Children’s Story -1

“Amma… do we have another new storybook?”

There was a sparkle in Pradyumna’s eyes.

His mother, Renu, smiled.

“ Oh dear! I brought you four books just the other day.”

“I finished reading them yesterday.”

Already?

“Stories make me read faster, Amma,” he said with a little giggle.

Renu laughed too.

“This little boy… I wonder whom he takes after!”

Grandfather Pradeep, who was arranging books nearby, looked up and said,

“When books become good friends, time seems to run.”

To Pradyumna, Grandfather’s room was a little world of magic. One entire wall was covered with bookshelves, and every shelf was filled with books.

Whenever a new book arrived, Grandfather would first open it carefully. Then he would slowly turn the first page.

Watching him, Pradyumna had begun doing the same.

Whenever he got a new book, he would hold it close, look at it for a moment, and then begin reading. After that, he would slowly turn the pages and say,

“Amma look! A new book has a special smell!”

Renu would smile.

“You learnt that from Grandfather, didn’t you?”

Pradyumna would simply grin.

One day

“ Pradyumna! How long are you going to be in there?” Grandmother called, knocking on the bathroom door.

There was no answer.

“Dear?” She slowly opened the door. There he was, sitting on the toilet, completely lost in a storybook.

“  Oh, my!” Grandmother laughed and called out,

“ Renu! Come here for a moment!”

Everyone came running.

“What happened?” they asked. “Your son has opened a library even in the bathroom!”

Everyone burst out laughing. 

Pradyumna looked at them in surprise.

“What happened?”

“You read even in here?”

“The story stopped in the middle, Grandma. How could I come out without finding out whether the hero had climbed down from the tree?”

Grandfather laughed.

“Looks like the story won, and the bathroom lost!”

The whole house filled with laughter once again.

A few days passed.

One evening, Renu looked at the bookshelf and said,

“Pradyumna…”

“Yes, Amma? ”

“Have you read all the books on this shelf?”

“Yes.”

“All of them?”

“Yes.”

“What about the ones on the shelf above?”

“Those too”

“Then we’ll have to buy some new ones”

Pradyumna’s face lit up.

“Really? ”

“But first, we have to make some space.”

“How? ”

“We could sell the books you’ve already read, or give them to a library.”

Pradyumna quietly nodded.

But a little idea had already begun to sprout in his mind.

Two days later…

At the school gate, his teacher greeted Renu.

“Madam, your son wants to do something very nice.”

Renu was suddenly worried.

“What happened, Madam?”

“Nothing,” the teacher said with a smile.

“Yesterday he came to me and said, ‘We have many storybooks at home. I want everyone in my class to read them. Will you take them?’”

Renu was silent for a moment.

The teacher gently continued,

“If you agree, we could start a little library in our classroom.”

That evening…

“Pradyumna…”

“Yes, Amma? ”

“Did you really tell your teacher that?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t even tell me!”

“Teacher said she would think about it and let us know. What if you had said no?”

“Then why did you want to give away your books?”

Pradyumna was quiet for a while.

“Grandfather gives his books to the library, doesn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“And you said we could give away the books I’ve already read.”

“Yes.”

“Then… wouldn’t it be even better if my friends could read them too?”

“Why?”

Pradyumna thought for a moment.

“ Rahul asks me for my books every day. Sana says she loves stories. If all of them have books to read… they can feel the same happiness I feel when I read.”

He picked up his schoolbag.

“I’ll finish my homework, Amma,” he said, and walked inside.

Renu stood there quietly.

Suddenly, she remembered her father— a man who never kept a book he had finished reading only for himself.

The same habit…The same generous heart…had begun to bloom in her grandson too.

The following Monday…Renu carried a large cardboard box filled with storybooks to school.

The teacher took a piece of chalk and wrote in large letters on the blackboard:

Our Classic Library

The children clapped excitedly.

Pradyumna stood quietly at the back, watching.

Rahul picked up the first book and asked,

“Are these really for all of us?”

Pradyumna smiled and nodded.

“Yes.”

The teacher looked at the children and said,

“When stories belong to just one person, they are books. When everyone reads them, they become friends.”

Her eyes shone with happiness.

That day, the children did not take home books alone…

They also took home the joy of reading—and the habit of sharing it with others.