Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i Cricket Magazine Fiction and Non-Fiction Stories for Children and Young Teens

“Forgotten Forest” mixed media on wood Stefano was born in Padua, Italy, in 1958. After attending the University of Verona, he went to Los Angeles with a scholarship to study economics at UCLA. He arrived there thinking he could walk everywhere, but soon discovered that life was impossible in Los Angeles without a car. Impressed by the sunny California lifestyle, he transferred to USC, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in economics and social sciences. Because of excessive intellectual activity, he reached the conclusion that only in the arts could he express his inexpressible ideas. So, not knowing what he was getting into, he applied to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He was accepted and quickly became known for always painting the same thing for…

I’m a proper, dapper skeletonwith top hat, coat, and tails,and I clatter on the dance floorlike a jar of rusty nails. You may think my days are easyas I lounge around the stage,but an artist’s life is rough—they never pay a “living” wage. Once, I longed to be an actorand I showed my winning grin,but auditions never went my way.They wanted guys with skin. And—would you believe—they gavethe leading role to Frankenstein?So, I’m stuck here doing jazz squaresin the ghoulish chorus line.…

HANNE AND HER friend Lisbet stood in line in the bakery, playing a clapping game while they waited for bread with Hanne’s mother. Their hands flew like bird wings, crisscrossing and connecting in a dancing pattern until Hanne missed a beat. Both girls laughed while the line of women chattered around them. The bell on the door jangled, and two German soldiers walked in, a familiar sight in Copenhagen in 1943. Everyone in the shop fell silent. Hanne, Lisbet, and all the women in the morning bread line walked outside to stand quietly in front of the building until the soldiers bought their pastries and left. “Mama,” asked Hanne, “why doesn’t anyone ever say anything to the soldiers? We leave when they come into shops, but it doesn’t feel like…

Across 1. A skeleton’s _______ has three bones: radius, ulna, and humerus4. Time when clocks are set an hour ahead (abbreviation)7. Underground part of a plant9. Opposite of love10. Popular soft drink11. A region, district, or zone12. To change from solid to liquid due to heat14. Something a witch might cook up15. Some people use a lucky _______ to keep vampires away17. _______ de Janeiro is in Brazil18. Evil spirit20. Footwear22. Halloween face covering25. This may be full and bright on Halloween26. Dracula has a _______ of fangs28. Do what I say or _______29. A farmer stores grain in a _______30. Opposite of dry31. Did you get a _______ of Halloween treats? Down 1. Part of a circle2. Section of a house3. Dark spot (beauty mark) on a witch’s face4.…

NOT ALL PRINCES are handsome, of course, but Lancelot was—very handsome. Nursemaids swooned at his sapphire eyes and rosy cheeks when he was still in the crib. As a young boy, he needed only to flash his spectacular smile to wilt his nannies and get any toy he wanted. And as time went by, he only grew handsomer. But being truly handsome doesn’t come easy, even if you’re born with natural good looks. There’s washing and combing, curling and powdering, and the angling of the nose just so. Lance had to get up quite early in the morning. Still, he had to admit as he admired himself in the mirror, it was worth the effort. “I really am incredibly handsome,” he declared. And he was. He was the handsomest prince…

AS USUAL, THE other kids wanted to meet at the statue of her father. It was located at the edge of their village and made a great base for games of hide and seek. Deeyah found it mildly annoying. Though she was very proud to be the daughter of a renowned hero—slayer of Caldonyia the ice dragon, the man who’d held Baruk’s Pass for three days and three nights—sometimes she could do without the constant reminder. It was a lot to live up to. The others had already gathered, and she sprinted out to them. Long, matted locks of hair streamed behind her as she ran, and beads of sweat adorned her dark skin. Sarif—the largest and loudest of the boys—watched her approach with a sly smile. He loved making…

Don’t look out your window tonight.You’d better turn away;Tonight the world is not the sameAs it was by light of day. There might be things out by the gateYou do not want to see,Or faces peering from the gloomBeneath the hawthorn tree. Some shape could sweep across the moonWith black and pointed hat;Some green-eyed shadow might prowl byThat might not be a cat. What if a woman like a mistWere drifting past the swing,Her long train dragging in the dew,And she began to sing? What if an owl—but not an owl—Were perching on a limb?What if a boy-faced bat hung there,Watching Orion climb? Perhaps a man in collared coatMight halt and face you full,And point at you, his eyes like flames,His head a grinning skull. Just stay in bed, and…

Toad has warts upon his skin—So do his wife and all his kin,His daughter’s warty,So’s his son,His aunts and uncles,Every one—His grandmamma,Does she have a load! You spot a wart—You’ve got a toad. Frog has skin that’s smooth and fine,Not one wart on his behind.Not one wart from ear to ear,The whole frog family’s in the clear.Among the frog folk, every one,The total sum of warts is: None.Not one wart, and that’s the code: You spot a wart—You’ve got a toad.…