Will I love Each Kindness?

Like many children, Chloe, the main character in this story, keeps to her small posse of friends; but she is also something of a snob. When a new girl, Maya, joins her class and tries to befriend her, Chloe takes one look at Maya’s ragged clothes and turns away. A classroom lesson about kindness causes Chloe to reevaluate her behavior. By this time, however, Maya’s family has moved away, and Chloe is left only with her regret.

It’s not a happy ending, but it’s one that I find much more meaningful than the usual trite scenes of apology and forgiveness.… show more.

I love this book (and my children do, too) because it makes us think and feel. It demonstrates the power of kindness and also the natural consequences of our missed opportunities to be kind. The large format and luscious illustrations by E.B. White draw you into the story deeply and meaningfully.

Here’s another story about a new student, Maya, and how she tries to be friendly to Chloe, the girl she sits next to in class. But Chloe and her classmates whisper about and ignore Maya’s attempts to fit in

I liked the courage and persistence Maya showed even when her classmates refused to accept her. I was surprised by the ending—Maya moves away, and Chloe has to live with regret over all the kindness she never showed her.  

“Mommy, do I have to sit by her?”

My kid can be a real jerk. He picks a genre of child and decides they’re terrible. He’s been horrified by the existence of girls, boys, toddlers, big kids, and human babies. It’s straight-up bigotry, and it’s not okay with me. I’ve preached and preached on sharing space and being nice. Each Kindness doesn’t preach. We stand in the main character’s shoes as she decides who deserves kindness and who doesn’t. We feel the consequences.

Each Kindness, for me, is a modern take of the Eleanor Estes classic children’s story, The Hundred Dresses. In Each Kindness, a new girl comes to school, and no one--especially the protagonist Chloe--makes any effort to befriend her. Instead, Chloe and her friends actively snub her. Chloe learns an important lesson about “…each kindness--done and not done.” This story can generate thoughtful conversations in the classroom and at home.

This is another book that is in my top 5 for picture books. I think the true theme of this book is “Missed Opportunity”. When a new girl shows up at the school, a girl and her friends refused to let her into their circle. But when the student never returned, the girl wished she had been kinder. I love this book. I read it weekly just to remind myself that not all picture books have a happy ending. Jacqueline Woodson is the queen of tackling difficult topics in children’s books. And EB Lewis consistently leaves things off the page.… show more.

Activism can be private and personal, too. In this heart-wrenching book, a young girl narrates the story of a new kid, obviously poor, joining her class. Not much outright bullying happens, but the narrator—and all the other kids—simply ignore the new kid. Day after day. Until she moves away. But the narrator’s point of view shifts. She feels regret and wishes she could take back each unkindness. It’s a book about how a moment of failure can inspire us to change. The dreamy watercolors invite introspection. I always close the book determined to do better and be better.