nature

Story·Lena Donofrio, age 12 — A Vietnamese girl named Hoa, overwhelmed by her new American school, runs away to the fields where a mystical connection to nature helps her find peace with her new home.

Poetry·Sabrina Guo, age 13 — Bluebells trigger memories of a childhood garden in Roslyn, where the speaker once folded fertilizer beads into soil, calling them 'green pearls' that held perfect potential.

Poetry·Isabel Goodey, age 11 — A child observes birds soaring through clouds and returning to birdhouses where they know they're free, celebrating their joyful sounds and movements.

Poetry·Penelope Purchase, age 11 — A poem about the sudden, irresistible pull of nature that draws you outside to turn cartwheels under the moon and watch the world spin.

Poetry·Lauren Giglia, age 11 — A lake speaks through a young swimmer, revealing both its natural beauty—kingfishers, trout, pines—and the damage humans have inflicted upon it.

Poetry·Aiah Morris, age 12 — A crow flies free from troubles, basking in sun, her firm voice neither screaming nor complacent, taking only what's unwanted like vultures do.

Poetry·Zeke Braman, age 9 — A young poet climbs a mountain path, sensing ancestral footsteps and wanting to merge with the landscape's accumulated stories and secrets.

Story·Julia Hershon, age 11 — During an asteroid attack on her French village, a farm girl and her new classmate Clara rescue a young boy and flee to the mountains, where Evangeline reunites with her...

Story·Elyse Bambrough, age 7 — In a world of trash and rain, a child builds a forest from discarded materials, creating tigers and toucans from tin, though the colorless creation leaves them longing.

Poetry·Mazzi Maycotte, age 10 — A tree enjoys the rain but feels lonely when no children come out to play, wishing it could walk and talk like humans.