Numbers by Sarah, age 8


I have five fingers on my hand
Three of them are touching a dog
Two of them are holding a small piece of paper that says everybody’s name.

I have twenty people in my family.
None of them wear glasses.
Two of them are old, so old they have wrinkles.
Nineteen speak Chinese.
Six speak English.
Altogether we have one hundred million hairs on our heads.

I know two secrets about someone in my class.
One of them is about his nickname.
The other is about how he likes the Power Rangers

There are fifty states in the United States.
I have been to two of them, California and Nevada.
California has a lot of people.
Nevada has a lot of casinos.

There are ten ghost-fearing monsters in my house.
Two of them are sick.
Five of them are in my closet.
Three of them are under my bed.

In space there one hundred yellow stars,
One thousand yellow stars,
One hundred thousand yellow stars,
Millions, billions, trillions, zillions
I do not know for sure.

About the Author

Hi! My name is Sarah. I am 8 years old. I live in Richmond, CA. I like to play with my rabbits. I am good at playing the piano. Some day I will be a good musician. When I grow up I want to be a doctor. If I were an animal, I would be a dog because they can do tricks. I feel special when my friends play with me. My biggest fear is getting bitten by wild animals. I wonder why people eat animals. Why don’t they just eat fruit instead?

Q&A Part One by the Kids in Room 2

Here’s another exquisite corpse poem we wrote together as a class. It was like playing Madlibs, except every line was blank.

How old is Mother Nature?
As old as scary houses that jump on foolish computers.
Why invent things?
Because restless cardboard oozes poisonous snacks.
Why is there anger?
Because tense opinions blackmail ominous books.
Why don’t animals laugh?
Because fluffy adoption thinks adorable chicks peck lickety-split.
Who were the first people on Earth?
Uncontrollable detectives who scaled frantic rocks.
Why do mosquitoes buzz in people’s ears?
Because freaky wagons play on ultimate coins.
Is there a God?
Obvious remedies scurry over changeable locks.

The Swimming Contest by Mimi, Age 9

Snowball felt nervous. The lake looked fresh and clean. It smelled like ice-cream. It tasted like cotton candy. The water was hot.

“Go!” screamed the judge. Snowball dove in as fast as she could.

She didn’t want Abby to catch up to her because Snowball remembered that Abby was bragging that she got more trophies than her and now Abby wanted the swimming one. Abby had teased her, “Ha ha, you didn’t get any trophies!” and she walked away.

Bubbles dove in next. They both tried to make Abby dove slower. Snowball made bubbles on Abby’s face.

Bubbles got stuck because Abby kicked her feet really fast in front of Bubbles so Bubbles couldn’t go. Abby stuck her tongue out when she looked back. Abby kept doing it until she bumped her head on a rock. That made her dizzy and Snowball passed her along with Bubbles. They had only 10 more minutes to get to the finish line.

Abby caught up to Snowball and Bubbles tried to slow her down by making bubbles on Abby’s face. Snowball and Bubbles almost got to the finish line. But Abby caught up and now all three girls were swimming side by side. The finish line was of front of them. Abby pushed Snowball aside and Snowball pushed her back.

“The winner is Snowball!” screamed the judge.

“Yay!” said Snowball. Snowball received a trophy that had a number “1” on it.

“Good game!” said Bubbles. They shook hands. Abby made a grouchy face at Snowball.

“No fair!” said Abby. Snowball and Bubbles walked away.

“Let’s go!” said Snowball.

“Ok” said Bubbles. They both went back to their tents and continued to play Legos.

About the Author

Hi! My name is Mimi. My birthday is August 5, 1999. I live in an apartment with my mom, dad, and sister. I like to play computer games and watch TV. I am good at art. I want to be good at grammar and math. I want to work at a Build-A-Bear workshop when I grow up. I would be a rabbit if I were an animal because rabbits are cute and cuddly. My biggest fear is poisonous insects. I wonder if there are other planets that don’t have good oxygen but are still here in our solar system.

It Was Her Destiny by Chelzea, age 9


My mom’s name is Kyra Esquivel and she was born in Jalisco, Mexico on March 10, 1972. My mom had to clean the house when she was a kid. She lived on the countryside. My mom’s transportation was walking and it still is. She played tons of games like racing, monkey bars, ball and jumprope. My mom has five siblings she has three sisters and two brothers. She ate whatever her mom gave her to eat. My mom went to a public school like me.

My mom came to San Fransico in 1998 because her destiny was to come here. Her first day here was at Fisherman’s Wharf. One of the things she misses the most about Mexico is her family.

