connection to nature

Poetry·Celeste Escobar, age 9 — A child celebrates physical connection with the earth through barefoot play, describing the planet as a mother whose sandy skin invites daily touch and joy.

Story·Samantha Abrishani, age 12 — A girl discovers mysterious footprints leading into the ocean, searches for her missing brother, and befriends the reclusive neighbor who reveals she once cared for a dolphin-boy.

Story·Bailey Curtin, age 11 — After her sister Jade dies from a brain tumor, Cate steals some ashes and walks to a PEI beach where a mysterious dove appears and draws their family's safety symbol...

Poetry·Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer, age 9 — A father and daughter venture into the woods to craft a bow and arrows, transforming branches into instruments that sing and shoot arrows toward stars that scamper like foxes.

Poetry·Angelina Lu, age 11 — A dreamlike poem where nothing and noone inhabit a valley of inverted colors and upside-down trees, until someone and everyone arrive to paint the sky with love.

Story·Julia Lockwood, age 12 — A girl who visits graves meets the ghost of Ada Lee Clemmons, an eleven-year-old who died in 1907, and realizes she's been keeping the forgotten child company.

Poetry·Andy Wu, age 10 — A child's meditation on the moon's solitude, repeating and varying descriptions that emphasize its loneliness and unique relationship with Earth.

Story·Peyton Jacobe, age 12 — After her parakeet dies, a girl receives a stone from a quiet classmate, then passes it to a grieving neighbor, discovering how small acts of kindness ripple outward.

Poetry·Nour Mokbel, age 11 — A walker observes the ocean at sunset, noting waves, seagulls, and the changing sky as day transforms into starry night.

Poetry·Sophie Nerine, age 12 — A car journey through a mountain valley becomes a meditation on the overwhelming beauty of landscape and the intrusion of human presence.