Books About Kindness

Tiny lives in Glengadget and occupies her time helping assorted neighbours. But when disaster strikes and her life is turned upside down, all her good deeds pay off, as everyone rallies around to makes things better again. This adorable book has such a great message about the power of community and how good deeds have a habit of coming back to you. The brightly coloured illustrations create a genuinely immersive world that any child will enjoy exploring.

This is an utterly charming book about a little Hugasaurus who sets off to play with some new friends for the first time. It goes well… until the other little dinosaurs start to squabble. Can Hugasaurus make everything better using the power of kindness? With fabulous rhyming text, and really sweet, colourful illustrations, this book is perfect for opening up conversations about being kind.

We love this story about Percy, a hungry pigeon who is desperately looking for a scrap of food, but is foiled at every turn. On his last legs, help comes from the most unlikely of heroes. This is a genuinely moving and uplifting story about the kindness of strangers, generosity, and caring for others. With artwork as beautiful as the story, a percentage of sales also go to charity.

Fabulous Frankie is a beautifully told and fabulously illustrated story of acceptance and valuing kindness. All Frankie the flamingo wants is to be fabulous! But he’s literally surrounded by so many fabulous flamingos, so how on earth can he stand out from the crowd? He looks to all the latest fashion accessories to achieve his goal of being truly fabulous, but in the end it is Frankie’s friends who will help him learn that the things that really do make him fabulous are on the inside. This flamboyant tale of kindness and learning to be yourself is filled with stylish illustrations and celebrates the joy of learning to value what’s on the inside.

This is an absolutely beautiful book – one that is positive and empowering. In the author-illustrator team’s previous book The Proudest Blue, we saw the beautiful bond between sisters Faizah and Asiya and heard the supportive and uplifting words of their mother. In The Kindest Red we see this again throughout the story as we ponder the question posed by Faizah’s teacher, ‘What kind of world would you like to live in?’ A beautiful world? A strong world? A kind world?

Faizah and her friends spend the day showing acts of kindness and seeing them spread until the whole class is beaming. However, it’s school photo day and when it comes to her turn to step up with Asiya, she needs a small act of kindness herself which her friends gladly give. The central theme of ‘passing things on,’ between family members, and to friends and strangers, is beautifully woven through the story, along with the idea of sharing kindness with others. The author’s note beautifully links the theme to her faith too, causing the reader to think about the impact of our actions and behaviour on others around us.

This spellbinding picturebook captures the power behind the simplest of all acts – a smile. When a baby smiles at her brother, the joy he feels is so powerful that it sets in motion a chain of kindness that spreads through the community and around the world. Journey through the illustrated pages and witness the magic behind each and every smile, seeing how far a smile can go and the impact it can have.

This beautiful picture book encourages children to reflect on their own smiles, who makes them smile and how they make others smile. It leaves children wondering ‘Where will your smile go?’.

This book’s attractive, full-page illustrations immerse readers in a magical and diverse world of happiness and possibility. It is incredibly hard not to smile when reading this book! This book is likely to help to bring back smiles for children whose smiles may have gone away. The book would work well as a whole class read but I also believe it could be used one-to-one with a child who may need a little support with their emotional well-being or assembly on how the smallest of actions can impact whole communities.

We’re huge fans of Anne Booth and her books. This is the story of a little boy who makes friends with a ‘troll’ who lives in a cave in the park. He begins to make little drawings outside the cave, always leaving a piece of chalk for the troll. Each day when he returns, he finds that the troll has finished his drawing. Little by little the troll begins to come out of his cave and they become friends.

The perseverance of the little boy is wonderful and it shows how kindness can achieve all kinds of things. We really liked how all of the other children also began to play together, all brought together by drawing. The illustrations are gorgeous and add to the enjoyment of the story.

The Smile Shop, by Satoshi Kitamura, is a wonderful book which will appeal to both young child and adult reader as they follow the boy around a bustling market, trying to decide how to spend his pocket money, before the eventual pay-off that kindness and connection are more important than cash.

 The boy’s internal monologue will be instantly familiar to children as he queries and wonders at the world around him, and worries what to do after his pennies are lost (“How would you feel? What will he do?).

Beyond the beautifully concise wording and enticing storyline, The Smile Shop is filled with detailed but deceptively simple images. The busy market, diverse characters, and expressive faces remind me of Quentin Blake in his ability to convey emotion and character with a few simple lines (the grumpy nun at the grocers stall a particular favourite). Muted colours rule throughout, including a switch to monochrome when the money is lost, with just the boy standing out in his bright red scarf and blue jumper, the centre of his own world, as children are.

Taken as a whole, this simple story with a big message will be a wonderful addition to any EYFS or KS1 bookshelf.

A moving, powerful story that shines a light on those that feel invisible in our world. Isabel and her loving family are forced to leave their home due to poverty. Feeling alone and invisible to the world, Isabel begins to notice the many other people living in similar circumstances – in fact, there are other ‘invisible’ people everywhere. Isabel is stirred to action and decides to make a difference to her new community in the little ways she can. By gradually improving small things that cost nothing, she starts a community movement and, before long, colour floods into her life and the lives of others once again.

​This story links to whole school values of tolerance, kindness and caring and can be used for developing a sense of belonging and community. It shows how anyone can make a positive impact on those around them, regardless of how little they have.​

This is a beautiful picturebook that celebrates new beginnings and the power of human connection. Tilly moves to a new home by the sea. She’s sad to learn that her precious dog Shadow is not allowed to go into her new school on her first day. Tilly faces the challenge of a new start alone. At playtime, the teacher notices that Tilly is alone and suggests trying the Friendship Bench. A boy already occupies the bench and the pair form a bond as they work together to transform the old, broken bench into something beautiful.

This is a warm and gentle story. Most children can relate to the feeling of having nobody to play with or having to face a new challenge alone. The story gently encourages readers to seek human connection and reminds us all of the difference that reaching out and making friends can make. The story could be used to encourage children to reflect on how to make new or isolated members of the school community welcome. Could you work together this year to create spaces around the school where lonely children could go, where children can build connections through shared activity or where friendships can blossom?

This is a valuable board book for nursery and preschool children, exploring everyday ways to show kindness. Each page includes a different example of kindness, such as saying hello to somebody, giving a hug or cheering somebody on.

We really love the bright and bold style of Sophie Beer’s illustrations and the diverse cast of characters. Children need to see how even the smallest gestures can make a difference to others and this bright and simple addition to your library is the perfect conversation starter. There’s plenty to talk about in each picture and many of the children will be able to relate to some of the situations in the book as either the giver or recipient of the kindness shown.

This is a counting book with a difference – the counting is a context for a story about forced migration. We follow a family who are forced to flee a war-torn country. They board a boat and travel to safety in another country where the children go to school and make new friends. It’s a hopeful and positive story which promotes kindness. Each page counts through different acts of kindness that helped the family in their difficult situation; 2 hands lifting the children to safety from the boat, 3 donated meals to fill the children up, 4 beds in a temporary shelter, 8 welcome gifts in the new home, 10 new friends to play with, etc. The simple format leaves plenty of space to think about and discuss the pictures, providing opportunities to discuss ways to be kind and to imagine what life might be like as a refugee.

Kind invites us to imagine a world where everyone is kind, and looks at ways we might be able to make that come true. From simple suggestions like giving someone a smile, to creating a kindness jar and sharing toys, we’re reminded that being kind will help make the world a better place. With pictures by 38 top illustrators, this book is a visual feast for the eyes – plus there’s a donation to charity for every copy sold.