birds

Story·Lebo Molefe, age 13 — A rainbow-colored parrot is captured from the rainforest and transported through illegal wildlife trade, eventually finding a home with a lonely girl named Anne.

Poetry·Caroline Lunt, age 12 — A child climbs to a tree house and observes the small details of nature—an ant carrying a leaf, a bird taking flight—before settling down to read.

Story·Angela Chang, age 9 — A girl watches from her backyard as a male blue jay sings to attract a mate, then observes the pair fly away together into the sky.

Poetry·Ash Berger, age 12 — A mountain biker becomes one with the trail, feeling every bump and curve while nature cheers them on through forest and stream.

Poetry·Sarah Wood, age 12 — A hummingbird hovers at a window screen, holding the speaker's gaze in a moment of mutual wariness before vanishing in a green streak.

Story·Jordan Dunaway-Barlow, age 13 — During a thunderstorm, a Native American girl rescues a cardinal trapped in a flooding snake hole, names him Fire, and reluctantly releases him at dawn.

Story·Billy Liptrot, age 13 — A boy finds solace at a secluded spot by a reservoir, where memories of catching frogs with his brother merge with present sensory details of water, weather, and wildlife.

Poetry·Cammie Keel, age 13 — A winter morning arrives through skeletal trees, a crow's shriek, silver air, and frost-cocooned grass until the last leaf falls on white ground.

Poetry·Danielle Eagle, age 12 — A young writer celebrates the power of imagination through metaphors of flight, electricity, and natural forces, declaring herself a dreamer whose pen brings visions to life.

Poetry·Abigail D'Agosta, age 12 — A chicken investigates a strange furry creature through the coop wire, stretching its neck cautiously before pecking the cat's ear.