Children’s Book Sets Record for Most Possible Endings

record
Noun
• the best, highest, etc. result that has ever been achieved
The town set a new world record for biggest pizza ever made.
The swimmer broke the world record and won a gold medal.
He is confident that he will break another world record.
The athlete broke his own record today.
thief
Noun
• ​a person who steals something
The thief broke this window to get into the house.
A thief stole my car.
The police are studying the thief's fingerprints.
I didn't see the thief.
village
Noun
• a very small town
They live in a small village by the sea.
This village is famous for its beautiful location.
Inspire
Verb
• to provide the basis or idea for something
The novel was inspired by real events.
honor
Noun
• something that makes a person feel proud; an official award, title, etc
He won a medal of honor in the war.
This award is the highest honor that we offer to artists.
Receiving the award was such an honor for me.
It is my great honor to attend at this conference as a representative of our company.
Children’s Book Sets Record for Most Possible Endings
Sri Lankan author and artist Kala Keerthi Sybil Wettasinghe has set the Guinness World
Record for most possible endings in a book with her new children’s book, Wonder
Crystal.
The book has 1,250 different possible endings. Wettasinghe achieved this by asking
students from across Sri Lanka for help; they sent her 20,000 different pieces of writing
and drawings to finish the story, according to United Press International.
Wettasinghe, who is 92 years old, has written more than 200 books. Many of them
have been translated into other languages, including Japanese, Korean, Chinese and
English.
Her book The Umbrella Thief was given the award for Best Children’s Picture Book by
Japan’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs in 1986. It tells the story of a man who buys an
umbrella while visiting the big city, but the umbrella is stolen when he returns to his
village. He only finds the thief after he buys and loses about 30 umbrellas.
Born October 31, 1927, Wettasinghe spent the first few years of her life in a village in
southern Sri Lanka. When she was 6 years old, her parents moved to the capital,
Colombo, so they could give their daughter an English-language education.
However, Wettasinghe’s memories of the village and its people have inspired many of
her stories and drawings. She has called her time there "a long, beautiful dream."
In 2005, Wettasinghe was given a Kala Keerthi award, Sri Lanka’s highest national
honor for arts, culture and drama. This is why "Kala Keerthi" is now used before her
name.
• How many different endings does Wonder Crystal have?
• How old is Wettasinghe?
• Where did Wettasinghe spend the first few years of her life?
• What are your thoughts on Wettasinghe's record?
• Would you be interested in reading a book with 1,250 different endings? Why?
Why not?
• What do you imagine is the most difficult part of writing a children's book?
• What was your favorite book as a child? How many times have you read it?
• If you could meet any writer in the world, who would you choose and why?
• How often do you read for pleasure? What was the last book you read?
• Would you ever consider writing a book? Why? Why not?
• Describe your hometown. Do you think it would be a good setting for a children's
book?
• What comes to mind when you think of Sri Lanka? Please explain your answer.
• A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's
story. – C.S. Lewis. Do you agree?