Storybook

"DeeBee and Milo Climb the Hill": A Free Read-Along for Families and Classrooms

Designer Bee usually makes free tools that help families and classrooms build real things: laser-cut boxes, 3D-printed keychains, name puzzles for a class. This time we made something a little different. Not a tool. A story. DeeBee and Milo Climb the Hill is a free read-along picture book about kindness, and it's ready to read online, print, or share with a class right now.

What the story is about

Milo is a fast little red car who's sure the slower trucks climbing the hill beside him are just lazy. As he passes them one by one, he never stops to wonder why they're moving so slowly. By the top of the hill, he learns what each of them was actually carrying, and realizes he had it backwards the whole time. The story's moral is simple and worth saying out loud with a child: when someone is moving slowly, we cannot always see what they are carrying. That is why we choose to be kind.

Why we made it

Most of the people who use Designer Bee's tools turn out to be the same crowd: parents, teachers, librarians, and makerspace educators looking for good, free things to do with kids. A read-along about kindness fits that same audience, even though it isn't a maker tool. DeeBee, our mascot, gets to be the story's narrator, so the book doubles as a warm, low-key way to meet the character behind the site.

How to read it with a child or a class

The story works well read straight through in one sitting; it's short enough for a single bedtime or a single class period. A few discussion questions that tend to open up good conversation afterward:

• Why did Milo think the trucks were lazy? Was he right?
• What changed once Milo found out what the trucks were carrying?
• Can you think of a time someone seemed slow, grumpy, or distracted, and you later found out they were dealing with something hard?
• What's one small kind thing you could do for someone today, even if you don't know their full story?

For a classroom, the story pairs naturally with a quick writing or drawing prompt afterward: have students illustrate or write about a time they showed patience with someone, or misjudged someone too quickly.

Read, print, or share it

The full book is free to read in your browser as a page-by-page reader, and free to download and print for personal, family, or educational use. There's nothing to sign up for and nothing to buy.