Today's children live in a world filled with adventure, mental stimulation, topical issues, and personal challenges. The values they learn now, between the ages of 5 and 8, will shape the rest of their lives.

Through this collection of heartfelt true stories about family ties, helping neighbors, and lasting friendships, children will see how other kids their age have learned valuable lessons from the choices they've made--and most of all, they will realize that they are not alone in dealing with some of the difficult issues in their lives; such as the loss of a loved one, accepting and respecting others, taking responsibility for their actions, coping with fitting in, or learning to make friends.

Chicken Soup for the Child's Soul is a book that can help guide children as they explore their relationships with peers and family members, and begin to develop their own personal values. You and your children will share special times reading these real-life stories to each other, as together you explore how other children have dealt with everyday issues in healthy, positive ways. Reading Child's Soul stories together can serve as an entrance to conversations about the topics of the stories, which can create better family and classroom communication during these exciting years of growth.

The Twenty-Dollar Bill

When my mom and dad said that we could adopt a couple of kittens, I jumped at the chance to have some soft, cuddly animals around the house. So off we went to the Humane Society where there were a lot of animals up for adoption.

The first thing I noticed was that there was not a lot of room for the animals and not a lot of supplies to care for them. Even though they didn't have much, the people who worked there cared about the animals more than anything, and they did their best for them. Still, it seemed they had just barely enough food and medicine to keep the animals healthy.

When we started looking around, I saw a lot of animals and fell in love with each of them. But my family and I finally settled on adopting two kittens we named Sox and Sierra. We went up to the front desk to sign the papers for them, and that's when I noticed a box on the counter. The Humane Society ws hoping to get enough donations to buy more supplies for the animals and also build a new building to help even more abandoned animals.

We finished up and took our new kittens home, where they were sure to get a lot of love. Later that day my mom and I went shopping, and as we were walking through the parking lot at the store, I noticed a green piece of paper three spaces away from our car. It was kind of wet, but it looked like it could be a dollar bill, so I walked over and picked it up. It wasn't a dollar bill--it was a twenty-dollar bill!

When I got home, I dried it off and thought about what to do with it. I considered spending it on a toy and a lot of other things. Right then, Sox climbed up into my lap, and I knew what I was going to do with the money.

I asked my mom to take me back to the Humane Society so that I could put the money in the donation box. The lady at the counter smiled and thanked me, and I felt really good about what I did.

If the Humane Society does raise enough money to build a new building, I will know that I helped many more animals that will come to live there one day--hopefully, only until someone comes along and lovingly adopts them like we did with Sox and Sierra.

--Mallory McGinty, 10