This lovely song by Kathleen Werth, 8, is beautiful musical moment. There are big formal pieces of music but there are also in all of our lives the songs we hum to ourselves. This song feels to me like a quiet, intimate communication. It makes me smile. [soundcloud url=”https://soundcloud.com/user-28081890/let-this-be-the-world” comments=”yes” auto_play=”no” color=”” width=”100%” height=”81px”]
Stone Soup Magazine for young readers, writers, and artists
Saturday Newsletter: October 21, 2017
“I envied the owl. It could go wherever it wanted, and I was trapped in a ghost’s boat on the river” Illustrator Noel Lunceford, 9, for A Lasso for Adagio by Julian March, 12. Published September/October 2003. A note from William Rubel A few weeks ago I put out the call for Stone Soup-aged bloggers. Several of you responded and so I am very happy to announce our first young bloggers live on the Stone Soup website: Lukas Cooke, today writing about nature; Jessica Crocker, who brings us a sewing blog beginning with a tutorial on how to sew a book cover; Sarah Cymrot, writing today about Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451; and Leo Smith, who is writing about sports, beginning with what he wrote at the end of the summer regarding the trade options for Kyre Irving. Welcome, bloggers! All of us at Stone Soup love to see your first blog posts and look forward to what you will be sharing in future. And, there is always room for more. Blogging can offer some of you writers a venue for writing on a much wider range of subjects than we publish in the monthly issues of Stone Soup. If others of you are interested in blogging, let us know by posting a free submission or suggestion to our blogging category. Meanwhile, do please visit our new bloggers and leave them a comment. Teacher bloggers wanted We are also interested in hosting blogs by teachers with strong creative writing programs. If that is you (and you know who you are) please write to me or post a proposal to the blogging submissions category above, and we can talk about blogging possibilities. The main thing we ask is that you be consistent with posts–something like once per week to once per month. Halloween contest! When I was a child, Halloween was for little kids. This is no longer the case. Where I live, in Santa Cruz, California, about 8,000 adults gather in the downtown on Halloween to show off their costumes. It is amazing! Pumpkin carving has also developed from the very simple triangle-shaped eyes to fantastically evocative or elaborate pumpkin creations. Get ready to document your Halloween. We want to see your pictures of your creations, your costumes, and your experiences of Halloween 2017. I’ll remind you again next Saturday and, of course, the contest will end on November 1, so please take this as a first reminder and an invitation to start sending us your pictures for a special Halloween context gallery on our website. Just send them into our Artwork submissions category and include the words ‘Halloween 2017’ in the title. Until Next WeekWilliam From Stone Soup July/August 2007 Ellie’s Market By Alice Mar-Abe, 11 Illustrated by Emina S. Sonnad, 12 “Alexandra! Alexandra!” came the excited voice of my younger cousin Clara from the hallway. “You get to take Max and me shopping for Halloween costumes!” I smiled at her seven-year-old excitement as I stepped out into the crisp autumn air, filled with leaves in a hurry to get to the ground. Halloween was coming, and that meant lots of shopping to be done, and that meant I would get to go to my second favorite place in the world: Ellie’s Market. A delicious aroma of pumpkin spice wafted out as I pulled open the door and the cheery jingling of bells met my ears. I had arrived at my second home, and at the counter was my best friend, Cecil, who owned Ellie’s Market with his brother Harry You couldn’t exactly romp and play with Cecil the way two kids would, and that is what many people remember doing with their best friends, but in a way Cecil was even better. He was almost like a grandfather. Oh yes, I had other kid friends, but hanging out with Cecil was fun…/more
Fahrenheit 451 and the Impact of Electronic Devices
The first time I read Fahrenheit 451, I was struck by Ray Bradbury’s remarkable writing. The second time, the breathtaking plot. The third time, the horrific, but modern ideas. I just finished my third time reading Fahrenheit 451, and the full force of the significant meaning hit me. There are so many big ideas in Fahrenheit 451 about children, love, books, and technology. The screen issue popped out to me as soon as I read the book as a real issue that we are still dealing with today. Even though this book was published in 1951, a time when the main electronics were televisions, rotary phones, film projectors, and radios, the idea that electronic devices have a great impact on our lives is still very present, way more present even than it was in the 1950s. Everyday, when I walk into school, each and every child has her nose buried in an iPhone or computer. If I take a step outside, almost everyone is either talking on the phone, texting, or has their phone tight in their hand. Today, look outside. How many people do you see with an electronic device? What are they doing with it? Is it getting in the way of socializing with someone nearby? What else could they be doing? In Fahrenheit 451, the community’s electronic obsession goes so far as to take over their normal lives, leading them to ban books. There are “firemen” who– instead of putting out fires– burn books, and the houses that house them. Unlike other dystopian novels, where the government imposed an oppressive rule, in Fahrenheit 451, the public came to believe that books were junk. “‘Remember, the firemen are rarely necessary. The public itself stopped reading of its own accord,’ said Faber, a rebel who has been sneaking books and reading them, ‘Can you dance faster the White Clown, shout louder than ‘Mr. Gimmick’ and the parlor ‘families’? If you can, you’ll win your way, Montag. In any event you are a fool. People are having fun.’” Guy Montag, the main character, starts out the book as a fireman himself, burning books day and night. He fools himself into believing he is happy, with his wife, who loves her parlor ‘family’– a room where all of the walls are covered with TVs, and the characters talk directly to her– more than him, his job, and his life. Then, he meets Clarisse. She sits at home and talks to her real family instead of participating in the violence that other kids create.. She thinks about things and observes the world instead of watching TV. She is a voice of reason for Montag, and within a couple weeks of knowing him she changes his thoughts forever. I am not one to say that electronic devices do not have their advantages. I am working on a google doc right now, with spell check, saving, and deleting. Stone Soup just switched to an online website, probably because it is cheaper, faster, and flexible. In many ways, electronics save lives, open up opportunities, and make things more efficient. There are many times when electronics are used well. There is a difference between writing on a google doc or reading on the Stone Soup website, and, let’s say, playing a video game or looking up random pictures. The question is, should we let electronic devices replace things we love? Should we let electronic devices replace books? Imagine that you are a scale, you have a device in one hand, and a book in the other. Which one do you choose? Which one weighs more in your life?
