“Bowl of Joy” by Ethan Hu, 8 (San Diego, CA) Published in Stone Soup December 2019 A note from Sarah Happy holidays from all of us here at Stone Soup. Just a note that if you are still looking for a gift for a young creative person, Stone Soup is a great option! Subscriptions and eBooks don’t require stressing about last-minute shipping and provide inspiration and joy for young readers. On the subject of gifts, I’m sure a lot of us are partial to giving (and receiving) books as gifts. I’d like to point you also to the treasure trove that is the Book Review section of our blog. There you can find young readers reviewing all kinds of books, from classics like Oliver Twist to recent releases like Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson (you can scroll down to the end of this email to read Samantha’s eloquent review of the book). If you haven’t spent any time perusing the Book Review section of the blog, I highly recommend that you do so. Not only can you get ideas of books to add to your to-read pile, you can also learn something from the many approaches taken about how to tackle a review. What goes into a book review? Surely some context is needed for the reader of the review, but it can be difficult to know how much plot summary is too much—you don’t want to accidentally give away any spoilers! The most important part of reviews is going further than just summarizing the plot, and articulating what stuck out to you about the book. In her review of Ways to Make Sunshine, Samantha writes, “Ryan’s story is also full of fun and laughter. I love her spirit and personality. Ryan’s experiences always make me smile and a lot of them make me laugh.” This is a nice detail that tells us about the tone of the book, and what Samantha found especially appealing. As an added bonus, Samantha also includes a note in her review about how she personally connected to the book: “Sometimes, as a girl and a person of color, I feel a little looked down upon. Although Watson doesn’t specifically mention it in the book, I wonder if Ryan has had to deal with this as well. I also wonder if that’s why her parents gave her such a strong name. She doesn’t give up, she doesn’t settle, and she believes in herself. That’s one thing I admire about Ryan: she stays strong and kind and herself. She inspires me to always do that too.” Of course, an emotional connection isn’t needed to write a review for a book, but it sometimes makes the writing process easier! As a weekend project, I suggest that you try writing a review. It may be of a book that you love, or even a book that you hate. It could be a movie or TV show. What was special about it? How did it make you feel? If you like your review, please consider submitting it. Happy holidays, Congratulations to our December Flash Contest Winners! Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Our December Flash Contest was based on our weekly creativity prompt #130, a wonderful creative challenge issued by our Stone Soup intern, Anya Geist, asking you to make a piece of art inspired by a family tradition. Needless to say, given the time of year, we received lots of entries based on holidays, including Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Navratri, plus some regular family traditions that go on all the year round. As well as encountering a diverse range of traditions, we also received works of art in many, many styles and media: collage, drawing, oil on canvas, knitting, models made in paper and clay, paper cut outs and digital art. It was really exciting to see the range of materials and cultures represented in these stories from your families. Well done to everyone who entered, and thank you for bringing us so much holiday cheer! And thank you Anya, for a great seasonal prompt! Congratulations to our Winners and Honorable Mentions, listed below. You can see and enjoy the winning entries for this contest (and previous ones) on the Winners’ Roll page at the Stone Soup website. Winners Rangoli by Prisha Aswal, 8, Portland, OR Family of Pirates by Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7, Nicosia, Cyprus Knitting up Memories by Audrey Hou, 11, Portland, OR Chinese New Year Windmill by Sophia Li, 9, Redwood City, CA A Paper Chinese New Year by Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY Honorable Mentions Chinese New Year by Yuxuan Jiang, 11, Portland, OR Secret Santa with my Sisters by Lucinda Mancini, 8, Glenside, PA Soaring in the Sky by Jessie Zhang, 9, Portland, OR Christmas Chaos by Joycelyn Zhang, 10, San Diego, CA Paper Art by Alexis Zou, 13, Lake Oswego, OR Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Sita, 11, reviews Kiki Strike: Inside the Shadow City by Kirsten Miller. Read the review to find out why Sita thinks it’s both entertaining and educational. “Christmas Carols,” a poem by Ashvant, combines a creepy, mysterious tone with typical Christmas scenes. For our COVID-19 blog, Natalie, 8, wrote an optimistic poem called “Attack of the Invading Virus.” She writes, “I just know there / will / be a day, / When everyone is outside, / Playing in a field, / Or whooshing down a slide.” You’ve probably read one of Vivaan’s travelogues for our blog before. Well, since travel has not been possible lately, Vivaan grapples with a lack of inspiration about what to write. Read his reflection, titled “Ideas,” on the blog. “If you like books that entertain and inspire you at the same time, you should definitely check out Ways to Make Sunshine.” Samantha, 11, reviews the book by Renée Watson on the blog. Check out this Stone Soup first—a discussion guide! Sofie, 10, came up with questions for each chapter of The Chosen by Chaim Potok.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Flash Contest #26, December 2020: Create a piece of art in any style, inspired by a family tradition – our winners and their work
