It was a morning with a milk-white sky, no clouds but no sun either, as if the world was still deciding whether to be cheerful or quiet. Dash, Ziggy, Lily and Skye were in Dash's living room, sitting on the rug building towers of books. Each book was a floor, and on top of the last one they placed a stuffed animal as a guard.

"My tower has seven floors!" said Ziggy, hopping in place.

"Mine has eight!" replied Lily, her blue eyes concentrating.

Skye was building a tiny little tower, because she said that way it wouldn't fall. Dash, instead, ran around his tower going "vrooom" like a little car.

"Children, careful not to..." said Chrissy, Dash's mom, but right at that moment Dash's tower tumbled over with a plop onto the rug. Everyone burst out laughing.

Then, all of a sudden, from the garden came a familiar sound.

"CHUFFFF CHUFFFF!"

The children looked at each other with wide open eyes and ran to the window.

Out there, on the lawn, was Toby the Magic Train. Shiny, colorful, with soft smoke rising from his chimney like whipped cream. Toby whistled softly and then, in his happy little voice, he said:

"Hello little friends, what a wonderful day,
a magical place isn't far, far away!
A kind little friend can't wait to say hi,
with a sweet happy gift you'll love by and by."

The children rushed to put on their coats. In no time they were all on the train, their cheeks red with excitement. Toby blew his whistle and set off, running through the clouds, passing over meadows and rooftops, while inside the children laughed and guessed where they were going.

"A magical house?" said Skye. "Maybe a chocolate house?"

"Maybe a house made of clouds!" said Dash, who was the fastest even with his imagination.

"I think it's full of butterflies!" added Lily.

But when the train stopped, in front of them was a big wooden door with a golden sign: "THE WHISPERING LIBRARY."

"A library?" said Ziggy. "Not a house?"

"A library is a house for books!" explained Skye, who understood right away.

They went in on tiptoes. Inside there were big, huge shelves, full of books of every color. Some books were red like apples, others blue like the sea, others golden like the sunset sun. There was also a sweet smell of old paper and warm wood.

As soon as they were inside, on the roof they heard a tick tick tick.

"It's raining!" said Ziggy.

It was a gentle rain. The little drops on the roof sounded like tiny fingers knocking to say "may I come in?". It was a sweet sound, that made you want to listen.

Suddenly, behind a shelf, they heard a tired buzzing. They looked and saw a tiny little bee, with trembling wings.

"Help..." said the little bee in a thin voice. "I can't find any more flowers. My sisters and I can't make honey anymore. And without honey... we are sad and weak."

Lily crouched down in front of her. "And why are there no more flowers?"

"Because the magic is gone," sighed the little bee. "Once the queen of the bees had a special recipe, that made flowers bloom even when the sky was tired. But the recipe was lost a long time ago. It is written here, inside this library, but it is hidden in the spider webs."

"In the spider webs?" said Dash, with eyes as big as saucers.

"Yes. There is a spider who weaves webs shaped like stars. In each star there is a little piece of the recipe. But now he can't remember where he put them all, and by himself he can't put the ingredients back together."

The children looked at each other. They had to help the little bee and all her sisters.

They walked in silence between the shelves. The rain kept going tick tick tick on the roof, as if it were keeping time with their walk. Then, in a hidden corner, under a little yellow lamp, they saw a web that sparkled like a starry sky.

Hanging from a very thin thread was a tiny spider, with eight long little legs and kind eyes.

"Oh, what a scrumptious surprise," said the spider.

The children stopped.

"Scrumptious?" said Ziggy, scratching his head. "What does scrumptious mean?"

The spider smiled. "It means very beautiful, very special. Like when you eat something really yummy that you really love."

Dash nodded seriously. He had just remembered a new word.

"I am Silver Spindle," said the spider, "and I am old like a grandpa. I have been weaving star-shaped webs for many, many years. But sadly... my memory has rolled up like a ball of yarn, and I can't find the pieces of the recipe anymore."

"We can help you!" said Lily, in her strong little voice.

Silver Spindle sighed, gently moving his little legs. "It's not easy, my little ones. The ingredients are written in small hiding spots all over the library. You must ask the friends who live here for help. Each one remembers one. I will wait here, and then I will weave everything together."

And so their adventure began.

The first stop was a little mouse who was reading a book about cheeses. His name was Crumby, and he chewed words as if they were crunchy snacks.

