John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, helped America grow by traveling across the land and planting apple tress in what are now the middle states.
When Mali asks her mother for something different for lunch, she expects to get a sandwich, which is what all her classmates eat. Instead, her mother gives her a kind of Thai food. Mali is embarrassed until her teacher smells the food and shares with the class that it is her favorite meal.
Global Youth Service Day, which takes place every April, gives kids the opportunity to make a difference in their communities. Community service projects aimed at the environment, senior citizen care, homeless pets, and those who are needy are carried out by the youth of America each year.
Yuki's grandfather is sick and in the hospital. Yuki will help her grandmother run their grocery store, but she soon finds they need even more help. Yuki asks her friends for help, and they happily agree. Grandmother, Yuki, and Yuki's friends make a chart to help organize the tasks. When Grandfather comes home, he's impressed with how everyone has helped.
During the Great Depression, Ellen decides to sell magazines to earn money for a bicycle to make her trips to school easier. She needs to sell just one more subscription to have enough. After listening to Eleanor Roosevelt on the radio, Ellen decides to write and ask her to buy the last subscription. She has to wait for many weeks, but then Mrs. Roosevelt orders a magazine and sends a horn for Ellen's new bike.
Eric's mother rekindles a friendship with the mother of Jeremy. The mothers want the boys to be friends, but there is a problem. Jeremy is a bully who always picks on Eric. Jeremy even makes sure that Eric misses the tryouts for the soccer team. Eric finally tells his mother about Jeremy and she tells him he doesn't have to be friends with Jeremy. Eric then makes friends with Alec, a teammate on the chess team.
Hank is one of many children and he cannot find a place in his house to draw. He tries many places, but none of them are suitable. He decides to build his own house to have his own space. His job is made easier when his parents buy a new refrigerator and he realizes he can use the box it came in to create his own house.
Jake loves to draw and wants to go to school to learn how to read, but Pa needs him to help on the farm. When a new teacher finally comes to start up the school again, Jake knows that he will not be attending. The teacher travels out to the farm to ask Pa about sending Jake to school, but Pa tells her that he needs Jake to stay home and work. After she suggests that Jake meet her on Sundays, Pa finally agrees to allow Jake to go to school.
This book explores different ways kids can make a difference in their own communities. It provides suggestions and real-life examples, such as two brothers from Illinois who monitor pollution in lakes and streams and a girl from Iowa whose efforts helped raise millions of dollars for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Highlights presents A Typical Boy? written by Katherine Follett. Tim and Alex are best friends. But when Tim joins the football team, they both wonder if their friendship can survive. It seems to Alex that Tim is being a stereotypical boy who only cares about sports and winning. Tim thinks that Alex is being a typical girl who gets mad for no reason. They finally talk it over and decide to accept that they can like different things and still be friends.
Kenny and his classmates hate being picked on by Zeb, even though his comments are often funny. So, Kenny convinces everyone not to laugh at Zeb's comments. However, Zeb continues. So, Kenny tries a different strategy for making Zeb stop: He makes jokes about Zeb to show Zeb how it feels. This doesn't work either because Zeb just laughs at himself. Finally Kenny helps Zeb use his comedy talent in a positive way, as a learning tool for the rest of the class.
