Prince Pip Learns to Share Sunshine

Once upon a time, in a land filled with sparkly rivers and lollipop trees, lived a little prince named Pip. Prince Pip had bright, sunshine-yellow hair and eyes like blueberries. Pip loved to play in his royal playroom. It was filled with bouncy balls, squeaky toys, and towers of blocks.

One sunny morning, Miss Lily, Pip's kind teacher, came to the playroom. Miss Lily had hair like spun gold and a smile that could melt a snowdrift. “Good morning, Prince Pip!” she sang. “Today, Princess Poppy is visiting!”

Prince Pip’s nose wrinkled. Princess Poppy? He didn't want to share his toys. He liked all the toys for himself. He stomped his foot a little. But Miss Lily just smiled. “Sharing is caring, Pip,” she said gently. “It makes everyone happy.”

Soon, Princess Poppy arrived. She had pigtails like pink candy canes and wore shoes that jingled when she walked. “Hello, Pip!” she chirped. Poppy skipped over to the block tower Pip was building. “Wow! Can I help?”

Pip frowned. He didn’t want Poppy to touch his tower. He wanted it all for himself. He grabbed a big blue block. Poppy reached for the same block. Pip bit Poppy's hand!

“Ouch!” cried Poppy, tears welling up in her big green eyes. She ran to Miss Lily, who scooped her up in a hug. Miss Lily frowned at Pip. “Pip, biting hurts! It’s not kind to bite.”

Pip crossed his arms. He didn’t mean to hurt Poppy, but he wanted the blue block. He felt a big grumble in his tummy. He wanted Miss Lily to play with him, not Poppy. Miss Lily was holding Poppy now. He stomped his foot again.

Later, Poppy tried to play with the bouncy balls. Pip watched, his face like a thundercloud. He saw Miss Lily bounce a red ball to Poppy and Poppy laughed. He ran and pushed Poppy! Poppy tumbled to the floor.

“Pip!” Miss Lily said sternly. “Pushing is not nice. It hurts people’s feelings and bodies!” She helped Poppy up and gave her a gentle hug. Pip felt hot tears prickling his eyes. He didn't like that Miss Lily paid more attention to Poppy. He wanted the attention.

That afternoon, Pip went to his room. He saw his favorite stuffed dragon, Sparky. But Sparky only had one eye. Pip had accidentally pulled the other eye off. Sparky looked sad. Pip picked up crayons, and started pinching Sparky's nose thinking it was funny.

Pip looked at Sparky. He felt bad for hurting Sparky. He hugged Sparky tight. A tiny idea popped into Pip’s head, like a bubble. He ran back to the playroom.

Poppy was trying to build a tower with the blocks, but it kept falling down. She looked sad. Miss Lily was busy helping another little prince build a race car.

Pip took a deep breath. He walked over to Poppy. “Poppy,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry I bit you and pushed you. It wasn’t kind.”

Poppy looked at him, surprised. “That’s okay, Pip,” she said softly.

Pip picked up a block carefully. “Maybe we can build the tower together?” he asked.

Poppy smiled. “Okay!”

Together, Pip and Poppy built the tower. Pip carefully put a big green block on top. Poppy added a sparkly pink one. The tower wobbled, but it didn't fall. Pip giggled. Poppy giggled too.