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A review by tami_provencher
Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller
4.0
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:
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.
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.