Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2020 i Cricket Magazine Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories for Children and Young Teens

MCMULLEN WAS A lazy lout. He was hiding out in the mulberry bush one afternoon when he smelled the tarts a-baking. Following his nose to his mother’s kitchen, McMullen reached for a warm tart and received a rap on his fingers from Ma’s wooden spoon. “Boy, get on your legs and get to workin’ in the fields,” said his ma. “Farmer Duffy is always willing to pay a hard worker. Earn some gold, then you can win yourself a sweetheart, build yourself a house, and be out from under my feet.” “Nay, Mammy,” said McMullen, “’tis too hot a day for workin’. I’ll take some tarts to tempt the faery folk instead. Then I’ll have your wishes for me granted without lifting a finger.” “Hush your nonsense,” said his ma,…

Mariam’s face was just as stormy as the dark clouds tumbling above the black tent. “Please, Babba,” she begged. “I’ll help with the camels, I’ll put up the tents, I’ll do anything if you just let me go hunting with you.” She stretched out her hand to the hooded falcons. Her favorite, Flyer, lifted his head alertly. “Please let me go.” Her father looked calmly down at her, his brown eyes set deep above his arched nose. “No, Mariam, it is not suitable. Falcon hunting is for the brave and the strong, not for girls. Hamad will go, and you will stay. We leave within the hour. I want to move out ahead of the sandstorm.” Mariam’s eyes filled with tears as she turned away from her beloved father. Her…

HAVE YOU EVER wished, when you were annoyed with someone, that there was an easy way to let that person know how you felt? My friend DeMar Regier tells me that women in rural Anatolia (a region in Turkey) can do it by simply tying on a scarf! In some Islamic countries, where it is traditional to cover one’s head, generations of village women have used scarfs as a subtle way to communicate. By applying a lace called oya to the edges of their scarfs, they convey to others their personal feelings and emotions. The oyas, made of tiny three-dimensional flowers, appear to be just pretty decoration, but the lacy flowers carry specific messages. For example, if a woman wants to tell someone, “I’m cross with you!’ she chooses a…

“HEY JACK, WANT to come bird-nesting with us?” his friends would say. Or “Let’s go raid an apple orchard, Jack. Want to climb and shake the tree for us?” And away Jack would go. He was a lively boy, energetic and strong, but Jack was different from the other boys. He was blind. John Metcalf, called Jack by his friends, was born in the year 1717 in Knaresborough, a small market town that rises on the slope of a rocky gorge above the River Nidd in Yorkshire, England. A sturdy lad, the son of a laborer, he grew and thrived until age six, when he was stricken with smallpox. He recovered, but the disease had left him totally blind. As he regained his strength, Jack began to adapt to his…

First prize 10 and under Summer Claudia Balfanz, age 10 Roseville, MN Chinese New Year I move away from the New Year’s party.It is too much for me, the Fireworks,The Dragon Dance,Red envelopes and oranges.I look out the window, thinkingThat nobody remembers Qai Lin. Not the wayI do. I bring an orange to my mouth,Knowing this will not be a lucky year. There they are.A Stag, a Doe, and Fawn, curledTogether. In the moonlight.The Stag is sheltering mother Doe,Lying in front of the infant. They are silverIn the moonlight, past my window.Qai Lin, my grandmother! You had told meThe deer are my protector family. They look at me, leave slowly.Moonlight flows in drops of silver,Speckles the Fawn’s back. But I knowThat nobody remembers Qai Lin. Not the wayI do. Still…

Dear Cricket, Hello! I absolutely love the one and only Cricket magazine. My little sister gets them, and I like to read them to her. I’ve always wanted to publish a story in your magazine, but my older sister (I have six) says I’d have to be older. My favorite buggies are Ladybug and Tater, and my favorite stories are probably “Yuliya’s Fawn,” “The Magic Seeds,” and “Thoko’s Gift” (all November/December 2019). Tashlon Schauermann, age 10 Snyder, Colorado Dear Tashlon, The only place we publish stories by young people is in Cricket League. There is a new contest described in each magazine. Look for the current theme and rules on page 47 and at cricketmagkids.com/contests . Possible categories include story, poetry, and art. We would love to see a story by…

Everyone knows that rocks can make noise. Toss one in the water—KERSPLASH! Drop one on the ground—THUNK! Throw a rock through a window—CRASH! OH NO! But some rocks actually make musical sounds when struck with another rock or with a hammer. A general name for any musical rock is lithophonea combination of the Latin words for rock and sound. Humans have used lithophones to play “rock music” for thousands of years. ROCK GONGS In 1955, archeologist Bernard Fagg studied ancient rock paintings in Nigeria. He noticed that some of the rocks were pockmarked where someone had pounded on them over and over again six to eight thousand years ago. Why were ancient people pounding on rocks? Fagg tried tapping the worn places on the stones. Ting! Ding! He produced bell-like…

The Penderwicks (series) by Jeanne Birdsall The Penderwicks series is full of joy and hope and packed with laugh-out-loud jokes. The series is about four sisters with different personalities and their widowed father. But everything changes when their new neighbors move in. Can the neighbor’s sneaky cat change their lives forever? The sisters’ and their beloved dog Hound’s adventures and secret meetings are fun to follow. Every new book is better than the one before it. Maddie G., age 10 St. Paul, Minnesota I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai This is an autobiography about Malala Yousafzai, an advocate for education rights. When she was ten, terrorists bombed her hometown of Mingora, Pakistan, destroyed schools, and threatened to make girls going to school illegal. A year later, Malala started speaking out.…