← The Almanac

This Week · Generosity

Generosity: what's something you could give that isn't a thing?

For littler ones: What's something nice you could give someone that you can't hold in your hands?

Generosity — What's something you could give that isn't a thing?

This week we're wondering about giving — but not the kind you wrap up in a box. What's something you could give that isn't a thing? Something with no ribbon on it. It's a good one to turn over in the car or at the table, because the answers your kids come up with might surprise you.

This week's stories

Classics

The Gift of the Magi

A young husband and wife, one Christmas, with hardly a penny between them — each one selling the thing they love most to buy a gift for the other.

American

The Farmer Who Fed His Town

A farmer with a good harvest and a town gone hungry, who opens his fields instead of his money box.

American

Johnny Appleseed

A man who walked across the Ohio frontier dropping apple seeds as he went, so trees would grow for people he would never meet.

Talk about it

  • What's something you could give someone that you couldn't hold in your hands?
  • In the Christmas story, both of them gave up the thing they loved most. What do you think made them want to do that?
  • Johnny planted trees for people he'd never meet. What would make someone do something for a stranger they'll never know?

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.

Join the family

Get the stories that built America in your inbox

New stories, the weekly Almanac, and family read-aloud picks. No spam — unsubscribe anytime.