Toadstools (iPhone 7) by Brook Taintor, 9; published in Stone Soup October 2022 A note from William Rubel Friends – I hope all is well with you. I am in Oregon today speaking at a mushroom conference. In one of my lives outside of Stone Soup, I write about the most beautiful mushroom of all, Amanita muscaria, which is the mushroom in the magnificent photograph above by Brook Taintor. For us emoji users, this mushroom is the basis for the 🍄 emoji! As an independent scholar, and writer, I have been working on this mushroom for the last sixteen years! I first started writing about Amanita muscaria in “Economic Botany,” a peer-reviewed journal. My article has had a big influence on how people think about the mushroom. It had previously always been labeled poisonous in mushroom field guides, but based on my work it is now considered a mushroom that can be safely eaten if it is first parboiled. It is always satisfying when something one writes turns out to have influence. The Wikipedia entry on this mushroom cites my article as the lead authority on Amanita muscaria’s edibility. This is already influencing the latest group of published mushroom field guides. One reason my article was so well-received is because I wrote about the history of this mushroom in a series of little stories. Even when writing nonfiction, I often think like a fiction writer. And I often use literary devices more often associated with fiction. Effective storytelling, which is what Stone Soup is all about, is the skill at the heart of all kinds of writing. The same skills you, as a young writer, are developing for publication in Stone Soup will be useful to you as you move into high school, and beyond. In fact, when you approach that all-consuming college application essay, you will find that being an articulate storyteller comes in handy. My best, William’s Weekly Project The subject of Brook Taintor’s photograph is a group of toadstools easily identifiable as Amanita muscaria mushrooms: It has a red cap with white “warts,” white gills, which you can see in the mushroom closest to the camera, remnants of its veil, and a bulbous base. The picture captures the mushroom well enough to illustrate the specimen in a plant identification book. Amanita muscaria is common in Northern Hemisphere temperate forests. It tends to grow on the forest edge. This is an important fact if you’re out looking for the mushroom in the forest — check the edges! The mushroom in the photograph is actually growing in association with the trees you see in the background, so if you were a mushroom collector foraging in that area, you’d look for a specific kind of tree and probably also a certain combination of plants out of which the mushrooms are growing. Brook’s photograph tells us something important about the habitats where this mushroom can be found. I want you to photograph something that is growing in your yard, neighborhood, or a nearby park. Whatever you choose, include enough of the where to give a sense of the plant’s habitat. There are many kinds of plants that favor urban spaces like cracks in the sidewalk, for example. Including the sidewalk in such a photograph would convey important habitat information. Urban plants are part of an ecosystem! You don’t have to be near raw nature to be a nature photographer. In addition to including information about where the plant is growing, give thought to how your image is composed. Brook’s work has a clear foreground (the greens out of which the mushrooms are growing), a middle ground (the mushrooms themselves), and a background (that gorgeous grey rock with its moss and lichens and the trees beyond). I suggest you move around whatever you choose to photograph, taking pictures at different angles and different distances from your subject to find the photograph that says what you want it to say. As always, if you like what you create and would like to share it, then please submit your work by clicking the button below. Stone Soup is published by Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup Inc., a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization registered in the United States of America, EIN: 23-7317498.
Writing Workshop #69: Fast Sketching Characters (Revisited)
An update from our sixty-ninth Writing Workshop A summary of the workshop held on Saturday, October 1 In this workshop, students created rapid character sketches: short writing pieces that give a sense of a character by focusing on the face, body, and clothing. Students gathered inspiration from pieces such as Leonardo da Vinci’s grotesques, The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter, and Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony. (Beethoven’s Sixth was used to demonstrate the difference between a fully developed character’s story and just a glimpse of a character; the participants listened to the same piece played by a full orchestra and by just a piano.) William discussed how an author uses words to create visions in the mind of the reader the same way a magician creates illusions with smoke and mirrors, and how authors use character sketches to convey the essence of new characters. He emphasized that a character’s appearance can match or contrast with their personality. As mini-challenges, students wrote character sketches to describe images William provided (a sketch of a young girl, and later a photograph of a homeless man and a self-portrait by Rembrandt), and they later described original characters. The students were asked not to tell a whole story but to give quick yet meaningful snapshots of characters, leaving the reader to imagine the rest. The Challenge: In ten minutes, write three or more quick sketches of humans or animals. You can think about different ages, professions, types of people, and emotional states. The Participants: Anya, Ava, Celia, Crystal, Greta, Liam, Nami, Pearl, Rachael, Reethi, Yueling
24 Hours in Nowhere, Reviewed by Danielle Kusek, 10
Imagine living in the hot sun, in the poorest town in the Arizona desert—Nowhere. In a town with the lowest graduation rate in the state, you wouldn’t expect much. Nowhere has some strange things—two bars, an ostrich farm, an excessive number of bullies. Still, in all of its dusty glory, Nowhere’s biggest claim to fame is the Dead Frenchman Mine. When the dreaded town terrorizer, Bo, demands that Gus go into the mine and fetch him a piece of gold, Gus is terrified. But his friend’s dirt bike is on the line, and he won’t let her down—at least, until he figures out just how scary the mine can be. I checked this book out half-heartedly, not expecting much. However, my mind was changed as I dove further and further into this captivating, heartfelt story, and realized just how wrong I was to underestimate this book. With relatable characters, a unique plot, and conflict that leaves you empathizing with those who have to endure it, it’s not hard to immediately fall in love with this story. This book especially stood out to me because the characters are so much more than they appear to be. At first, these characters seem like your average middle schoolers, nothing exciting about them. Yet, when disaster strikes, we learn so much about them. From cave-ins to treacherous pits and holes, the characters learn so much about each other. They share a hatred of Nowhere, and a fear of what haunts them from their past. On their journey, they don’t only discover new things about each other, they discover new elements in themselves and the bonds they share with one another. “I’ll be defined by what I do in this life, not by what anyone else does to me or says about me. None of that matters. All that matters is what I do.” That inspiring quote is an example of one of the many lessons demonstrated in the story. 24 Hours in Nowhere teaches us so many things, but one of the most meaningful lessons is to not judge people without fully understanding their stories. When Gus, Rossi, Matthew, and Jesse adventure into the ominous Dead Frenchman Mine, they face challenges, but they also overcome emotional challenges with each other, and the characters are able to lift some weight off their shoulders and express their feelings with each other. The most unlikely group is able to bond through their hardships and similarities in their past and their struggles. “What struggles do I have, and how are they similar to the characters?” was the question I continuously asked myself. 24 Hours in Nowhere lets you sympathize with the characters. It’s an enjoyable book because it lets you reflect on your own life and think about how there are less fortunate people in the world around us. Any fans of Dusti Bowling’s The Canyon’s Edge will enjoy this book because of their similar personal struggles and discoveries. Anyone who enjoys adventure, realistic fiction, and real-world issues will connect to the plot and the characters. Overall, I quite enjoyed reading Dusti Bowling’s mesmerizing novel that is filled with emotion and sprinkled with just the right amount of humor. Not only is this book about survival, but it lets you reflect on your own life and find similarities with the characters. 24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling. Union Square Kids, 2020. Buy the book here and help support Stone Soup in the process!
