Shattered Landscape (iPhone 7) By Leah Koutal, 12 (Wayne, PA), published in Stone Soup November 2020 A note from William Congratulations to Abhi Sukhdial, winner of last year’s Stone Soup Book Contest. His book, Three Days Till EOC, has been nominated for Cybils Awards (Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards). Read his great book! Support a young author. Buy a copy at our Stone Soup Store. I would like to call your attention to the new Stone Soup design. We implemented a revised home page a few weeks ago, and now you will find a completely revised navigation system and design for the interior pages. The Refugee Project portal has been designed and will soon be implemented. Please check out the new design. Many thanks to Carlos, Carly, Daniel, Ravi, and the entire staff of c2cg for their patience and the quality of their work. Annual Drive I will try to mostly keep the Annual Drive correspondence in separate emails so that the newsletter remains appropriate for our young readers. I do want to say, however, that we absolutely need more of you to contribute to our Annual Drive than ever before or we will not be able to continue. The simplest, easiest way you can help us—and a way that costs you nothing—is to order through the AmazonSmile program. You will see where you choose your charity. Our official name with the IRS is Children’s Art Foundation-Stone Soup. Type that in and then accept that we are the charity you want to help and then 0.5% of what you spend will be given to us. It uses the same password as your regular Amazon account. Your orders, wish lists, and etc. will all be there. It takes a little getting used to to go to the smile.amazon.com site every time you buy (even for me), but Amazon will sometimes remind you to go there. In the spirit of Stone Soup, every little bit each of you contributes adds up. At half a percent, it does take a lot of you to make a difference. If Stone Soup is important to you, then please make the effort to do your holiday shopping through the AmazonSmile site. Thank you. Art project Shattered Landscape. What an interesting photograph. Cubism is the modern art movement that worked with shattered perspectives. This image is of Pablo Picasso’s 1910 Girl with a Mandolin: You can read about cubism on Wikipedia and look at cubist works or art online. For the project this weekend, I think most of you will want to work with your camera. By using mirrors, reflections in glasses, windows, and polished surfaces, create a photograph that explores illusion, broken perspectives, and dreamlike visions. As always, if you like what you create, please send it to Stone Soup so editor Emma Wood can consider it for publication. Stay safe! Until next week, Congratulations to our November Flash Contest Winners Flash Contest #25: Write a Story that begins with “Once upon a time in a land far away . . .” and ends with “. . . and they all lived happily ever after.” What a difficult task we had judging these entries! We could see that all our entrants had fun with the idea of playing with and subverting the fairytale form, and we loved reading the range of imaginative journeys everyone took. While we enjoyed many stories involving the more traditional witches, royalty, dragons and other magical creatures (not necessarily in traditional mode, though!), we also encountered aliens and were transported into outer space—and even entered the mind of a roll of toilet paper (look out for that one, plus one other, on the COVID-19 blog)! A huge thank you and a hearty well done to everyone who wrote a piece and submitted it to us. In particular, we congratulate our honorable mentions and our winners, whose work you can appreciate on the Stone Soup website. Winners The Alien by Benjamin Fraenkel, 8, Mansonville, Quebec, Canada The Queen and the Tiara by Samantha Lee, 11, Thomaston, CT The Bookcase by Iago Macknik-Conde, 13, Brooklyn, NY The State of Matter by Maya Mourshed, 8, Silver Spring, MD The Forest of Mystery by Areesha Nouman, 12, Westlake, OH Honorable Mentions Happily Ever After by Isabella Bixler, 13, Fairview Park, OH The Witch’s Journey by Lorena Manrique, 11, Fort Worth, TX Dragon Tales by Georgia Grace Hoover, 11, Forth Worth, TX The Naughty Princess by Atalie Lyda, 11, Portland, OR My True Self by Michelle Peng, 10, Scarsdale, NY Selected for the Stone Soup Blog Pecky’s Bravery Saves the Forest by Elise Cheung, 8, Danville, CA The Toilet Paper Roll’s Quest by Charlotte Zhang, 12, Portland, OR Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! Salma, 11, writes a poem on the powerful feeling of loneliness and how we have to fight against it during the pandemic. Aarush reviewed Roald Dahl’s autobiography, Going Solo, on the blog. Read why Aarush thought the book