American
Teddy Roosevelt and the Teddy Bear
On a hunt, a president refuses to shoot a tired, cornered bear because it wouldn't be sporting — and a cartoonist turns the moment into the country's most famous toy.
This Week · Fairness · Juneteenth lead-in
Fairness — is "fair" always the same as "equal"?
For littler ones: Does fair always mean everybody gets the same?
"That's not fair!" is one of the first big ideas a kid feels in their bones — and one of the trickiest. This week we're wondering about the quieter question underneath it: is fair always the same as equal? There's no right answer, which is exactly what makes it a good one for the car or the dinner table — especially the week before Juneteenth, when the country remembers how long Black Americans in Texas waited to learn they were free.
This week's stories
American
The Farmer Who Fed His Town
A farmer with a full barn looks out at hungry neighbors and has to decide what a fair share really means.
American
The Tuskegee Airmen
America's first Black military pilots had to prove themselves twice over just to earn one fair chance in the sky — and flew it brilliantly.
Talk about it
- If there's one cookie and two kids, is splitting it exactly in half always the fairest thing — or does it ever depend?
- Can you think of a time something was equal but still didn't feel fair? What about fair, but not equal?
- The Tuskegee Airmen had to work twice as hard for the same chance other pilots got. What would have been fair? And what do you make of the fact that they went ahead and succeeded anyway?
A new question every week.
Listen together in the app — short audio stories for kids 4–10, at bedtime, on the drive, in the drop-off line.
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