imagination

Story·Emory Lim — A field guide to endangered fairy species reveals how moonglow, willow, and honeybee fairies serve as keystone species in their ecosystems, calling for conservation action.

Story·Kana Shackelford — A four-year-old befriends a dryad living in the lilac bushes, but on her eighth birthday discovers she's grown too old to see her magical friend anymore.

Poetry·Enni Harlan — A child transforms a piano practice session into an imaginary train journey, packing vintage hats from a decorated hatbox while Hanon exercises repeat downstairs.

Poetry·Emma Hoff, age 9 — Two ekphrastic poems respond to paintings: one explores faceless figures and their mysteries, the other imagines a giantess holding sheep above the earth.

Poetry·Emma Hoff, age 9 — A child describes the frozen world inside a Henri Rousseau painting where a tiger sits tamed, a man holds blank paper, and nothing moves or grows despite appearing alive.

Story·Tatum Lovely, age 12 — A perfect little girl meets her imaginative neighbor who takes her on a magical journey through a silver door to a Second World of castles, lollipop gardens, and rainbow-chasing ships.

Story·Maayan Mardiks-Rappaport, age 10 — A child sits alone in a forest clearing, imagining mushrooms whispering comfort, then floats with a friend to an imaginary world of happiness surrounded by nature.

Poetry·Rainer Pasca, age 14 — A child imagines living inside a snow globe where friends appear during a blizzard, counting snowflakes and jumping like glitter in the swirling water.

Poetry·Sean Tenzin O'Connor, age 5 — A child observes the grain patterns in a piece of wood under lamplight, seeing landscapes of mountains, rivers, trees, and worms in its natural markings.

Poetry·Emma Catherine Hoff, age 8 — A child imagines friends attending a funeral in Los Angeles, writes herself a letter from them, then greets their actual return with the comfort of her own fiction.