animals

Story·Kyle Eichner, age 12 — A lonely girl who volunteers at an animal shelter discovers that music calms an aggressive dog no one else can handle, leading to friendship and her first pet.

Story·Natalie Wittenbrook, age 11 — A twelve-year-old girl whose father hunts wolves for pelts rescues an orphaned wolf pup and, with help from the Animal Society, eventually convinces her father to stop commercial hunting.

Poetry·Ben Amoss, age 10 — A snake's morning routine along the Mississippi River ends abruptly with an encounter with a wheel, told through sensory details and simple movements.

Story·Julian March, age 12 — A boy showing off in an old boat gets swept downriver at night, then ingeniously lassos a giant snapping turtle to pull him to shore at dawn.

Story·Audrey Crockett, age 12 — A girl finds her perfect horse at a failing stable, but when her superstitious mother refuses, she creates an elaborate scheme involving a fake dream to change her mind.

Story·Amy Cheetham, age 11 — A sensory tour through an idealized horse farm captures the sights, sounds, and smells of barn life from grain room to arena to pasture.

Story·Zack Bell, age 13 — A boy plays fetch with his golden retriever, gives her a reluctant bath, then they rest together watching clouds—a perfect day he'd relive forever.

Story·Elizabeth B. Smith, age 13 — A thirteen-year-old girl escapes the frustrations of seventh grade by galloping her horse Hobo, transforming their ride into a fantasy race at Churchill Downs.

Story·Caitlin Peterson, age 13 — A family at their cottage befriends a three-legged deer they name Tripod, watching her survive and thrive over six years despite her disability.

Story·Preston Craig, age 10 — A lonely girl at her father's wolf release center befriends an outcast wolf named Lupus, helping him rejoin a pack before his release into the wild.