Helping Others.

She was sitting all alone with a pile of glitter. I walked over to her table and asked if I could join her. She nodded and I sat down. We did not say a word at first, but began to draw glue designs on Styrofoam balls, which we then covered in glitter. I drew some squiggly lines that I covered in neon glitter and she giggled. I asked her name. She said it was Angel. What a perfect name for a Christmas party.

Angel was a five-year-old girl who lived at the Salvation Army Center of Hope. Along with her mom and younger brother, Angel did not have a home. Her mom had a string of bad luck and lost her job and their apartment. They lived with some friends for awhile and then came to the Salvation Army for help. The Center of Hope is a facility where homeless people can come to live while they get back on their feet. Angel’s family had been at the Center of Hope for about six months when I met her.

Every year, the Salvation Army staff and the Salvation Army Advisory Board hold a Christmas party for the residents of the Center of Hope. Everyone makes Christmas ornaments and decorates a tree. There are lots of snacks and drinks and Christmas music. Since this only happens at Christmas, once a year, I would like to host other smaller parties during the year.

My plan is to invite other kids from outside the Center of Hope and include kids from the Center of Hope so that they can become friends. That way, kids at the Center of Hope will have things to look forward to more often and will have other friends to support them. One last thing I would like to do is find homeless children who have not found a place like the Center of Hope that I can help by giving them food, shelter, or clothes.

Have You Read "The Golden Compass"?

The best book I have read lately is The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. This book has gotten a lot of attention from people who believe that it somehow attacks God or is about children trying to kill God. However, the book is not sacrilegious, it does not defy God, and it does not suggest that God is bad or that any religion is bad.

The Golden Compass is about finding the truth. The main character is a girl named Lyra, who is given a golden compass that can help find or tell the truth. Lyra is being followed by a lady named Mrs. Coulter, who Lyra really liked at first but later comes to dislike and fear. Mrs. Coulter heads up G.O.B., otherwise known as the General Oblation Board or Magisterium, which is only interested in its own version of the truth.

Lyra escapes from Mrs. Coulter and is rescued by boat people called Gyptians. The Gyptians are in search of children who have been kidnapped by Gobblers and Lyra has information that helps them in their search. Lyra’s friend Roger is one of the kidnapped children. She is taken to the Gyptian’s meeting place where they decide to go up north where they believe the children who have been kidnapped are taken by the G.O.B.

In the north Lyra and the Gyptians meet a hot air balloon pilot named Lee Scoresby and a panserbjørne or armored bear named Iorek Byrnison. Lee and Iorek agree to help them. They also seek counsel from witches who pull them in the hot air balloon because the winds don’t blow north. Lyra finds her friend. Mrs. Coulter continues to try to capture Lyra and the golden compass. The book ends in a very unexpected way.

The book is full of adventure and drama. It made me think about the truth and how we go about finding the truth. It also made me think about friendship and how important it is to be true to our friends.

The Animal Most Like Me...

Of the animals on the header of the KidFriendlyOnline.Net home page, I am most like the hippopotamus. This is true for a variety of reasons. First, the hippo is strong and brawny. I also am strong and a bit on the brawny side. I play football and love playing the line. The hippo also is aggressive when he needs to be. While I try never to be mean or to hurt people on purpose, I am aggressive when I need to be and sometimes don’t know my own strength.

Like the hippo, I really enjoy my food. While I don’t think I could eat as much as a hippo, I wouldn’t mind giving it a try. I also love the water and would spend most of the day in the water like a hippo if I could. I swim on my pool’s swim team and love to go to the beach, where I do spend the whole day in the water. Finally, hippos are smart and loyal. I am smart most of the time and it is important to me to be loyal to my friends and family.