Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists

I still remember driving into the tiny, midwestern town in Iowa  Illustrator Martin Taylor, 10, for “Song of a Wanderer” by Annie Strother, 13. Published July/August 2000. A note from Jane Levi I love this painting by Martin Taylor, commissioned by our former editor Gerry Mandel in 2000, to illustrate Annie Strother’s story, “Song of a Wanderer”. Besides its striking use of color, and the fantastic amount of detail Martin packs into his picture, I really appreciate the way that he uses perspective to reveal so many scenes within scenes. It’s an illustration that not only captures a moment in the story–the protagonist’s memory of driving into a town in Iowa, the latest town she and her brother have been brought to by their wandering parents–but also paints a picture of the rest of the story, in three major parts. The first part talks about the journeys undertaken by the Wanderers of the title. In fact, the majority of the picture (about two-thirds of the whole) is taken up with a long road through the countryside, implying a lengthy road trip, great distances travelled, and a significant amount of time taken up with such journeys. The trees are reminiscent of the Wisconsin landscape they are leaving, and also hint at the kinds of scenery they have seen on their previous journeys through other states. A little bird looks out on the scene from the top of a tree, while others fly above the forest. The road seems to end almost on the edge of a precipice, or at least a very steep hill, and–like the children in the story– we are jolted into the town, the second part of the image and the story. There is so much detail packed into this part of the picture, that it’s amazing to recognise that this huge town all fits into only two-thirds of the remaining third of the page! Studying these streets and buildings we can imagine all the hundreds or even thousands of new people, the possible new homes, the new schools and stores and restaurants and sports grounds that the children will have to learn about in this new place. In the last small section of the picture, we move from sharp focus on detail into the hazier distance. Beyond the limits of the town we can see more green of forests or plains or hills stretching out and up into the sky. The narrator of the story knows that at some point they will move on again from this town into an unknown future, and we, like her, can only guess at what this distant prospect holds: we just know it is there. This weekend, why not try telling a whole story through an illustration? Make a piece of work that captures a moment, but at the same time speaks about the mood or the overall message of the whole story. If you like, you can use the same kind of aerial perspective that Martin uses (you can read more about that below). As always, if you like what you have made, please send it to us via the Submit button below, or on our website. Remember, there is no fee for art submissions, and you can send us up to 3 in one submission. We always look forward to seeing what you have created. Until next week Aerial perspective One technique for getting lots of detail into one picture–besides having the patience to draw a lot of tiny detail, of course!–is to use perspective. This week’s illustration uses a kind of perspective called aerial perspective, which gives a view, known as an oblique view (because it is at an angle), across a wide range of a landscape. The effect is that the viewer is looking across the scene from a distance, as if from the top of a mountain or the window of an airplane–for a great example of a view from an airplane check out “Parade of Clouds” by Asfia Jawed from the May 2018 issue of Stone Soup. This perspective is different from birds-eye view, which tends to look straight down at the ground from directly above, a similar perspective to a typical map. It is often said by art historians that the use of the aerial view in art really took off in the twentieth century, mainly because of the advent of air travel. This kind of perspective had become increasingly popular in the century before, when the French balloonist known as Nadar (Gaspard-Félix Tournachon) took the very first aerial photographs from his balloon, starting in 1858. Sadly, those photographs of his did not survive, but the Met Museum in New York has a photographic aerial view from 1860, “Boston, as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It”,  which was taken by James Wallace Black. This is the earliest known aerial photograph of a city. As air travel became increasingly common, aerial views became more popular. You’ll see them in all sorts of photographs and artworks once you start looking out for them! What will you choose for your art experiment with aerial perspective? You don’t have to go up in a balloon or a plane! You could work from a photograph you took of a view when you were out walking one day. You could also work from life. Perhaps you live in a tall building and can look at the view from your window. Or maybe, like Martin, you can construct a whole view from your imagination. Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at stonesoup.com! We published a lovely concrete poem by Angela called “The Fire Flower” on the blog this week. Check out the illustration Angela sent in plus the transcription of the poem included below it. Interested in the experiences of refugee children around the world? Read Ivy’s book review of Refugee by Alan Gratz, which focuses on a Jewish boy in the 1930s in Nazi Germany, a Cuban girl in the 1990s, and a Syrian boy in modern times. From Stone Soup July/August 2000 Song of a Wanderer By Annie Strother, 13 Illustrated by Martin Taylor,

