Reviews

A little girl sees her classmate, Tanisha, spill grape juice all over herself. Everyone laughs and Tanisha is clearly upset. Our main character feels badly for Tanisha, remembers her mother saying to always "be kind," and so she tries to make Tanisha feel better. As she searches for a way to extend kindness to Tanisha in a way that will help her feel less distressed, she wonders what, exactly, kindness is:

What does it mean to be kind anyway?

She reflects on some examples: teaching someone else how to do something you're good at, bringing cookies to someone who lives alone, passing on toys/clothes you've outgrown, helping with chores at home or school without being asked, offering to be the new kid's partner, greeting people by name and sticking up for someone who's being picked on. She muses on how her own small gesture of kindness might not fix everything, but when joined with small kindnesses of others has the potential to create for ourselves a world "tipped toward love."

Watercolor illustrations complement the story, progressing from close-ups to larger scale depictions of local, national and international communities, effectively mirroring the 'big picture' effect our narrator imagines growing from her single gesture of kindness.

The story and illustrations circle back around to close-ups of the narrator giving Tanisha a special picture she's drawn for her. In the final layout we see Tanisha hanging that picture on the wall by her bed.

Be Kind beautifully captures both the power of kindness and offers tangible ideas to enact it in our lives.

headrush's review against another edition

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5.0

This picture book was written for young elementary school readers around the ages of 4-6 it uses illustrations to depict the different scenes and people that make up the story. The main see's that one of her classmates has had an accident with food at school, she is laughed at by the class but the main character knows that is not nice. The story is a compilation of what she defines and feels like being nice is. This book deserved a perfect rating because of the way it conveys the very important theme of kindness and how children might be able to observe it. The author uses different races and ethnicities for all the characters within the story to ensure representation in the book. This ensures children see themselves in the book, and can further connect with the message it is attempting to portray. The way the story is written allows for a very relatable voice and character that young readers can agree with. Kindness a very foundational characteristic all children should be able to understand and present in their own lives.

libraryvee's review against another edition

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5.0

Oh, children's picture books that manage to convey a message, while telling a story that doesn't go overboard with repetition and words, while also blending perfectly with beautiful, whimsical images - they are just such treasures.

This is the case with Be Kind, which my co-worker and I flipped through and read last Friday morning, and it brought tears to our eyes. How's that for packing a powerful literary punch? The message is simple - be kind, of course - but it's the notion of how one can practice the little everyday kindnesses that add up to be much more.

Beautiful, wonderful, and delivers a powerful message about empathy. Also, I love, love, love children's books that use less wording and more pictures - such a beautiful balance that proves it is indeed an art form.

jennybeastie's review against another edition

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5.0

What a beautiful wish for the world, wrapped up in a quiet story.

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