connection to nature

Poetry·Genna Carroll, age 13 — After a week of camping, a girl appreciates indoor comforts — shower, pillows, warmth — until she realizes she misses the stars that were her companions outdoors.

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·Ella Csuros, age 8 — A bilingual poem where water becomes the island where grandmother lives, with bears, ocean lullabies, and uncle's fishing boat.

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.

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·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·Charlotte Merrick, age 12 — A lonely commuter observes fleeting human connections on the M31 bus, finding meaning in strangers' brief interactions while questioning their own isolation.

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·Brooke Antoine, age 13 — A girl sneaks out at night to the boardwalk, discovers a manatee tangled in a net, rescues it with her parents' help, and later travels to Florida to release it.