the power of imagination

Poetry·Kathleen Werth, age 8 — A young writer explores identity through an 'I AM' poem format, weaving together dreams of unicorns, talking dogs, and the worry of dying too soon.

Story·Yanni Yohannes, age 9 — A six-year-old dreams of creating an immortality potion, achieves it as an adult through a meteor fragment, becomes wealthy, then loses everything and returns to normal life.

Story·Marcus R. Bosley, age 10 — Ancient gods create humans and give them leaves for clothing and shelter, but when humans grow greedy and attack the gods' palace, the gods curse them to lose leaves each...

Story·Allie Aguila, age 13 — A man seeking escape from anxiety tries experimental goggles that restore childlike imagination, but stays too long and encounters darkness that threatens to consume him.

Story·Marlena Rohde, age 12 — Two sisters discover magical golden seaweed that cures illness, but when a greedy friend threatens them for it, they escape to join an underwater community of glowing creatures.

Story·Elisabeth Baer, age 10 — A magical clock that regulates emotions is thrown away by its bitter owner, journeys through the ocean depths, meets the empress of the sea, and finds a new home with...

Poetry·Ari Martinez, age 9 — A playful exploration of mistakes through wordplay, comparing them to tissues on cake and balloons on garbage cans, then deconstructing the word itself.

Story·Sydney Burr, age 11 — A girl who writes by a mountain stream is transported into her own story about an Egyptian pyramid, where she meets her protagonist and must find a way out.

Poetry·Ana Carpenter, age 10 — A girl imagines being queen of the world, floating above in moonlight and clouds, but discovers the weight of such power and chooses ordinary life instead.

Poetry·Isaiah Albro, age 7 — A lion and house cat race across continents so fast that a rock falls on the king of France, with the lion winning.