was “easy to connect to” and a “page-turner.” Rex, 10, read quite a few books for the Oregon Battle of the Books, but was particularly struck by Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages. Check out Rex’s review to learn more about the book. Trevor, one of our new bloggers, wrote an exciting blog post titled “Aiming High” about a rock climber. Sydney Burr, 13Chino, CA From Stone Soup November 2020 Regrets and Broken Gas Pumps By Sydney Burr, 13 (Chino, CA) I’m pumping gas in the summer sun but the only gallons I can think about are the gallons of sweat that I’m sweating although it doesn’t make a difference anyhow and there are no good movies out and the flock in the sky has wandered to float far away above the mountains so there’s nothing to stop anyone from frying an egg or themselves on the sidewalk. The dull lifeless hot air is not stimulated until a breeze awakens but the breeze is even hotter and the skating rink is closed for refurbishment and the darned pump isn’t working so I collapse into the driver’s
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Flash Contest #25, November 2020: write a story with a traditional fairytale beginning and end – our winners and their work
Flash Contest #25: Write a Story that begins with “Once upon a time in a land far away. . .” and ends with “. . . and they all lived happily ever after.” Our November Flash Contest was based on our weekly creativity prompt #125, asking participants to write a story–any story–with the traditional fairy tale opening and closing lines. What a difficult task we had judging these entries! We could see that all our entrants had fun with the idea of playing with and subverting the fairytale form, and we loved reading the range of imaginative journeys everyone took. While we enjoyed many stories involving the more traditional witches, royalty, dragons and other magical creatures (not necessarily in traditional mode, though!), we also encountered aliens and were transported into outer space–and even entered the mind of a roll of toilet paper (look out for that one on the Covid-19 blog)! A huge thank you and a hearty well done to everyone who wrote a piece and submitted it to us. In particular, we congratulate our Honorable Mentions and our Winners, whose work you can appreciate below. Winners The Aliens by Benjamin Fraenkel, 8, Mansonville, Quebec, Canada The Queen and the Tiara by Samantha Lee, 11, Thomaston, CT The Bookcase by Iago Macknik-Conde, 13, Brooklyn, NY The State of Matter by Maya Mourshed, 8, Silver Spring, MD The Forest of Mystery by Areesha Nouman, 12, Westlake, OH Honorable Mentions Happily Ever After by Isabella Bixler, 13, Fairview Park, OH The Witch’s Journey by Lorena Manrique, 11, Fort Worth, TX Dragon Tales by Georgia Grace Hoover, 11, Forth Worth, TX The Naughty Princess by Atalie Lyda, 11, Portland, OR My True Self by Michelle Peng, 10, Scarsdale, NY Selected for the Stone Soup Blog Pecky’s Bravery Saves The Forest by Elise Cheung, 8, Danville, CA The Toilet Paper Roll’s Quest by Charlotte Zhang, 12, Portland, OR Benjamin Fraenkel, 8Mansonville, Quebec, Canada The Aliens Benjamin Fraenkel Once upon a time, in a land far away, a rocket-ship landed in the middle of a playground. I know because I was there. I was just walking home from school when an unknown kind of alien climbed out of it right next to the sandbox. Their rocket-ship made poisonous gas and horrible noise. And they themselves were unlike anything I had ever seen. They had two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two ears, hair uniquely on the tops of their heads and their skin was pale! They were also wearing weird white suits. I couldn’t understand them, so I took out my languaginzinator to comprehend what they were saying. Here’s what appeared on the screen: “Who are these weird aliens with green hair covering their bodies, three eyes, two noses, two mouths, four ears, and shiny black skin!?” “No idea, but take out your gun, they may be dangerous!” Gun? I didn’t know what that was, but I was furious. They seemed to be insulting my green fur. I had groomed it nicely, thank you very much! I knew what I had to do. I had to go to the supreme king of Planet Benzadya, King Benzoubi. He was chosen by the citizens of Benzadya because he had gotten the highest mark on the goodheart-measurer. He was a kind, good ruler. “Aliens!? Hamuns? I mean, humans? My, my!” he exclaimed. “I must help them! I have seen how they destroy each other and their planet. I will speak with them, and then I must create a portal to planet Dearth, eh, I mean, Earth.” He bustled out of the room in a hurry. I heard much talk after that, and I even overheard them speaking about something they call “war” where they divide into groups as though to play