Hi everyone!! My name is Tanvi Pillai and i am a student of grade V from ICSK Amman Kuwait.

I am here to talk how holidays made me a serious reader.

Let me start with a few lines of the poem “BORED” by Tyla Campbell.

I'm bored, I'm bored, there's nothing to do,
I'd go outside, but the cat took my shoe.
I'm bored, I'm bored, but it’s no use at all,
Now, I sit and think all day...

There’s nothing to do, there’s nothing to play.
I’d go somewhere far, somewhere far, far away,
But there’s no gas in my intergalactic sleigh.
I'm bored, I'm bored, but it’s no use at all.

Since it is COVID and we are all in our homes watching T.V and stuck to electronics .I wanted  to  do something different which I wanted to  make memories of.

Just then I heard that my school organized a library  challenge during the holidays that those who read the maximum number of books will get a chance to  be highlighted in the school magazine and will be gifted by the Principal,  it wasn’t something exciting that struck to  me  as I  wasn’t fond of books and moreover reading made me go bonkers again!!! But my parents pushed me to take it as a challenge. And I finally agreed to  their deal .

I thought since I didn’t want to  go in the boring task alone and let me cousins enjoy the freedom of gadgets , I suggested this idea to  my twin cousins who were exactly same as me when it comes to reading, but I was so good enough to  convince them that they fell into my trap and agreed to  challenge each other.. so the adventure begins…..

It was my first day as well as my cousin’s and we weren’t sure of the genres for reading, took help from our  librarian Ma’am, who was very kind and handed me and my cousins an adventure series of “Famous Five” –by Enid Blyton. The adventure of the five friends and how they unfolded the mysteries was quite a ride for me. I finished the book in a day, but had to  wait for the library day to  get the new one so  I decided with my cousins to  share the book among ourself and read until the turn comes. This way we managed to  read three books before the next turn.

Believe me the fun ride just started it was like a roller coaster ride and the fun never ended… It started well , and soon I  enjoyed reading  and I used to imagine myself as the characters in the book.

Like the poetess Julia Donaldson said in her poem-“I Opened a Book”.

I opened a book and  I strode
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.

I finished one, two… than three… and in a month's time I finished 24 books. It wasn’t a joke ..

I remember  how I started  moaning a day, “I am so bored. I am going to die.” Well, I survived  and I survived well  and  made it through endless days of boredom.

Its well said by George RR Martin: - “ A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, but the man who never reads lives only one.”

So let us make it a habit of reading and change the way we think about books.