINGERS. My favorite is the tiny cakes topped with caramel. 

After we had all eaten it was photo time with the groom. I got to sit next to the bride on the bridal couch. It was a beautiful ceremony with lots of beautiful decorations. I did not understand a lot of it because it was conducted in Bahasa but I still managed to understand a lot of what was happening.

                                     The bridal stage

                                    The groom and the bride-king and queen for the day.

                                       Bride and groom cutting one of the 4 wedding cakes.

                  The 4 beautiful wedding cakes made by the groom's sisters-Fairy Little Fingers

                           This tiny cakes is topped with caramel and they were yummy!!

            More cakes at the buffet sweet table-made by the groom's sisters-Fairy Little Fingers

                                        Me and my wedding favor after the ceremony.

                                                        The wedding favor

                                                    The wedding invitation card.

                     Me sitting next to the bride with my mom and the ladies from my mom's book club.

BLESS THIS MOUSE- (Book Review by Caitlin Smith)

Bless This Mouse by author Lois Lowry.

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published March 21st 2011 by HMH Books for Young Readers 

This was my bedtime read-aloud book with my mom.

This book is about a colony of church mice trying to keep themselves hidden and safe in their home at St. Bartholemew. 

The main character is Mouse Mistress Hildegarde, Roderick(who likes Hildegarde very much & tell her all the gossips) Ignatius who used to live in a library so he knows lot of stuff from chewing through a great number of pages and Lucretia who wants to be Mouse Mistress.

This story is about keeping all the mice safe especially during the Feast of St.Francis because on this day all the animals that people keep as pets is brought to church for a blessing. If it rains it means the blessing will take place inside the church and that is dangerous for the mice especially since there will be LOTS of cats around.

The feast is St.Francis is not their only worry, they have to keep away from the church during the Big X because one of the church ladies had seen a mice and went 'Eeek' and Father Murphy had to call the exterminator. 

There is suspense too in this part of story that you will need to read to see if they will all live or will they be able to still call St.Bartholemew home. That was my favorite part of the book.There is a lesson too about teamwork and forgiveness and that showing kindness to a bully can turn them into being a nicer mice.

I enjoyed this book a lot and there was lots of giggling reading it and the illustrations by Eric Rohmann are beautiful. I especially like the illustrations that explains the parts of the inside of the church and the proper terms used for them.

I would recommend this book for children around 8-10 years of age and anyone who likes animals should read it. 

My story in The Star.

The story I wrote about my visit to PIT STOP COMMUNITY CAFE appeared in The Star newspapers today (25-11-2016). It was a pleasant surprise seeing it in the paper and the prize too-2 books. I look forward to reading them all.