My mom’s hobbies are listening to music and exercising. She loves to sing like me. My mom’s job is cleaning hotel rooms. She doesn’t like anything about her job. If my mom could have any super power it would be super speed because she could finish anything in one second.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Chelzea. I am 9 years old. I live with my mom and dad. I am good at singing and baking cakes and cookies. One day I want to get better at reading. When I grow up I want to be a rock star. If I were an animal, I would want to be a puppy because they are soft and cute. My biggest fear is getting eaten by a lion. I wonder about ghosts. Why are they so mean? The hardest part of this project was asking my mom questions in Spanish. The most interesting thing I learned about my mom was that when she was a kid her family was poor and she couldn’t go to school. I think it is unfair that I can go to school and she couldn’t because she had to pay for her school and I go to school for free.

When I Grow Up by Lisa, age 8

Now I am a girl and I want to be free. I am the youngest and my sisters boss me around. When I grow up I will be a woman. When I am a woman I will be free because I will do whatever I want. I will have my own bed with golden pillows. After that I will be a grandma. When I am a grandma, I will walk slowly and I will have to work in a factory making clothes and I will be tired. I will have one vase of flowers for decoration and two cups, one for me, and one in case I have a guest.

Why? by Lisa, age 8


Go flush the toilet. Don’t pick your nose or it will get worse. Don’t touch that or something will happen to you. Don’t jump down the cliff. Why? Because you’ll die. Don’t touch that. Why? Because you might get hurt. Don’t play around while you’re in the streets. Why? Because there might be an accident. No there won’t. Don’t play with bees. Why? Because they will sting you. I don’t trust you. Don’t touch that needle or you’ll get AIDS. This is how you have good manners at a restaurant. 1. Don’t pick your nose. 2. Don’t eat with your hands. 3. Don’t play with food. 4. Don’t run.

My Mom By Don, Age 10


My mom’s name is Thuy Le. She was born in Vietnam on January 3, 1970. She lived in Saigon, Danang, Hue and Hanoi. During the war, she went underground with her family. Her father dug a hole for them to hide in. He dug it with his bare hands. It was dark and there were slimy worms and bugs there, and poisonous spiders that don’t make webs. Her family was scared and nervous.

When my mom was a kid, she used a bicycle for transportation when. She played a lot of different games like jump rope and dominoes. She has five siblings. Her favorite food was noodle soup, rice and veggies. She went to school.

She came to San Francisco on June 9, 1996. She got married and her husband really wanted to move here. San Francisco felt like a second home to her and she wanted to go back to Vietnam. She missed all her friends and family and restaurants with pho. Her favorite part of her first day here was watching cars go over the Golden gate bridge. The bridge was the thing that surprised her most about San Francisco too because it is so big and the word golden was interesting to her.

My mom likes to cook food for me. Cooking is her hobby because it tastes so good and it makes her family happy!

My mom is a manicurist. She likes getting paid from her boss, but the bad thing about her job is when clients cancel appointments. She was nervous on her first day of work. The day felt so long and she couldn’t wait to get home.

If she could have any superpower, she would choose super flexibility. Why? Because she would be able to help people fast.

About the Author

My name is Don. I’m ten years old. This is my fourth published story. I am also the author of The Iceman, The Boy Who Brought Back Winter, Bus Stop Fight and many poems. The hardest thing about this project was asking my mom questions and writing her answers down in my journal. All the translating was hard. The most interesting thing I learned is how my mom’s dad dug a hole with his bare hands for his family to hide in. I also learned my mom wanted to have fun in her new country but she also misses her family in her old country. My mom taught me that crying will not make me brave or make me get any friends.

The Future by Angela, age 9

Now I am a girl but when I grow up I will be single and I will be a woman. I will have eight balloons because I will have a party and I will invite eight people. I will have eight slices of pizza, eight Wiis and eight videogames because people will be to impatient to wait their turn, eight small rocks for slingshooting, eight plates, eight bowls, eight spoons, eight forks, eight pairs of chopsticks, eight cups and eight laptops so everyone can go to Barbie.com and look at Barbie jumping up and down and watch her say, “Hey, my friend Teresa and I are making a new movie!” When I grow older I will be a grandma even though I will never have kids. I will have glasses and I will have white hair and I will be lazy.

Teeth by Stanley, age 9


Now I am a girl, but when I grow up I will get new teeth. The teeth will be black and they will have flower stickers on them. The teeth will give me magic powers. I will fly to the sky. I will be like Superman. When I’m in the sky I will do the Teletubby dance then I will do the Barney dance. Everyone will say, “You are super cool!” When I fall out of the sky I will be a big, red, digital clock.

A List of Things You Should Do, A List of Things You Should Not Do, by Edmund, age 8


Flush your enemies or else you have to (write your consequence here). Pick your nose. Write your self-consequence if you want a consequence. Put your socks in your mouth because that’s your punishment. Break your own glasses. If you don’t have any, then you have to (write your consequence here). Throw a little bomb in the toilet. Eat your boogers. Break a violin. Carry a brick for trouble. Let a lion bite your super-smelly feet. I’m sorry, if you get in trouble for doing what I say. If this happens then tell the teacher. P.S. I don’t care. P.P.S. I’m not sorry.