Illustration coming soon

Shayna and the Sharing Shelf

Ages 6-9 | Story and 9 activities

Shayna has a shelf in her room that she calls her treasure shelf.

On it sits a shiny rock from a trip to the mountains, a jar of colored buttons, a tiny glass bear, and a book of fairy tales with a golden cover. She dusts the shelf every Friday.

One Sunday, her teacher, Morah Pearl, announces that the class is collecting books for a new library in a small town far away. "Each of you can bring one book to share. A book that you've loved."

Shayna's hand goes to her stomach. She knows right away which book she'll bring. The one with the golden cover. It is her favorite. But she doesn't want to give it away.

At home, she holds the book for a long time. She flips through the pages and looks at the pictures. The princess with the green dress. The tiny house in the forest. She has read it a hundred times.

"Mommy, I don't know if I want to give it."

"That's honest," says Mommy. "It's hard to give away something you love."

"But Morah said a book we loved."

"Mm-hmm."

"If I give my best book, then I won't have it anymore."

Mommy sits beside her. "That's true. And you also might feel something nice. Want to try and see?"

Shayna chews her lip. She thinks about a child in a far-away town, opening this very book. Maybe a girl who has no books at all. Maybe she'll turn the pages as slowly as Shayna does.

"Okay," she says. "I'll bring it."

She writes a note on a slip of paper and tucks it inside the cover: To the next reader. This is a very good book. I hope you love it too. Shayna.

The next morning, she puts the book in Morah Pearl's box. Her heart gives a little squeeze when it leaves her hands.

"Thank you, Shayna," says Morah. "That's a special one."

All day, Shayna feels strange. The empty space on her shelf looks bare. She glances at it before bed. Then she looks at the shiny rock and smiles. She still has so many treasures.

Two weeks later, the class gets a letter. A girl named Miriam, from the town, has written a thank-you. She says: I found a note in a book with a golden cover. I read it three times in one night. Thank you for sharing. I will take good care of it.

Morah Pearl reads it aloud. Shayna sits very still. Her eyes get shiny.

"That's my book," she whispers.

She feels something warm spreading in her chest, like a cup of hot cocoa. It is different from the feeling of having the book on her shelf. It is bigger.

Mommy tucks her in that night. "How does it feel?" she asks.

"Funny," says Shayna. "Empty and full at the same time."

That night, she looks at the empty space on the shelf. Then she takes out a piece of paper and writes: Next time I'll share a button from my jar.

And she puts the paper right where the book used to be.