“The Orchard in my Village,” by Gao Di, age 12, China. From our September/October 1997 issue. Trees bring so many amazing benefits to our lives. Unfortunately, people often ignore the presence of these tall plants that help us live, learn and so much more. Here are only some of those amazing benefits of trees: 1. Trees Benefit our Health You probably already know that trees produce oxygen for us to breathe in the process of photosynthesis (which converts light energy to chemical energy). Without trees or other plants that perform photosynthesis, humans would not be able to survive on this planet. However, trees have much more to offer relating to health. First of all, they can provide shade on a sweltering hot day. Cities that have no shade from trees can have temperatures up to 12 ℉ higher than areas with many trees! Trees can contain oils that are used as medicines. As an example, the oil from a birch tree has “antiseptic properties,” so it can be used to fight infections and other diseases. Furthermore, research shows being around greenery and trees can calm you down and actually decrease your heart rate! 2. Trees Benefit the Environment In my last blog, I talked about global warming and how it is changing Earth for the worse. But did you know that trees actually reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (a polluting greenhouse gas) in the air? They absorb carbon dioxide in their trunks, and this helps slow global warming. Trees also are home to and provide food for a number of species. In fact, according to The Royal Parks: “One mature oak can be home to as many as 500 different species.” Plus, trees store pollutants from the soil to make it cleaner and help prevent soil erosion, because their roots hold the soil in place. 3. Trees Benefit Homes and Neighborhoods Everyone has probably played on a tree in their life at some point—to climb up the strong, steady branches, to race around its enormous trunk, or to just sit under it and enjoy the calmness of the leaves swaying in the wind. Trees play a big part in helping children develop curious minds and just have fun! Plus, trees planted near neighborhoods can help communities grow by creating a setting for activities like bird-watching, hiking, and even planting new trees. At my school, we got to plant 5 new trees on the campus. This provided a fun experience that helped me learn many new things while improving our school grounds! Another way that trees benefit homes and neighborhoods is that they can diminish city noise from highways or airports near your home almost as well as stone walls. As well as abating unwanted noise, trees also beautify homes and backyards. In fact, having trees on your property can increase its price by 5-15%! I was really surprised at how trees help us so much in our everyday lifestyle. Unfortunately, the number of trees on Earth is slowly decreasing, and humans are the cause of that. Did you know that around 3.5–7 billion trees are cut down each year? Or that 100 trees are cut down every second in the rainforest? We need to be the ones to stop this horrible reality. After all, trees are one of the reasons we are alive today. Everyone, even kids, can make a difference by taking the initiative to protect them. Start by learning more about how you can help trees—just as they have helped us in countless ways.
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Aru Shah and the End of Time, Reviewed by Nina Vigil, 11
Are you looking for a book you can read for hours without noticing time passing? One that is funny and imaginative and has an adventurous heroine? Well, you can’t do much better than Aru Shah and the End of Time. This is a captivating story about Hindu mythology that is a must-read. In the story, the heroine is Aru Shah, a girl who lies very frequently to fit in with her friends. But soon, some classmates call her bluff and ask her to prove that a lamp in her mom’s museum is cursed. Aru lights the lamp, and accidentally unleashes a demon determined to wake Shiva, the God of Destruction, in nine days. And to make matters worse, he’s freezing everything in time wherever he goes. In order to stop him, Aru has to find the Three Keys and journey to the Kingdom of Death with her backpack-toting soul sister and a talking pigeon named Boo. But…how? The thing I liked most about the book was, besides the Rick Riordan-style humor, the way it wove Hindu mythology into the plot. This book taught me some really fascinating things about the Hindu myths, and made me want to read other mythology books. The central theme of the book is the meaning of family. For instance, Aru’s “soul sister” Mini isn’t directly related to Aru, but they are much closer than Aru and her father (you’ll find out who he is later…) ever could be. Mini and Aru quest together, save each other’s lives several times, and work together to solve problems. In this way, the author challenges the idea that family is just your blood relations. Family can also be chosen. I highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially for Percy Jackson and mythology fans. Aruh Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. Rick Riordan Presents, 2018. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
Holes, Reviewed by Abhi Sukhdial, 10
Have you thought that nothing could be worse than jail? Well you would be totally wrong because in the book Holes, the prison is about as bad as it can get — so bad that in this prison, you spend hours digging holes in the ground to find treasure for the warden. This prison is called Camp Green Lake. Stanley Yelnats is an ordinary kid going about his everyday normal life. Until one day, he is taken to court for stealing a pair of shoes (which he actually didn’t steal!). The court doesn’t believe him, and they take him to Camp Green Lake. In CGL (Camp Green Lake) Stanley meets a few friends named Zero, X-ray and more! CGL was once a nice lake in Texas EVERYONE came to, and then one day, all the water dried up. Now CGL is a dry, hot desert prison. Stanley stays at CGL for eighteen months until he finally leaves. The thing that makes Holes so interesting is how the plot develops over the course of the book. There are many scenes that are intense, leaving you in suspense and making you scared so badly. Like for example, when Stanley survives a bunch of poisonous lizards after he accidentally falls into a hole. Or when Zero (one of Stanley’s friends) hits one of the assistants working for the Warden with a shovel and runs away to a mountain called The Big Thumb. The scenes in the story are pretty violent, but are okay for kids 10 years old and up. The thing that I don’t like about the story is how sad the ending is. I don’t want to be a spoiler, but even after Stanley returns to his home, his life (although better than it was at CGL) is still not at all great. I empathized with Stanley because he was very brave and helpful to other prisoners in CGL despite it being a harsh place. I wish that when I sometimes face difficulties at school (like tough projects or homework), that I could stay more positive and not give up. Holes was published in 1998 and won the 1999 Newberry Medal. At first the book was very popular and became a classic, but as other young adult books like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson have gained appeal, less recognition has been given to Holes. Which I think is unfair. I highly recommend Holes for kids in 5th grade and up; 3rd and 4th graders might find the scenes of violence, guns and explosions too scary. If you are able to be patient and get through the first 50 pages, the story picks up its pace tremendously, especially when Stanley develops closer relationships with his prison mates. I am disappointed about three aspects of this book that wish could have been changed. One, I wish the story had less of a scary beginning. Two, I wish the ending was changed to include more action and suspense as Stanley finds Zero hiding in the mountain and brings him back to CGL. Finally, the story has a few flashbacks like telling us about how life was before CGL became a prison. However these chapters are full of violent bloody scenes of destruction and death and reading them made me feel very sad. Holes is a challenging and fun book to read. But once you complete it, you’ll be so happy and exhausted!! Holes by Louis Sachar. Yearling, 2000. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? If so, comment below!
