Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i Cricket Magazine Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories for Children and Young Teens

“Monster Jam” digital JooHee Yoon is an illustrator and printmaker who has been drawing and making things as far back as she can remember. Her artwork has appeared in newspapers, picture books, posters, and on clothing. October is her favorite month since it includes pumpkins, Halloween, autumn leaves, and chilly weather. She enjoys drawing animals, especially cats and other feline creatures. Is it time to renew? shop.cricketmedia.com 1-800-821-0115…

SOME CHILDREN DREAM of becoming a hero when they grow up: conquering dragons, villains, and beasts. But not Alan Maxson. He didn’t want to vanquish monsters. He wanted to become one. “I’ve always loved monsters and nonhuman creatures,” Alan told me in a recent interview. “It was difficult to have a favorite monster growing up, because I loved so many.” As an adult, Alan has turned his love of monsters into a career as a Hollywood actor. He’s played about forty monsters—everything from an orc, to a creepy elf, to a Godzilla-sized gorilla. He follows in the large (and hairy) footsteps of some of Hollywood’s most legendary actors. How to Play a Monster Playing a monster is different from playing a regular role. Sure, you have to study a script,…

It’s annoying, Statius thinks, how people always have to mention that he and his brother, Caeso, are twins—as if the boys hadn’t noticed. It’s a sweltering school day, and their teacher has just given them a passage to memorize about a pair of famous twins in Roman history. At least it’s in Latin and not Greek, Statius thinks. He and Caeso are sitting on the hard bench, struggling to memorize the passage when, suddenly, wailing breaks out in the street. School breaks up in disarray, and Statius and his twin learn that Augustus, the emperor of Rome, has died while visiting the town of Nola. The new emperor, Tiberius Claudius Nero, is even now praying in Rome’s temple of Jupiter. Statius and Caeso race home to tell their mother what…

HAVE YOU EVER wondered what life would be like as a monster? Well, you may be more monstrous than you know! Take the quiz below and see what you may have in common with four legendary beasts. What is your favorite workout? A. A quick swim B. A fast game of catch-me-if-you-can C. A long, slow walk through the city at night D. Skydiving in a thunderstorm What is your favorite movie? A. Jaws B. The Twilight Saga: New Moon C. Bride of Frankenstein D. The Birds What’s your favorite color? A. Pond scum green B. Blood red C. Clay gray D. White lightning Your two best friends begin arguing. How would you stop them? A. Drown and eat them B. Dismember and eat them C.…

Abram and Sela Hayes have come to America, looking for hope in a new world. They settle on the western prairie and, after years of yearning, are looking forward to the birth of their first child. Sela develops a craving for tomatoes, and right before the baby is born, she steals three ripe, juicy tomatoes from the witch woman Agatha Pride’s garden. Seeking revenge, Agatha makes herself invisible and kidnaps the newborn Hope from her cradle, bearing the child out through the window into the summer night. The wicked old woman plans to hide Hope away in a stone silo that stands straight and tall on an abandoned Swedish homestead behind her farm. THE HAYESES WOKE to the empty cradle, and the loss and ache for a little one who…

SIMON LAY IN the wheat field, hidden from the eyes of anyone who might happen to pass by. He was plucking stalks of wheat and linking the straws together to make a circular network of spokes and struts, trying to distract himself from worrying about the war. If this stem were attached here, and then he wrapped this long stem around one of the stones from his bag and knotted it. . . . He held the framework in one hand and released the stone, smiling as the falling weight made the straw pinwheel spin. The sound of hoofbeats made his eyes widen. He scrambled to his feet in time to see a figure on horseback galloping down the road toward his family’s farmhouse. The rider sagged to one side,…

Hungry ghosts? Zombies? Vanishers? Kappa? The frightening things in this monstrous Cricket sent shivers down George’s spine (or would have, if he had one). Still, most of us enjoy a good scare, especially as Halloween grows near. For this month’s contest, every-buggy—even George—would like to read your best poem about something frightful. Will your poem be filled with Halloween ghosts and witches, or visiting a haunted house? Maybe your scary verse will be inspired by a monster from folk lore, like the Gévaudan or the Golem. Perhaps you will imagine what it would be like to play your favorite scary creature in a movie or play, like the monster actor Alan Maxson. Or maybe what gives you goosebumps and makes your hair stand on end isn’t a monster at all,…