2015-2016
MAKE A BOOK
NANA
By Sandra Mikrut
My Nana is 52 years old. She lives in Poland in a small lovely house but my Grandad is building her a new big house. They moved from Poland to the USA and back again. They lived in the USA for seven years. I didn’t see her for those seven years. She moved to the USA when I was small. I really missed her.
My Nana is tall. She has very long black hair with blue streaks. She likes putting different colours in her hair. Last year it was green. She is very cool! She is very skinny. She wears lovely dresses and clothes that are in fashion. She loves to dance and sing. She’s always running or walking. She loves to be outside.
When I go to Poland we go shopping together. We have very good chats. She is always cooking Lasagne or loads of nice Polish things for me. We go shopping to “Crop” that’s like a fashion shop. She picks clothes for me and I pick things for her. Then she tells me how I look and if it’s nice. Then she buys me all the clothes that I want. When I was in Poland she always helped me with my homework. Now I ring her sometimes for help with my homework because she understands English very well. When I was very small she read and sang to me. I’m always laughing when I’m with her.
She’s always talking about her school days or when she was growing up. She likes to talk about my Mom when she was small and her first day of school. She forgot her schoolbag. We always laugh at this story. She gives me everything that’s nice like chocolate and sweets and even money when I want to go shopping with my friends.
The best story I have of my Nana was when I was small. I just remember during this summer we were watching a very good movie with Grandad. It was so funny. I love this memory because I was spending time with them. Last December it was my birthday and she came here to visit us for Christmas. She got me a very big present and made a very nice birthday cake. I was so happy. The Christmas before that we were with all our family in Poland. We had a great time. We song Polish Christmas songs, we ate Polish dinner like fish and loads of nice things. This Christmas I will go visit her and Grandad. This summer I want to take her and Grandad to France. I was in France two times. It was amazing. I want to show them Disneyland and all of Paris. I want to go shopping with her.
My Nana is my life. I love her so much she is like my mom, she is everything to me. I love my Nana because she is my only Nana and we are very close. I tell her everything and I have great time with her. She is the best Nana in the whole word.
MY GRANDAD
By Alan Wallace
The person I am going to write about is my Grandad. Jack is 79 years old and he lives in Athea, just near where I live. He is my father’s dad. My grandad is a tall, thin man with grey hair and a wrinkled old tried face. He has a walking stick. He can’t run as he moves very slowly now that he is old. Grandad has a farm. He milks the cows every evening. He walks on the road when the weather is hot. He only goes for short walks as he gets tried easily.
Grandad and I watch soccer matches on TV like when Manchester United were playing Wolfsburg. The score was 3-2 to Wolfsburg. I really enjoy watching the match with Grandad. We chat about the match afterwards while having our dinner.
Sometimes I help Grandad with the shopping. He buys things like Telly Bingo Cards, a bottle of water, cabbage, sausages, Dairygold butter and milk. He loves playing telly bingo and hopes he wins a lot of money someday. Grandad used to help me with my homework when I was small. I do my homework by myself now as he can’t help me anymore. When I was reading The Field in class I told him all about it. He thought it was really funny.
Grandad has often told me funny stories about his animals. He brings the turf home from the bog in his tractor. We all love helping him as it is hard work. Grandad always tells me how good I am to help in the bog.
On Grandad’s last birthday we had a party for him. We all shared a birthday cake. Grandad came to my house for Christmas day and we all had great fun. I love Grandad because he is old, kind and funny. He is a hardworking farmer who is very kind to his animals. He is really generous and caring. He gives me a treat like chocolate buttons whenever I visit him.
SOMEONE SPECIAL
By Luke O’Connor
Someone special to me is my first cousin Siobhan McCarthy. She is twenty two years old. She is Irish American. My favourite time of year is Christmas because she comes home for the holidays. Siobhan lived in Austin, Texas but moved back to Dallas, Texas.
