

Ben and Lily were playing with their blocks. They liked to build towers and houses and cars. But they had a problem. They only had ten blocks, and they both wanted more.
"Can I have some of your blocks?" Ben asked Lily.
"No, they are mine!" Lily said. "You have five and I have five. That is fair."
"But I want to make a big tower," Ben said. "Please, Lily, can I have one more block?"
"No, Ben, you can't!" Lily said. "If you take one of mine, then I will have four and you will have six. That is not fair."
Ben was sad. He did not want to fight with Lily, but he also wanted to build his tower. He looked around the room and saw a book on the shelf. He had an idea.
"Look, Lily, I have a funny book," he said. "Do you want to see it?"
Lily loved books. She nodded and smiled. "Yes, Ben, I want to see it."
Ben gave her the book and took one of her blocks. He thought he was very clever. He added the block to his tower and made it taller.
Lily opened the book and saw the cover. It had a big number zero on it. She did not know what it meant, but she thought it was funny. She laughed and turned the page.
But the next page was empty. And the next one. And the next one. The book had no pictures, no words, no colors. It was a book of nothing.
Lily was confused. She did not like the book. She looked at Ben and saw his tower. She realized what he had done. He had tricked her. He had given her a bad book and taken her block.
Lily was angry. She threw the book at Ben and knocked down his tower. The blocks fell to the floor and made a loud noise.
Ben was shocked. He did not expect Lily to do that. He had lost his tower and his book. He felt sorry for what he had done. He had been mean to Lily.
They both started to cry. They did not want to play anymore. They wanted to be friends again.
Their mom heard the noise and came to the room. She saw the mess and the tears. She hugged them and asked what happened.
They told her the story. They said they were sorry. They said they wanted to share.
Mom smiled and said she was proud of them. She said sharing was good. She said she had a surprise for them. She brought a big box from the closet. She opened it and showed them what was inside.
It was more blocks. Twenty more blocks. They had different shapes and colors and sizes. They were new and shiny and fun.
Ben and Lily were happy. They thanked mom and hugged her. They accepted the new blocks and started to play again. They decided to build something together. They decided to build a castle.
They learned their lesson. They learned that being fair and kind was better than being greedy and sneaky. They learned that zero was not a funny number. They learned that sharing was fun.