Our December Flash Contest was based on our weekly creativity prompt #130, a wonderful creative challenge issued by our Stone Soup intern, Anya Geist, asking you to make a piece of art inspired by a family tradition. Needless to say, given the time of year, we received lots of entries based on holidays, including Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Navratri, plus some regular family traditions that go on all the year round. As well as encountering a diverse range of traditions, we also received works of art in many, many styles and media: collage, drawing, oil on canvas, knitting, models made in paper and clay, paper cut outs and digital art. It was really exciting to see the range of materials and cultures represented in these stories from your families. Well done to everyone who entered, and thank you for bringing us so much holiday cheer! And thank you Anya, for a great seasonal prompt! In particular, we congratulate our Honorable Mentions and our Winners, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners Rangoli by Prisha Aswal, 8, Portland, OR Family of Pirates by Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7, Nicosia, Cyprus Knitting up Memories by Audrey Hou, 11, Portland, OR Chinese New Year Windmill by Sophia Li, 9, Redwood City, CA A Paper Chinese New Year by Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY Honorable Mentions Chinese New Year by Yuxuan Jiang, 11, Portland, OR Secret Santa with my Sisters by Lucinda Mancini, 8, Glenside, PA Soaring in the Sky by Jessie Zhang, 9, Portland, OR Christmas Chaos by Joycelyn Zhang, 10, San Diego, CA Paper Art by Alexis Zou, 13, Lake Oswego, OR Prisha Aswal, 8Portland, OR Rangoli Prisha Aswal, 8 In our family, we celebrate a lot of traditions from all the cultures. One of my favorite festivals is Navratri, and during this festival we have a tradition of making Rangoli. Navratri occurs just before Diwali (the festival of Lights) and is celebrated to mark the victory of Good over Evil and Light over Darkness. A Rangoli is a colourful design, made on the floor near the entrance of the house, to welcome guests. Usually people make it with powder colors or colored chalks. It is usually made in a circle and then a pattern is repeated to complete the circle using bright colors. I love making Rangoli with my parents. For this project, I chose to make a Rangoli on canvas. Since Rangolis are usually round, I really wanted to use Earth as my design . It was not easy for me to make it perfectly, so I decided to go with an outline and chose red color to fill the land because red is the color of Love. I also put an oil lamp in the center as Light means knowledge and drives away darkness. I added Namaste, Hola, Bonjour, Ni Hao and Hello, to show that even though people speak different languages , their feelings are the same. Around my Earth, I used bright and colorful patterns and then colored the rest of the canvas in midnight blue to show the universe. Rangoli for Navratri by Prisha Aswal, 8, Portland, OR Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7Nicosia, Cyprus Family of Pirates Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7 Due to quarantine we have developed a family tradition of dress up. In this one we are dressing up as pirates, to hunt for treasure and explore the seas. . . Family of Pirates by Paris Andreou Hadjipavlou, 7, Nicosia, Cyprus Audrey Hou, 11Portland, OR Knitting up Memories Audrey Hou, 11 Knitting up Memories by Audrey Hou, 11, Portland, OR Sophia Li, 9Redwood City, CA Chinese New Year Windmill Sophia Li, 9 I made this for fun and gave it to my mom. It’s a Chinese New Year windmill that means good luck and health. I wrote thank you in Chinese on it and drew a dragon. Chinese New Year Windmill by Sophia Li, 9, Redwood City, CA Serena Lin, 10Scarsdale, NY A Paper Chinese New Year Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY My family is Chinese and we celebrate Chinese New Year every year. My artwork is made by hand with paper and clay, representing Chinese New Year. A Paper Chinese New Year by Serena Lin, 10, Scarsdale, NY
The Chosen by Chaim Potok: A Discussion Guide created by Sofie, 10