zorkball, but instead they kill each other! Silly hamuns! We gave them a goodheart-measurer, a device that allows you to detect jealousy, anger and goodness in a person’s heart. And also a copy of Benzadya’s book of wisdom translated into human-speak. We all study it in school here. I have not seen the humans since then, but I can only hope that they brought our wisdom back to Earth and lived happily ever after. THE END Samantha Lee, 11Thomaston, CT The Queen and the Tiara Samantha Lee, 11 Once upon a time, in a land far away there lived a little bunny. The bunny’s name was Tiara, for it had long been told in those parts that if you said the right words, the little bunny would turn into a gleaming tiara. Tiara’s fur was a perfect, sparkling white and was softer than fresh snow on a winter day. Her graceful ears and big eyes made Tiara the cutest little rabbit in all of the land. She would spend her days frolicking in the Caramel Meadows and bounding through the Lollipop Forest. Sometimes, the bunny would go to the far edge of the meadow and look up at the sky where she could just imagine a shimmering castle glistening beneath the clouds, always housing a little princess in a sparkly tiara and glittering gown. As it turned out, Tiara’s imagination was closer to reality than she would have thought, though farther off than she would have wished. The sparkles and light had long since vanished from The Castle in the Distance. So had the glittering girl Tiara pictured. Instead there loomed a stark, menacing castle and a Queen that was both starker and more menacing. The Queen’s imagination wasn’t nearly so lighthearted as Tiara’s. The Queen imagined conquering more wide, green lands and taking more innocent people as servants. The Queen’s favorite word was “more”, especially when it came after the word “much”. One day, The Queen heard tell of the magical bunny Tiara from one of her older servants. A wicked grin spread across her lips and an evil laugh slipped out. The Queen wanted Tiara. She wanted her very much. And when the Queen wanted something, she would do anything at all to get it. Tiara inhaled deeply as she sat in one of her favorite clearings in the Lollipop Forest. A sweet, fresh smell always seemed to linger about there, making the whole clearing radiate a perfect aroma. The berries were
Aiming High
Hello there. I think that I’m going to stay anonymous for now, but I can tell you that I’m planning to be a mountain climber when I grow up, which is why I’m here, getting ready for my first bouldering lesson. Now, before you start thinking “Hey, you should know something!” as far as mountains and me go, I’m not really into rock climbing. Yet. I have seen a documentary about a person who free solo-ed a cliff, and I have hiked at least a few times, though none were very steep. Now, if you’ll excuse me for a second, I’ll meet you at my first route. Hi! Just met up with my coach, and now I’m going on my first route! I put both hands on the starting hold, and then hoisted myself onto the wall. I found the right holds, and with my coach’s help, I made it to the top. Then my coach told me to jump off the wall. I gave him a look of disbelief. He just grinned, and I sighed, took a breath and jumped, hitting the mattress intact. My coach said that I was doing great, and I was ready for a harder route. I tried it, and I was doing fine until the middle, where two holds were far apart. I moved my feet, put my hands on the hold and hauled myself up to the top. It might be worth mentioning that I’m not very athletic. But nonetheless, I mustered the strength that I needed to get on the hold and complete the route. My coach said that I needed to practice that route more, and that’s what I did for the next bit. After going up and down some times, my coach set me a challenge: I had to climb the wall sideways, using any holds I wanted without falling off. I started and quickly realized that it was essential to know which holds are “good” and which are “bad.” Here’s an explanation: You could only step on the flat parts of the large round rocks, otherwise you would more than definitely slip off. You also needed to keep distance between your arms and legs, because if they were too close, then your elbows would collide with your knees, but if your limbs are too far apart, then you end up stretching, and that hurts! I kept falling at this point where I had to stretch my leg to get to the next hold, but I kept slipping in the process. I asked my coach for some advice, and he told me to “jump.” I gave him my look again, and he demonstrated. I had to release one foot while I land the other. I tried it, and it worked! I made it halfway across the wall when the lesson ended. Want to know what I learned next lesson? I do too!
