Be Kind by Naomi Shulman illustrated by Hsinping Pan

125 Kind things to say and do

You can make the world a happier place

Being kind should be the motivation for so many of the things we do. Making beds, folding washing, walking a pet - surely these are just things we do to be kind our family. Sharing a hug, listening carefully to a friend, saying thank you. Again these should be automatic things we do because we share our world with others.

Here are a few quotes from the 125 suggestions in this book:

"Smile at one more person each day. If you smile at three people today smile at four people tomorrow."

"Read a book to someone who hasn't learned how yet."

"Put the grocery cart away in the store parking lot and take back another cart while you're at it. (It's actually fun.)"

"Put a brownie in your mailbox with a note for your letter carrier.."
In Australia we would need to rewrite this as "Put a brownie on the top of your letter box with a note for the postman."

"Carry an umbrella that's big enough for two (or more)."

"Send a card to your grandparents just to say hi!"

"Keep a thankfulness jar. Every single day write down one thing you're thankful for."

I think my favourite suggestion is leave a penny on the sidewalk for someone to find. In Australia we might translate this as leave a five cent piece on the footpath. This idea links perfectly with Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. I read this book (suitable for readers aged 11+) over a decade ago but the idea of leaving small coins on the footpath still lingers with me.

Here is one more simple, commonsense idea:

"When you leave an empty room, turn off the lights and watch the stars."

In her introduction the author says: "One of the great things about being kind is that it inspires more kindness. Go ahead and make kindness a habit: It's one you won't want to break!"

Be Kind is a book that should be added to every primary school library. Take a look at the illustrator website of Hsinping Pan. She is the illustrator of Big words for Little Geniuses. I would pair Be Kind with Kind by Alex Scheffler.  You might also like to look at these picture book lists on the topic of kindness:

30 Picture books about Kindness Imagination Soup
Children's books about Kindness Growing by the Book

Here is a sample page from the publisher website.

How am I kind? I like to invite friends to participate in events and outings, I like to post birthday cards and today (it is my birthday) I like to give everyone a small gift to say thanks for being my friend. I am giving each of my friends a book today with their name written on an old library card before we head off to a Christmas craft event!