Summer 2026 Issue
Vol. 38, No. 2 July – August 2026 ISSN: 0899-529X
For Your Summer Enjoyment…
3 Dear President George Washington
4 To the Parents Who Hope to Be Friends with Their Children
5 The Woodman and the Shurale, a Tatar Folktale
6 Love • Monster: Speaking Out Against Air Pollution
7 A Ghost’s Whisper
12 Poems by Daniel Jung
13 Brainstorm of the Brilliant
14 Villains Aren’t Born, They’re Made
15 I’m called a Queen Conch
16 2026 Skipping Stones Book Awards:
Our Annual Recommendations for Multicultural and Nature Books
18 Why Every Child Deserves a Bookshelf • About the Cover
19 Even When It Shakes
20 The Windmill That Spoke to the Sky
24 More Than A Medal: The Life Lessons of Olympic Slalom Paddler Evy Leibfarth
25 Zainab’s Lamp • Spiritual Currents
26 Photos • My Travels to Kumrat Valley & Thandyani in Pakistan
28 The Voice From Spring
29 Celebrate America: 2026 Creative Writing Contest
A Classroom Full of the World • Help • What It Means To Be a Welcoming Nation
31 The Quietest..Roar!
32 Taking Care of North Dakota
34 2026 Minoru Yasui Student Art Contest for Middle & High School Students
36 Real Meaning of Education
Regular Departments
Cover Snow Capped Three Sisters, Oregon Cascades. Photo by Arun N. Toké
11 Skipping Stones Stew: My Name Is… • A Garden of Peace • Ivory as Long as He’s Here
21 OpEd: The Dying Art of Journalism
23 Nature Poetry
Please note that we plan to publish the Awards Issue in print as well as digitally. After that all content will be published online only ! Please visit www.skippingStones.org to read (for free!) for our recent back issues, this current issue, and our future online content, including the upcoming Youth Awards & Book Awards. Read the content as often as you can; we’ve no paywalls or popup windows on the website. We are a nonprofit!
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© 2026 by Skipping Stones, Inc. Opinions expressed in these pages reflect views of the contributors, and not necessarily those of Skipping Stones, Inc. Ideas expressed are not professional advice.