Stone Soup Magazine

Poetry·Wujun Ke, age 13 — Dawn light travels through trees as birds find their perches and begin singing, while the speaker breathes in the ancient scents of maple and oak.

Story·Brian Hoover, age 12 — A boy named Jake transforms into a werewolf under a blue moon in a clearing, surrounded by fleeing animals and supernatural lightning.

Story·Emina S. Sonnad, age 11 — A homesick Hawaiian girl meets an exuberant neighbor in an Oregon meadow who shows her a secret grove of cherry blossoms, where she glimpses their future friendship in a frozen...

Story·Mackenzie Hollister, age 12 — A girl recalls her last perfect day with her grandfather in Michigan, discovering a secret pond they called the Animal Kingdom, before he died of cancer months later.

Poetry·Olivia Mulley — Dawn light travels through trees to open eyes as birds find their perches and begin singing, while ancient scents drift through an open window.

Story·Erin Bennett, age 11 — A shy girl visits a special oak tree at night where the ghost of her friend appears to tell her a cautionary tale about finding her voice.

Poetry·Claudia Celovsky, age 13 — A young sailor steers a boat with her grandmother, finding joy in both the physical sensations of sailing and the warmth of their connection.

Poetry·Marissa Bergman, age 12 — A girl dismisses her younger sister's childish questions about color until the sister's drawing reveals how she sees their shared moment in pink-hearted wonder.

Story·Molly O'Neill, age 13 — A basketball tryout becomes a battleground when a rival sabotages the narrator's chances, but stealing a page from the rival's diary reveals unexpected vulnerability.

Story·Sean Fay, age 11 — A boy goes skating alone on a winter lake, ventures too far out in worsening weather, falls through thin ice, and barely makes it home alive.