Stone Soup author Isabel Folger, 12, talks about how she lets a story gestate in her mind for a couple of weeks before she starts writing. Isabel had four stories published in Stone Soup: “A Fortunate Soul” (January/February 2013), “A Special Present” (November/December 2013), “Hope” (January/February 2014), and “Believing” (July/August 2014). She also wrote a review of the book Counting by Sevens (November/December 2014).
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Stone Soup Author Interview: Elia Smith, 10
https://youtu.be/UUlX4v9qZRc Stone Soup author Elia Smith, 10, talks about how she got started as an author, what she likes to read and write about, and shares some tips on how to become an award-winning writer. Two of Elia’s stories have been published in Stone Soup: “The Locket” (July/August 2014), and “Words” (September/October 2014). Here’s a list of the questions she answers in this video. — How did you begin creative writing? — What do you like to write about? — Who are your favorite authors? — Describe your writing process. — Have you won any awards for your writing? — How did you discover Stone Soup? — What was your reaction to getting published in Stone Soup? — What advice would you give to others who want to get published in Stone Soup?
Young Performer: Natalie Schwamová, 11, Plays Mozart
Natalie plays Mozart variations on the melody for “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Use this music inspiration for theme-based individual or classroom writing projects. Mozart (1756-1781) wrote a set of variations on the theme of a French folk song, Ah! vous dirai je maman, in 1780, when he was twenty-five years old. In the English-speaking world we identify the theme with the children’s song, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, but in France and most of Europe it is identified with Ah! vous dirai je maman. This beautiful piece of music is here performed by the Czeck pianist Natalie Schwamová (born 1999) when she was eleven-years-old. Natalie brings grace and skill to this performance. Project ideas: Besides being a beautiful piece of music performed by a child, the idea of writing variations on a theme can be applied to creative creative projects besides music. For example, you could write a series of stories based on a one theme, or, a class could write a set of stories based on a theme with each child writing one of the variations.
