Why do we react badly to difference? Maya arrives in the classroom:
"We all stared at her.
Her coat was open and the clothes beneath it looked old and ragged.
Her shoes were spring shoes, not meant for the snow.
A strap on one of them had broken."
Our story narrator is the chosen desk mate but right from the first moment she is mean, horrid, cruel and worse to the new girl. She moves away, turns away and when Maya smiles, she does not smile back. Why?
Maya tries to make friends. She shows the girls her birthday present of jacks and a tiny red ball but again she is rejected. The weeks pass and things do not improve.
"Every day, we whispered about Maya, laughing at her clothes, her shoes, the strange food she bought for lunch."
Maya for her part keeps trying to be their friend. I marvel at her courage and perseverance.
One day in Spring Maya does not come to school. It is on this day the teacher talks about kindness. She shows the children a bowl of water and they watch as she drops in a small stone. Kindness, she explains, is like the ripples. "Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple into the world."
It is now too late for our narrator to show kindness to Maya. I love the way the ending is left open. Jacqueline Woodson does not shy away from the deep sadness of the final scene. If you are familiar with the novel Wonder you will know about the movement to Choose Kind.
Here are some excellent teachers notes. Here is a video of the whole book and you can see some illustrations from this book on the illustrator web site.
As I sat thinking about this book today I felt sad. Not because of the story line but because I would love to read this book to lots children. This is a important story told in a gentle way with fabulous illustrations. I worry that so many children will never see this book. In my view Each Kindness needs to be put into the hands of Teacher-Librarians and skilled teachers in all middle primary classes and shared widely. I am sure this is the case in US schools but I do hope it can reach classrooms here in Australia too. More and more in our world we need to treat each other with kindness.
With a group of older students it would be good to compare Each Kindness with the classic book The Hundred Dresses.
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