My brother, Jeff, is just a few years older than me, but old enough to show me the ways of the world. He used to share his toys, play with me, and read to me (as seen above). We had several books available to us in our home, some we had received as gifts from family and friends. One such book, “Best Loved Fairy Tales” published by Parents’ Magazine in 1974 was given to us by our Aunt Jan. She even wrote, “To Jeff and Jessica From Aunt Jan” on the inside cover. I loved that book and remember reading the collection of stories throughout my childhood. It was my introduction to Brer Rabbit, Rumpelstiltskin, and giants. At some point Jeff became a bit territorial and scribbled over my name in pencil, in OUR book.

I don’t recall noticing the markings as a child, but as I pulled it from my shelf recently, I chuckled. Loving books and stories as I do, I can’t help but understand the feeling of ownership that one gets with a favorite.

It is normal for siblings to feel territorial about shared possessions. In fact, sharing doesn’t make sense in a child’s mind until about the age of 5 or 6. Children begin to understand the concept of sharing in preschool, but that doesn’t mean they are capable of it. What young children can truly understand is taking turns, because the item eventually will come back to them. Parents can model this for children and use language to support it like, “May I have a turn?” and “It’s your turn again.” Building relationships is a great way to help children become more comfortable with taking turns and sharing. Expecting a child to ‘share’ with someone they’ve just met is almost unfair, and possibly setting the child up to not be successful.

Luckily, stories are easy to share. Story time can take place at home, school, the library, or anywhere really. What were your favorite stories growing up?