Innholdsfortegnelse for May/June 2019 i Cricket Magazine Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories for Children and Young Teens

“Maybe I Could Do That” Acrylic on Illustration Board Polly M. Law is an artist, bricoleur (creator of mixed-media bricolage), and mythologenist (teller of mythic tales) living and working in the Mid Hudson Valley of New York. Her work has been printed in numerous publications. Her gallery work can be seen in fine art galleries in Provincetown and Nantucket, Massachusetts, and in Rhinebeck, New York. About the cover: I was inspired by ballet dancer Misty Copeland, who, as an artist of color, broke barriers. She leapt over them with a flourish, strength, and a gracefully extended leg. May she inspire everyone to follow their dreams. Is it time to renew? shop.cricketmedia.com 1-800-821-0115…

THE CHINESE INVENTED paper—and paper money, too, so it should come as no surprise that they’re also experts at creating beautiful works of paper-cut art. The simplest paper-cut designs are symmetrical. They’re made throughout the world using scissors on folded paper. But most Chinese paper-cuts are asymmetrical, made with sharp, thin blades. This craft combines a traditional, asymmetrical Chinese dragon motif with a tool used to create symmetrical designs: scissors. What You’ll Need: paper of various colors (Cellophane or butcher paper works well for background. Construction paper works best for cutouts.) sharp-pointed scissors pencil glue What to Do: 1. Sketch the outline of a dragon’s head onto colored paper (figure 1). 2. Fold the paper lengthwise and draw in design details (figure 2). 3. Starting at the fold, cut out…

Dear Everybuggy, Last time I wrote to you, I lived in North Carolina, but we have moved. We live in Virginia now. I love Cricket! I like space. I’m homeschooled and like to look at our map. I’ve discovered towns like Philadelphia in Mississippi! Philip Turner, age 7 Montclair, Virginia Dear Chatterboxers, I just finished reading Keeper of the Lost Cities Book 6, Nightfall. The last sentence was: “He huffed out of breath, ‘Who’s Alvar?’” And Alvar was the one who asked the question! I have chills, don’t you? Phoenix Queen, age 10 Favorite Last Sentences Blab About Books, Chatterbox Has anybody ever heard of Bakugan? I used to have a Bakugan, a little red dragon. I adored it. To this day, I have no idea where it came from…

SEVEN-YEAR-OLD JACQUES LOVED living in Washington Heights in New York City. In 1941, it was a vibrant working-class neighborhood. He and his pals whooped up and down the stoops of apartment buildings. They played on the rail tracks bordering the Hudson River. The iron trestles over the tracks became the battle decks of a ship. The neighborhood cemetery was a perfect spot to sit on “ghost dust” and tell scary stories. Saturdays were the best days of the week for fun with his friends. Not this Saturday! Jacques’s mother dragged him to Madame Seda’s Dance Studio to watch his sister’s ballet class. “Ah, Boss, do I have to go?” Jacques asked. “I want to play with the fellas.” “Of course, and you will love it,” his mother said. Jacques and…

WHEN UNCLE JOONSA left our village to become a messenger for the Korean armada, I thought I’d never see him again. After all, he’s just a Mireuk Island fisherman, and now he’s sailing his little boat through samurai-infested waters. So when the island magistrate comes to our farmstead with the news that Uncle has returned to Dangpo Port, my heart leaps. And it leaps again when the magistrate says, “According to Joonsa, the entire armada is assembling at Dangpo tomorrow under Admiral Yi.” Admiral Yi is our hero. Last month, the samurai who’ve been ravaging Korea attacked Mireuk Island. Japanese warships descended into Dangpo Port, and I’ll never forget the terror I felt as I fled the town marketplace amid flaming arrows and musket fire. But before they could pillage…

ONCE THERE WAS the son of a poor village shoemaker. What an awkward, ungainly boy he was! Yet he dreamed of being an actor, a singer, a dancer. So at fourteen, he set off alone to seek his fortune in the capital. There, he nearly starved to death. A rich man took pity on him, gave the wretched lad food and shelter, and sent him to a fine school. But no one expected that a day would come when the king would summon him to the palace— Wait a minute! Is this some kind of fairy tale? Yes. A true one. The boy was Hans Christian Andersen, born in Denmark in 1805, and his career began as I’ve told it. Giving up the idea of going on the stage, he…

“ASHLEY! OUR SANDY is singing again!” The stage manager called to me, and I moved to the wings to watch. While our star, Kayla, was belting out “Tomorrow,” the hound sitting next to her had decided to chime in as well, his earsplitting a-roooo echoing Kayla’s emotional high notes. “Knock it off!” Kayla shouted at the dog, breaking character. She motioned for the orchestra to stop. “This isn’t working! I can’t sing this song until we find a decent Sandy!” She stormed off the stage. I walked onstage to clip the leash onto Baily, the foxhound who had wanted a duet. Sandy is supposed to be merely a supporting role in Annie, our school’s musical about a Depression-era orphan and the stray dog she rescues. But Baily clearly thought otherwise.…

First prize 10 and under Katarina Antonisen, age 10 Good Hope, GA The Woman in Black Around the cornerI see her.Along the streetsI see them.The oneWho bound me.Her ravensWho watch me.I cannot be freed.And I warn you to bewareOf the woman in blackAnd her ravensWith feathers and coatOf night and dark.She will bind youWith her spell.And bewareOf the rose she holds.She is not a woman.They are not ravens.It is not a rose.She is a witch.They are ghosts.It is a wand. First prize 11 and up Claire Weiss, age 14 Sterling, VA A Writer’s Spell Pen and paper,Mind and heart.Words form into sentences,Sentences into paragraphs,Paragraphs into pages.Pen, connect to paper.Mind, create.Heart, infuse emotion.Spin a story.Mystery, magic.Harsh futures, the truth of now.Create an epic of emotions,A fable of feelings.Tell the tale. Second…