Siobhan is short and thin. She dyed her hair red but it faded back to brown. She has a fresh young face with freckles and the same colour eyes as me. Our eye colour is unusual because they are a green blue colour with specks of brown. Despite her age she loves Scooby Doo and other cartoons. She loves making videos and crafts. Her favourite shops are Forever 21, Walmart, Target, JD and Michael’s $1.00 store.
Her parents divorced when she was ten years old that’s why she comes home to Ireland every Christmas. Sometimes she even comes over for summer Holidays. We used to have a lot of fun and we still do but it’s different now that we are older. She changed when she turned eighteen. She shut all the younger cousins out of her room so she could be alone. She still does this sometimes. She isn’t the same girl I used to have pillow fights with.
She is the worst at babysitting when she is out with her friends. She is really rough with the younger kids. Once she put her two year old step brother in the dog’s cage and shook him inside it. She thought it was funny.
We still stay in contact through Viber but we only text each other every so often. The only time we get to spend some quality time together is when we go Christmas shopping and at special occasions like family weddings. She has a long term boyfriend. He is Mexican. He can’t come home with her so I have never met him.
Siobhan is a lot like me. We both talk to ourselves. She has often given me good advice like “be yourself and be unique ’’. She is funny in her own way. She likes to act out lines from recent movies like “ohhhh God that batch is burnt” from the new movie “Boss”. It’s really funny. The slightest stare from her would make you laugh until you can’t breathe. Sometimes she can go too far with her jokes and hurt people’s feelings. Siobhan is really good at languages. She speaks fluent Irish, Spanish and French. She is learning to speak Italian. She is a hard worker but loves to party until all hours of the night.
When I was five she filled my mouth with cream and shook me up and down until I could barely stand. Then she would slap my cheeks and the cream would go everywhere. She and I got in a lot of trouble when we were younger because she cut her own fringe and I copied her. We messed up our fringes. They were slanted and crooked. Our parents nearly killed us.
I love her because she understands everything about me like her parents divorced and my mam split up with my dad. We love dying our hair, cutting it ourselves and wearing odd socks. She is a geeky, nerdy girl and wants to work as a financial consultant. She can be annoying sometimes but I still love her.
MY FRIEND
By Brendan Geary
I have been in a class with my best friend Kathy since first year in school. We both saw each other in maths class first thing in the morning. Kathy sat down on one of the chairs. She was very quiet and looked a small bit worried. We started talking and we got on great.
Soon we made other friends called Sammy and Joe. Sometimes the two girls would talk to each other about make-up and fashion so I would talk to Joe. There are times when we don’t talk to each other like if we have an argument but that usually doesn’t last very long. We give out about each other sometimes but we are such good friends that we don’t get angry about it. Kathy is very nice to be around. It’s not that easy to make Kathy laugh sometimes but I don’t give up until I hear her laugh. She tries to make the class and teacher laugh and I join in with her. She is great fun and cheers the class up every day.
Even the teachers laugh at Kathy’s jokes.
I remember when we went on a trip with Ms Smith. We went on a bus to the Donkey Sanctuary. We had a great day that day. We got to talk on the bus and listen to music. I can tell Kathy anything and know that she won’t make fun of me. I also trust her to keep my secrets. She is a very loyal friend. She always has my back. Ever since that day we are best friends.
Kathy is thirteen and loves smiling. Kathy’s eyes are diamond blue and her hair is blonde with gold streaks. She tells jokes and funny stories that she has heard. We text each other sometimes because I let her spend time with her other friends at school so we may not see each other every day. I don’t want to stop her having other friends. Kathy wears nice jumpers and ripped jeans. I see lots of people wearing this but Kathy has her own style. What I like about my friend Kathy the most is that she does not care what others think. I think Kathy has a nice voice. It is gentle and soft.
