nature

Story·Schuyler Mitchell, age 12 — A farm girl secretly nurses an injured wild foal back to health, then releases him to freedom when discovery threatens.

Poetry·John Rager, age 12 — A student on a creek field trip catalogs sky and water discoveries, from mud puppies to scraped knees, reluctant to leave when time runs out.

Story·Megan Petty, age 11 — A dog befriends a pregnant wolf cast out from her pack, ultimately choosing to protect her from a hunter and join the wild to prove dogs and wolves can live...

Fog

Poetry·Robin Sandell, age 11 — Evening fog cascades over mountains like a waterfall, settles in the valley through sunset, then retreats at dawn back to the sea.

Story·Ani Wilcenski, age 11 — A boy watches snow transform the landscape and records the lives of forest creatures, while his father sees only an eyesore to remove.

Poetry·Zinnia Schwartz, age 10 — A sudden storm transforms a sunny afternoon in the park, sending a child running and slipping on raindrops as darkness overtakes the day.

Story·Olivia Michelle Smit, age 13 — A ten-year-old Sioux boy participates in his first buffalo hunt, kills the largest buffalo in the herd, and earns his adult name, Buffalo Spirit.

Story·Jenna Lasby, age 13 — A girl with a walking stick from an old injury rescues her brother from the same river where she was hurt, finding courage through a butterfly's example.

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.

Poetry·Ella Rogers, age 10 — A salmon's perspective during its final leap upstream, narrowly escaping a grizzly bear's jaws before reaching calmer waters.