effective dialogue
— A river blocked from the sea becomes a puddle who befriends an aging frog that shares stories of the ocean and ultimately carries the puddle to its destination.
— Seven-year-old stuck on a water slide at Great Wolf Lodge faces her fear of darkness and devises a solution to get the raft moving again.
— A man traveling with his critical mother to his grandfather's funeral confronts their conflicting views on success and happiness when a flight delay forces them to share a hotel room.
— A hero confronts a dragon but finds herself debating philosophy when the dragon challenges her assumptions about good and evil, ending with an invitation to tea.
— A young boy writes stories in an alley, facing adults who question his identity as a writer until he discovers his own definition of being published.
— A winter morning bird-feeding ritual captures the urgency of survival as small birds race to eat before crows arrive from the chimneys.
— A boy rescues two abandoned baby hummingbirds from a tennis court and raises them by hand, learning to feed and care for them until they're ready to return to the...
— A girl reads about a catnapped cat in the newspaper, then sneaks out at night to search for and successfully reunite the missing cat with its owner.
— On the first day of sixth grade, a studious boy partners with a new girl for a math competition, then awkwardly defends classmates from bullies.
— During a science class discussion, Kelly's fear of speaking up becomes overwhelming when asked to explain her answer about a frozen water bottle.