A jungle-tastic adventure– by Itu Andreea, 14 years old, student at School no.149
“Look for the bare necessities,
The simple bare necessities,
Forget about your worries and your strife,
I mean the bare necessities,
Old Mother Nature’s recipes,
That bring the bare necessities to life.”
…I was loudly singing and dancing on this funny song (written by Terry Gilkyson for the Jungle Books) ,after finishing them for the… fifth time! The adventures of Mowgli and his animal friends have always fascinated me, so it was a real delight to read them once again. But it was also the fifth time I felt very sorry for the little boy raised by the wolves, who didn’t have any education, except the one that Baloo had taught him, about the rules of the mysterious, wide jungle…
“Mowgli, you poor boy, I often wonder, are you totally happy there, away from civilization? ”, I whispered, but as I said that, I could feel that my entire body was lighter and lighter and that the next moment my feet lifted off the ground of my room. I was flying, flying through the pages of the Jungle Books, into the fantastic world of Mowgli and his buddies!
And there I was, lost between giant palm trees and tropical animals. But I couldn’t recognize anyone there – no Baloo, no Bagheera , no Mowgli! Only a few funny monkeys, maybe the ones that had once captured the boy… But then, there was a huge bunch of bananas falling from a tree above me, directly on my head! “Yes, I am very happy here, in the Jungle!” a child’s voice answered from somewhere behind a leaf.” Is that you, Mowgli?” I asked, and there he was, jumping in front of me with a big smile on his face. I felt so glad to meet him somewhere else except in my imagination, that I found it hard to speak:” I know the jungle is your home and that you can’t live anywhere else, but I came here to help you. Wouldn’t you like to see a city and go to school for some time? It’s time you got to know how it feels like to be a normal boy!” “Yes, I would love to , but how could I go there together with a big bear like Baloo? The children would get scared of him and laugh at me, too!” he cried.” Don’t worry, you will come with me and your dream will come true!”
And that was how I took Mowgli to Bucharest. I encouraged him to go to Shakespeare School and learn to speak English correctly. He liked it very much, the interesting lessons, the great teachers and the nice classmates, who eventually became his friends! And there were many other things he was crazy about, but most of all, he enjoyed reading books. He discovered the magic of literature and the lure of the words. However, he was surprised to find out that the modern kids, in general, didn’t like reading as much as he did. So here is what he said to me: “Why aren’t children reading nowadays? These amazing books are more interesting than that square screen you showed me, so please tell them that this is the best activity I have ever experienced! As they have the opportunity to read (and I don’t), they should do it every day!”
Despite the great time he had in the city, Mowgli still preferred the unpolluted air of the jungle and his old friends, so I bought him a dozen of books from Fischer International to devour in his endless free time. And about me, what can I say? I came back to the real world, and now I am telling you about that wonderful trip to the imaginary land of stories. But don’t worry, I did what I had promised Mowgli, so I convinced many children, thanks to the words of the jungle boy, that reading develops their imagination and sometimes lets them enter a different, fantasy world, like the one I have visited. And, if you were here right now, you could still hear me sing loudly:
“Look for the bare necessities,
The simple bare necessities,
Forget about your worries and your strife,
I mean the bare necessities,
Old Mother Nature’s recipes,
That bring the bare necessities to life.”
Acest eseu este castigatorul unei mentiuni in cadrul 2010 Shakespeare School Essay Competition, grupa de varsta 11-14 ani, avand ca tema “Imagine you could step into your hero’s world for one day”. Premiul a constat intr-un discount de 50% la orice curs intensiv de vara de limba engleza la Shakespeare School, precum si in carti si alte cadouri de la Diverta si Fischer International. Dorim sa o felicitam pe Andreea pentru faptul ca s-a evidentiat din peste 3100 de eseuri trimise la concursul national de creatie in limba engleza organizat de Shakespeare School si ii uram mult succes in continuare!
