LACKAWAXEN, PA — Astra Parsons-Pudder is making her way in the art world already—at the age of six.

She just had a drawing published in Spider Magazine, a national publication from the folks who bring you Cricket. Spider is aimed at early readers.

Astra’s a first-grade student at the Montessori-based Homestead School, in Eldred, NY.

The family moved here from Austin, TX, a couple of years ago and are enjoying the Upper Delaware region.

“We like to be outside… to be out, exploring new places, learning about people and history,” her mom, Linda Pudder, said.

And there’s plenty of time for art, of course.

Astra sent the magazine a drawing of a cat taking a bath for Spider’s Corner, a two-page spread filled with kids’ artwork and letters.

She won a spot, one of just 11 contributions from kids across the country.

“It’s a really fantastic publication,” said Pudder about Spider. “Nice content, alternating between games, poems and stories.”

And of course, contests that call on kids’ natural creativity.

“Astra’s artwork,... selected for Spider’s January issue, shows an adorable smiling cat in an outdoor bathtub,” wrote a Cricket Media spokesperson in an email. “Astra’s picture was selected for its strong use of color and humor. Most people think of cats not liking to get wet, but Astra chose to draw a refreshingly happy water-loving feline.”

The contests cover visual art, poetry and stories, the spokesperson wrote, and there are prompts centered on a theme, which is explored in that issue.

“Astra’s been drawing since she was little,” Pudder said. “We encouraged that from early on. She’s always had supplies to draw or scribble.”

Art runs in the family; Pudder’s brother is an artist, and so is her aunt.

Why should kids make art?

“I think kids are constantly having to make sense of this enormous world they find themselves in,” Pudder said. And art helps them “understand more about that world.”

“Art from children is so free and expressive,” wrote the Cricket Media spokesperson. “We admire how most children are eager and confident to tackle many themes, styles, and mediums. Children’s artwork often is less restrained or inhibited than the artwork of teens and adults.”

Art, they continued, encourages kids to see the world in new ways, “notice details, and then contribute their own unique perspectives, or come up with something entirely unexpected. Crafting artwork adds to children’s self-confidence while heightening the appreciation of the creative works of others.”

And more: “If we shine a light on something like a drawing with markers,” Pudder said, “it shows kids that we value it.”

The cat's enjoying a bath in this published drawing by Lackawaxen resident Astra Parsons-Pudder.

Astra Parsons-Pudder has been drawing since she was little, her mother said, but this is her first time being published in a national magazine.