American
John Henry
A steel-driving man who swung his hammer against a steam machine to prove a person could outwork it — and did, though it cost him everything. From the African American work-song tradition.
This Week · Hard Work
Hard Work: what's something hard you're proud you finished?
For littler ones: What's something hard you worked on until it was all done?
This week we're wondering about hard work — the sweaty, stick-with-it kind. What's something hard you're proud you finished? Not the easy stuff, but the job that took everything you had. It's a good one to turn over in the car or at the table.
This week's stories
Classics
The Three Little Pigs
Two pigs who threw their houses up quick and easy, and a third who hauled brick and sweated over every wall — and found out which house the wolf couldn't blow down.
American
Betsy Ross and the First Flag
A seamstress — so the story goes — working late by candlelight, needle and thread, stitching a new flag for a new country one careful star at a time.
Talk about it
- What's something hard you stuck with all the way to the end — and how did you feel when it was done?
- John Henry, the third pig, and Betsy Ross all worked until their arms ached. What's the difference between a job that's hard and a job that's just long?
- Has there been a hard thing you started but didn't finish?
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
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