Introduction The Chosen by Chaim Potok is a wonderful book about coming of age and growth. It shows how you mature as you get older and the important things you understand about life. This book is also about Jewish history, tradition, and customs, some of which are in conflict with each other. It’s important to understand this because this is what leads the book on, the skeleton of the story. This concept is what leads to the main messages of the book and it’s also vital to understand what happened to different types of religions in the past. I loved this book because it was well written but it had amazing symbolism that went deeper and beyond the surface. The characters in this story were well – developed and represented so many important symbols that we can learn from. If you chose to read this book, I hope this discussion guide is helpful! Chapter 1 Why does Reuven attribute so much significance to the baseball game? What do you think Davey Cantor represents in the book, as he keeps repeating “you’ll see?” Why does Reuven describe Danny Saunders in so much detail? Why does Reuven feel that his whole life has led him to this ball game and his future life will depend on its outcome? What is the meaning behind Danny’s strange grin? Chapter 2 When the doctor asks Reuven, “can you see the light?” Reuven answers, “it’s a little blurred.” Based on the theme of vision, what might this symbolize? Why do you think Billy and Mr. Savo are on either side of Reuven in the hospital? What do you think they represent in the story? Why does Reuven introduce himself as Robert to Billy and Mr. Savo? How do you think Reuven’s injury affects his father’s health? When Reuven talks about the concept of blindness, what might the author be trying to convey? Chapter 3 Why do you think the author brings the radio into the story? Why does Danny return after Reuven dismissed him at first from the hospital? Why did Danny want to kill Reuven in the ball game? What does Reuven represent? When Danny recites the Talmud, why do you think it is described as “cold and mechanical?” Why did Danny have to convince his father to play in that baseball game? Consider the quote, “words distort what a person really feels in his heart.” What do you think of this? What do you think “talking in silence” means to Danny? What can you infer about Danny’s feelings about his religion based on his body language? What do you think “crazy world, cockeyed” (pg. 57) means? Why might it be important? Chapter 4 Explain what Reuven’s father means when he says “ ‘No one knows he is fortunate until he becomes unfortunate. That is the way the world is.’” (pg. 73) What do you think of the quote “people are not always what they seem to be?” (pg. 74) Is it true? How does that relate to Reuven’s father wanting Reuven to make Danny his friend? How does Danny’s analogy of ants to people relate to the mission of obeying God? Why did Reuven’s father not tell Reuven that he had been meeting Danny in the library? Why is Reuven’s father suggesting books for Danny to read? Thinking back to theme of vision, why is it so important that Reuven’s eyesight will recover? Contrast that to what happened to Mr. Savo. How does this also relate to things being out of focus, and objects being crystal clear? Chapter 5 What does Reuven mean when he says “there was newness everywhere?” Why do you think there is such a change in perspective leading back to the theme of this book? How does the author use the power of description to emphasize this theme? Describe Reuven’s transformation from his time in the hospital. Chapter 6 Why does Reuven’s father answer Reuven’s questions about Danny by going back a long time in history? What does the “silly baseball game” (pg. 110) mean to Reuven now? Does he really think it was silly? Why does Danny need a friend so badly? Why should that friend be Reuven? What do you think Reuven’s father was thinking at the very end of the chapter when he doesn’t finish his sentence? Chapter 7 As Reuven falls asleep, he’s thinking about the color blue and eyes. What is the significance of comparing blue sky and blue eyes? Why does Reb Saunders want to meet Reuven? Explain why a community would follow Reb Saunders from Russia to New York. Why do you think Danny’s neighborhood is in such a disarray? How does Reuven feel as he enters the shul with Danny? Why does Reb Saunders ask Reuven if he’s good at mathematics, and say “we will see?” What is Reuven’s reaction to how Reb Saunders tests Danny? How about when Reb Saunders tests him? What is the relationship between the gematriya and the structure of the book itself? Why does Reuven’s father say “it is a pity” that Reb Saunders lives in his own world, and so will Danny? What is the meaning of the change of emotions in Reb Saunders speech? Chapter 8 Why is Reuven considered a hero when he returned to school? What is important about the way Danny reads? How is it reflective of his perspective? Why do you think Danny is so interested in psychology? Based on what Reuven’s father says at the very bottom of page 169, why did Reb Saunders really want to meet Reuven? Why do you think Danny feels uncomfortable discussing with Reuven the silence between him and his father? Why does Reb Saunders raise Danny in silence? How does Reuven feel about the Talmud battle? Why does Reb Saunders ask Danny to go make tea? What is the significance of his discussion with Reuven? Chapter 9 Why does Reuven get so much enjoyment out of taking his final exams? How does Reuven