"An ingredient?" squeaked Crumby. "Oh yes, I remember one: A DROP OF LAUGHTER."

"A laugh?" said Dash, surprised. "How do you catch a laugh?"

"You must all laugh together," said the little mouse, "and I will catch it in this little glass jar."

The children looked at each other. Ziggy made a funny face with his tongue sticking out and his fingers in his ears. Lily put her hands on her belly. Skye started laughing softly, then louder. And Dash burst out laughing too. Crumby was fast: he caught the laugh in the little jar and sealed it with a cork.

"First ingredient: done!" said Ziggy, proudly.

The second stop was a cricket who was a bit of a grumbler, who lived inside a book of poems. His name was Maestro Chirpy.

"My ingredient," he said in his thin little voice, "is A BREATH OF COURAGE."

Skye breathed hard, then blew it into a little bottle. But the cricket shook his head.

"We need a bigger breath. A breath from all of you together."

All together they breathed in deeply and then blew into the little bottle.

Just at that moment, a huge shelf trembled. A big, huge book started to slide. It was about to fall on the children!

"Watch out!" shouted Lily.

They ran away just in time. The book made a tremendous THUMP on the floor, raising a cloud of dust. The children held hands, their hearts beating very fast.

"That was so scary," whispered Skye, squeezing Dash's hand.

"It's the books that move when it rains," explained the cricket. "They didn't want to hurt you, but you must be careful."

Silver Spindle reached them, walking on his eight little legs. "There is still one more ingredient. But it is in a difficult place."

"Where?" asked Dash.

"Under the tallest shelf, in a little crack. None of us can fit in. It is too narrow for me, too low for Crumby, too dark for the cricket."

"But I am small!" said Dash, with shining eyes.

The children looked at the crack. It really was tiny, tiny. Only Dash could fit through.

Dash's dad, Freddy, had once told him: "Be careful, Dash, you are very little." But Chrissy, his mom, had added: "But you are perfect just the way you are, sweetheart."

Dash remembered those words. He took a big, deep breath.

"I'll try."

He crawled under the shelf, like a little explorer. Inside it was dark and dusty. He could feel his heart go thump thump. From outside his friends were saying: "Come on Dash, you are so brave! Go!" He moved forward calmly. At the end of the crack he found a tiny little shell, and inside was the last ingredient: A WHISPER OF SWEETNESS.

He came out with the little shell in his hands. The children hugged him tight.

"You did it!" said Ziggy.

"You were so brave!" said Lily.

"You were small but so, so big!" said Skye.

Silver Spindle was moved, and a small tear rolled down from one of his eyes. "Well done, little one. Even the small ones can do great big things. You don't have to be big to do something important."

They all went back under the starry web. Silver Spindle took the three ingredients: the drop of laughter, the breath of courage, the whisper of sweetness. He wove them together with a new, shining thread, forming a big, beautiful star, that sparkled like a real one.

"Now," said the spider, "we only have to open the door and let the magic go out into the world."

They all ran to the door. Dash pushed it gently.

But... outside there was no more gentle rain!

There was a rain of petals!

Pink, yellow, purple, orange petals were falling from the sky like a colorful, sweet-smelling rain. The air smelled of flowers, of spring, of honey.

"It happened!" shouted the little bee, who had flown right outside. "The flowers are blooming again, everywhere!"

There was a happy buzzing: so many bees came from every direction, fluttering among the petals. The bees were singing a little song of joy.

Dash smiled with his whole face. Without him, without all of them, that wonderful thing would not have happened.

In the middle of the rain of petals, Toby the Magic Train arrived, sparkling like candy, with his smoke smelling sweeter than usual.

"Brave little children with hearts full of light,
you made all the petals bloom sweet and bright!
Even a small heart can do great big things,
now home we will fly on my magical wings."

The children climbed onto the train, laughing and holding some colorful petals in their hands. Toby set off, between cheerful whistles and pink clouds.

When they got home, Dash's mom, Chrissy, was waiting for them with warm milk and cookies.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"In a library where whispers live," said Dash. "And I helped a spider. I was small, but I went into a crack where nobody else could fit."

Chrissy smiled and stroked his hair.

That night, before going to sleep, Dash thought about something important: even though he was small, he had done something big. You don't need to be tall, or strong, or big, to be important. You just need to do your part, with your heart.

And outside, far away, the bees were making honey under a rain of petals.