Each Kindness

Woodson, J. (2012). Each Kindness. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books.

This poignant and beautifully illustrated book tells the age old story of succombing to peer pressure and excluding someone who looks a little different.  When a new girl arrives at Chloe's school Chloe follows the unwritten rule to exclude her.  The whispering and name calling grow until the teacher tries teaching a lesson in kindness. Dropping a pebble in water, the teacher says "This is what kindness does, ...Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple, into the world."  Chloe decides too late to show some kindness - the new girl has moved again.  When I read this to the grade 3's you could have heard a pin drop.  They all wanted Chloe to get her chance back. We took time to talk about the ending they wished had happened. This book is a great conversation starter about bystanders, upstanders and chances for kindness.

Late Primary, Intermediate picture book, Teacher resource

I am I

Fitzpatrick, Marie-Louise.(2006). I am I.  New Milford, Connecticut: Roaring Brook Press.

I showed this incredibly beautiful book to Susan, Louisa and Jennah's classes before Remembrance Day using the document camera.  The story of two boys living on opposite sides of a river in an imaginary landscape and declaring themselves king of all they see spirals into a sad tale of war and destruction. Their proud, defiant and hateful words turn to barbed wire and eventually a fire-breathing dragon that leaves their world scorched and barren. The boys' remorse is genuine.  Their tears become a rain storm and germinate new life.  In the final illustration the boys face each other in a cobbled front yard bringing the story back to reality. The amazing, double page spread illustrations tell the story with very few words. The wonderful imagery in this book inspired thoughtful and insightful discussions in every class.

Primary, Intermediate picture book, Teacher resource

13 Words

 "13 Words" by Lemony Snicket, the author of  "A Series of Unfortunate Events", is a clever exploration of beautiful words. While the story does not have much of a plot - in fact it is rather silly - the illustrations by Maria Kalman are bold and colourful with clever details that draw the reader's eye to look closer and the reader's mind to add more details to the story. At the end of the book, Lemony Snicket uses the same 13 words to create a different story.  A great way to introduce some new vocabulary, this book lends itself perfectly to children creating their own stories using the 13 words. After reading it to one class,  a student responded to a complement about her hat by saying, "Thank-you, I thought it had panache"!

(Primary and Intermediate as a writing starter)