Mysterious Moon (Nikon Coolpix L830) Photograph by Hannah Parker, 13. Published in Stone Soup, October 2018. A note from Sarah Ainsworth Dear Stone Soup readers, Did you know that Stone Soup has a YouTube channel? We’ve posted a variety of videos before, including interviews with authors published in Stone Soup. However, this week I want to draw your attention to some recent videos we’ve been posting. First, did you see the wildlife videos by blogger Sierra Glassman? One was a video about hummingbirds, and the other was a compilation of wildlife videos she shot while on vacation in Pantanal, Brazil. Not only are they interesting to watch, but they also make you think about how wildlife photography and videography is no longer solely in the hands of National Geographic photographers. You very well might have access to a camera right now! Is there something outside that you could film and make the subject of a short documentary? Even inside there may be something worthy of documentation. A pet or a plant, perhaps? Don’t feel that nature documentaries need to be shot in remote parts of the Sahara—you can make one in your own backyard! On the fiction side of things, we published two videos this week: “Space Battle” by Christian Goh and “A Day at Camp” by Caitlin Goh. I highly recommend you to take the time to watch them. Though they were created using the same software, Christian and Caitlin take very different approaches to their short films. Christian chooses to film a science fiction story, while Caitlin gives a day-in-the-life glimpse of a character’s camp experience. Both young filmmakers use a combination of still and moving images (photos and videos, in other words) to tell their story. They also make the choice to only feature a musical score for their films, with some sound effects, but without any spoken dialogue. Instead, the words are written on screen for viewers to read for themselves. This is not a common practice anymore, but back in the days of silent film, it was the only way to convey language on screen—besides body language, of course! Without dialogue spoken aloud, words needed to be chosen carefully, and visual representations, like the actors’ behavior, needed to express a great deal. It can be striking to look back at these old movies and see how “over”-acted they are, or how exaggerated the actors behaved. But remember, they had to make sure the audience knew what was going on! Do you think you could make a silent film with a more modern, subtle acting style? After watching these videos, you may very well be inspired to make your own. It can be helpful to start with a small idea. Maybe you’d like to create a nature documentary like Sierra did. Or maybe you’d like to create a fiction film like the ones the Gohs made. My advice is to lay out a step-by-step plan if you want to make a movie, including script deadlines, casting ideas, locations for filming, and times for final editing (called post-production). Then, once you’re done, submit it! Happy creating! P.S. Don’t forget that we’ve published a screenplay in Stone Soup before! Read Oliver Jacobs’s lively “Bugs Are the Future!” here. If you write your own screenplay and are pleased with it but don’t wish to make it a visual production, feel free to submit that to Stone Soup! Highlights from the past week online Don’t miss the latest content from our Book Reviewers and Young Bloggers at Stonesoup.com! As I discussed above, we published two excellent videos this week: “Space Battle” by Christian Goh and “A Day at Camp” by Caitlin Goh. Leave a comment on the blog if you enjoy them! From Stone Soup July/August 2018 The Moon and My Heart By Rebecca Beaver, 13 The moon ate my heart. My vision was tainted. I staggered forward, uncertain. I heard something disappear. I think— I am myself. I taste the hole in my chest. The moon’s smile mocks me. I know, I know I am not myself— I am merely a whisper Of a husked heartbeat. Click on this link to read more poems by Stone Soup authors on similar themes. Stone Soup’s advisors: Abby Austin, Mike Axelrod, Annabelle Baird, Jem Burch, Evelyn Chen, Juliet Fraser, Zoe Hall, Montanna Harling, Alicia & Joe Havilland, Lara Katz, Rebecca Kilroy, Christine Leishman, Julie Minnis, Jessica Opolko, Tara Prakash, Denise Prata, Logan Roberts, Emily Tarco, Rebecca Ramos Velasquez, Susan Wilky