I have a nick name for the two of us together, spudy buddies. We have this nickname since the start of the year. I say it to Kathy because she says is annoys her but I think that she secretly likes it. She smiles when I say it. Kathy and I are close to each other we respect our friendship like when I am feeling down Kathy would ask me are you ok and I would do the same for Kathy. This is why Kathy and I are best friends.
MY UNCLE JIM
By Kathy O’Brien
My uncle Jim was 67 years old when he died. I have a lot of memories of him. He was my daddy’s brother. He was my favourite uncle and also my godfather. He lived in Tralee right next to his son Mike’s house. He had grey hair. He drove a red ford van. He had two sons Mike and William. They both have children. Mike has six and William has one. He was the best man, uncle and friend that anyone could know. He was really fit until he got sick. He was on this machine that helped him to breathe. He used to smoke a lot near the machine. Before he got sick he used to love to go out walking. My sister and I used to go and visit him every weekend and we used to stay over too. I used to love to visit him. He was the best uncle.
Jim was neither tall nor small. He was average height. He had grey hair and wrinkles. He was very chesty and had a bad cough. When he got sick he found it very hard to walk. He got very wobbly and slow. I helped him to walk or else get into a car. I helped him a lot I loved him so much.
He always brought me and my cousin Candice to the playground when we were children. He would bring us everywhere we wanted to go because he was the best uncle. His wife Bridget cooked the dinner ironed the clothes and cleaned around the whole house. She was the best mother and wife I have ever seen. I am so lucky to have them as my Uncle and Aunty. His wife Bridget is still alive and she misses him so much. She moved over to Kent in England with her son mike and his wife and children. We went over to them in Christmas and the New Year. I really do feel so sorry for her as she misses him terribly.
R.I.P to the best man and uncle that ever stood in this world. I miss you so much my favourite Uncle Jim. I love and miss you so much and wish you were here with us xo.
MY NANA
By Chloe O’Riordan
Someone special that I admire is my nana. She is 59 years old and she lives in Assumpta Park, Her name is Margaret
She is not very tall, she is thin, she still has no grey hair, and it’s completely brown. Her face is a small bit wrinkly but her hands are really wrinkly because she was involved in a car crash. She walks briskly but with a small limp, which she still has from the car crash
We always go swimming together, in Adare, but not as much anymore because she just recently had an operation on her back and was in hospital for a day and a half. Nana always makes apple tart and would make homemade soup sometimes. Whenever anyone ripped there pants or skirt or anything she would sew it back together. When I was in primary school she used to always pick me up after school. Nana works in a pub down town called “Ed Lynch’s Bar” she has been working there for the past 18 years
Sometimes Nana talks to herself but only if she is thinking about something or if she forgot something. Sometimes I would ask her about school and she would just say that she can’t remember or something. The only advice she ever gave me was “To make the right choices and be happy” I think this is really good advice, but I think that she didn’t really enjoy school. I have a lot of fun with my Nana
The day of my confirmation, The 30th of May 2014 my Nana was my sponsor, as well as being my godmother and having my middle name as Margaret. I choose my Nana to be my sponsor because we were always very close when I was growing up and we still are. When the mass was over we had photos taken outside the front of the church, which took about half an hour. Afterwards we went to Shanagolden, to the old stand. We all sat around a table and my Nana sat beside me we talked about how the day was going and am I enjoying it. It was a really nice day and the weather was roasting.
This year for my Nana’s birthday we decided we would do something special, we decided that we would throw her a surprise party with me my 2 aunts, my mom, my brother. We all arrived at the house at around quarter to 7 because she was still at mass and we had to prepare everything before she came home we had to prepare the cake, secret Santa. When she came home we all hid in the porch and my brother answered the door. When she came in we all roared “SURPRISE!!” Later on my uncle and Aunt-in-law and cousin came to give her, her present.
2016 “Make a Book” Exhibition in Cork
Sandra won an iPod at JCSP Make A Book exhibition in Cork.
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