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Young writer’s story sends strong message against unhealthy eating |06 September 2017

He is only five years old but he is an intelligent little boy who has a great interest to learn, read, write and explore new things. He goes to school at the International School of Seychelles and last year when he was only four years old he surprised everyone by showing continuous interest in the school’s term topic ‘Healthy Food’ whereby he took the topic home to imagine his own story.

He is Thanuwana Serasinghe and he is from Sri Lanka and though shy at first, he was excited to tell me about  the story he has written now illustrated in a very colourful picture book by Yojani Upananda, a lecturer at the School of Visual Arts and a friend of little Thanuwana’s family. The book is entitled ‘Junk Food’ and shyly the little boy let me know that he will continue the story in the future.

“I am going to think about it and write another story,” he said.

The story is about Sam, a little boy who liked eating chocolate, sweets, pizzas, sausages, burgers and drank coca cola. He hated fruits and vegetables even though his parents and his friends persuaded him to eat them. But one day while playing with his friends Sam could not run to catch up with them and all his friends laughed at him and teased him to the point that he felt so sad and sat alone under an apple tree which talked to him. The ‘magic’ apple tree told him about how healthy fruits and vegetables are and gave him an apple to eat and this transformed him into ‘Super Sam’. He had realised the health benefits of apples and he started to like other fruits as well as vegetables. He even wrote a letter to his mum asking her to make an apple soup with chicken for him for dinner. She was very surprised.

Thanuwana’s father, Thusitha Serasinghe, an IT manager at Le Meridien Fisherman’s Cove, said when he saw his son’s drawings and writings he was surprised.

“We were really surprised because we never knew he could come up with such a story and even his teacher says he writes with a lot of feeling,” Mr Serasinghe said.

At school his teacher says he takes part in poetry competition and has come out first in several. The little boy has a great interest for other languages which has enabled him to learn the alphabets of seven languages when he was four.

Mr Serasinghe said the little boy’s interest in reading surprises the family but as parents they continue to encourage him.

At home Mr Serasinghe said he would choose educational activities while his eight year old brother would choose cartoons.

The book, which was published in Sri Lanka, is on sale at the STC Hypermarket and costs R30. Already over 70 copies have been sold and earlier this year Vice-President Meriton was presented with a copy by Thanuwana during Sri Lanka’s national day celebrations.

 

 

 

 

 

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