CALLING LORETA R — IF YOU CONTACT US WITH YOUR ADDRESS AND SUBSCRIPTION NUMBER, WE’LL SEND YOU A BOOK PRIZE FOR BEING STAR LETTER IN MARCH.
Dear Aquila magazine, We have
been learning about dragon
myths and legends at school.
We had to imagine we had
discovered a dragon’s lair. I
made this poem up last night, it
is called Dragon’s Lair. I thought
I would send it in. I have got two
editions of the magazine after
I got it for my 9th birthday last
month. It is great! Thank you.
Pip Holloway, age 9
I took a walk to the beach
all I could hear was segulls screech
but then I realised there was
another noise.
Perhaps it could be some noisy boys.
I went towards a perilous pit
and it appeared to have skulls on
the base of it.
Thud it went in a clatter, I reached
in and grabbed a torch.
There soon was a dark fi gure
looming above me
somehow it was a shape of a tree.
I felt paralysed in fear
I wish I had my axe and spear
around me there was a strong taste
of fear
I really wanted to be out of here.
I ate my last chocolate bar but
dropped some on the fl oor
the dragon ate it with a roar.
He hated it and exploded.
Dia Duit! Is mise Liam. That meant ‘Hello!
My name is Liam’ in Irish. A lot of people
think Irish isn’t a language but it is! I live in
County Meath in, well, Ireland in a small but lively
little town called Bettystown. It is right on the east
coast of Ireland. I love AQUILA so much. I think it is
probably the most interesting magazine in the world.
My favourite team members are Pepe, Aquila, E.B. and
Kit. I am in my last year in primary school and I’m sooo
nervous of starting secondary school. I picked Spanish,
woodwork and music as my extra subjects. Is anyone
else doing these? I love sports but my favourites are
Gaelic football, soccer, hurling and rugby (Gaelic
football and hurling are traditional Irish sports).
Does anyone else like these sports? I absolutely love
animals. I can’t get enough of them! I do falconry as
well. In the falconry we have peregrines, barn owls,
Harris hawks, golden eagles and red tailed hawks, to
name just a few.
I also make my own wildlife magazine called ‘Wild
Times’ which is being sold in the local ecology centre.
My granddad buys ten copies from me every time
they are ready. The people in the chemist buy some
as well. I usually print 50 copies which costs £45, so
I get the other £5. In November I did my fi rst wildlife
talk in the local ecology centre. About 50 people
turned up. The fi rst of the three talks I did was about
Irish birds of prey. While I was talking I had a barn
owl called Tiny on my hand (from the falconry that
I work for). Unfortunately everyone wanted to see
the owl so no one showed up for my next talk apart
from a few family members. What type of bird is
Aquila? I love reading and writing books. I recommend
The Falcon Chronicles by Steve Backshall, all of
Michael Morpurgo’s books, Taking Sides by Gary Soto;
Stormclouds; The Young Rebels; The Guns of Easter;
Friend or Foe and Kings of the Boyne if you want to
learn about Irish history (various authors). I’m writing
my own book too. It’s called From Fianna to Fail (one
if you want to learn Irish history). Has anyone else
read the books I recommend? I took the Harry Potter
house quiz and I’m in Ravenclaw, is anyone else? I
love Irish music and I highly recommend listening to
it. It’s very good! In school I’m on every team there
is (which is only three): chess team, Gaelic football
team and quiz team. I love quizzes and go on quiz up
a lot. My favourite school subjects are history, Gaelic,
geography and science.
In response to Dulcie (October 2016) it’s the same here
in Ireland. People portray us as happy-go-lucky, red-
haired people who see leprechauns every day. I have
an aunt and uncle in Australia and they are really nice!
My patronus is eagle and my animagus is a wolf (dog).
Could you do an issue on Irish history, Ireland or
animals? Hi to my pen friends Poppy, Oriana, Eva, Iarla
and Sadhbh!
Thanks to my granddad for renewing my subscription.
From Liam McPartlin, age 12 (nearly 13)
STAR
Referring back to the May 2016
issue (Daredevils) I have had lots
of moments where I have had to
be brave. One of those moments
was when I had to stand up and
sing a solo in front of hundreds
of people at the carol concert
last year. Another moment was
when I was at a friend’s party
and I had to hold a cockroach
and a tarantula and have a corn
snake wrapped around my neck!
I am really scared of heights, so
when I had to go on a cable car at
Matlock I was petrifi ed. However,
as soon as I got off I wanted to go
on it again. All these experiences
have made me more confi dent in
my daily life.
Yours sincerely, Nancy Austin,
age 10
TT
ER
I’m an eagle. Aquila is the genus of true eagles. And
we would LOVE to see a photo of your magazine if
you would like to send us one!
Hi! I am a member of AQUILA and I love being part of it.
I have just got your Hong Kong magazine (Feb 2017) and
I have been inspired to write
my name in Chinese. I love
AQUILA and it is AMAZING! I
can’t wait for the next one.
From Gracie Lucas, age 11
My grandma got me my subscription in May. I
have enjoyed all the issues but my favourite
one so far has been Children of WWII. I love all
the team but my favourites
are Polly Chrome and Pepe. I
think there should be a new
person called Tiggy Strings
and she should be in charge
of music. I have enclosed a
picture of her. Please can
you do an issue on food
and your digestion system?
Thanks for loads of great
magazines.
From Lydia S, age 10½
There’s a delightfully
disgusting digestion experiment in the
February 2016 issue, Incredible Journeys.
Back issues can be purchased online.
Hi Aquila! I just want to say that I absolutely
love your magazine! I have been subscribed for
almost 3 years and I received my subscription
for my 8th birthday from my grandparents, who
I love very much! My favourite magazine was
the May 2015 Big Statistics issue, which I was
extremely excited about when it arrived at my
doorstep, tearing it open immediately. Other
issues I particularly liked were Mighty Maths
(March 2016), Codes and Coding (November
2016) and Hong Kong (February 2017). I live
in Sheffi eld, England with my mum, dad,
older sister Becky and many fi sh. I play the
guitar and I am on grade 2 ROCK! At school my
favourite subjects are Maths, P.E. and I.C.T. My
favourite fi lms are the whole Star Wars saga (all
eight), Indiana Jones and Star Trek: Beyond.
My favourite books are Alex Rider by Anthony
Horowitz, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer and
most action and adventure books in general.
I play quite a bit of sport, my favourites
being football, cricket, tennis, swimming
and badminton. I like to spend my spare time
building LEGO, programming on Scratch and
making fi lms. Now, I have something to ask
you, have you ever created two magazines
on the same topic
except March 2010
and January 2017,
which were both on
dinosaurs (I know
this because of the
chosen issues that
you receive when
you subscribe)? Also,
I made the wonton
dumpling soup, it was
DELICIOUS! Here are
some pictures of me
making them! Thanks
for reading!
From Ben age 10
(probably 11 by the
time you’ve read
this!)
Your soup looks great! We repeat subjects
sometimes, keeping up with new discoveries
and so on. We looked at chocolate way back in
April 2001, but we are always happy to study it again.
And again! A few more repeated topics include Incas,
Egypt, Victorians, Horses, and King Arthur.