Stone Soup Magazine

Story·Shyla DeLand, age 11 — After a weasel kills her beloved rooster Cocky, a girl struggles with guilt over loving a new chick until her mother helps her understand that loving again doesn't betray the...

Poetry·Jeremy Long, age 13 — A homeless speaker finds beauty in rain-soaked streets while others hurry inside, seeing Picasso in puddles and mythological figures in storm clouds.

Story·Annnabel Chosy, age 11 — After a power outage during a grief support group, a girl searches for her missing classmate and discovers they share a deeper bond through loss.

Story·Ben Hayes, age 13 — A young angler describes the meditative ritual of dusk fishing on a quiet lake, from paddling out to the explosive moment of catching a keeper.

Poetry·Stella White, age 11 — A girl lies in her father's childhood bed in London, watching trains pass and imagining his life decades earlier in the same room.

Story·Alice Ford, age 9 — After a friendship ruptures over a science project, Jess discovers her late mother's journals and plans a camping sleepover to reconcile with Bailey under the stars.

Poetry·Abigail D'Agosta, age 12 — A chicken investigates a strange furry creature through the coop wire, stretching its neck cautiously before pecking the cat's ear.

Story·Brooke Fallows, age 11 — A girl remembers her grandfather through visits to a train station and Olvera Street, then recounts his death and what he taught her about time and memory.

Book Review·Nils Johnson-Shelton, Reviewed by Nick Ehrhardt — Otherworld Chronicles: The Invisible Tower, by Nils Johnson-Shelton; HarperCollins: New York, 2012; $16.99 Nils Johnson-Shelton’s The Invisible Tower brings the legend of King Arthur and his sorcerer, Merlin, into the...

Story·Kira Householder, age 11 — A girl secretly cares for a wolf in the woods, sneaking out at night to bring him food, until a forest fire takes his life and she discovers he left...