The Principled Academy: 6 Books on Kindness for Kids

December Newsletter: Kindness is My Superpower!

Illustration by Ekaterina Trukhan.

This December, we’ve chosen Kindness as our virtue of the month.

Kindness, at its root, is care and consideration for the feelings and needs of others. And we could all use a little more of it!

Kindness can take many forms—from the everyday care we receive from loved

ones to the unexpected gestures of strangers. Each act, big or small, carries the power to uplift and transform.

Aesop said it best in his classic fable The Lion and the Mouse: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

Like all virtues, kindness is best learned through example. To support your little ones this month, we’ve selected six stories that explore different expressions of kindness for students in grades K–6.

In this collection, you’ll find gentle, memorable lessons from beloved characters like Frog and Toad, Tanisha from Be Kind, and Unhei from The Name Jar.

We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we do.

For more story and activity ideas, please check out our website at valuesandvirtues,org.

Wishing you health and happiness always,

Isaac Durst Isaac Durst Director

6 Books on Kindness

Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller

Age range: Pre-K / K Genre: Picture Book

When Tanisha spills grape juice all over her new dress, her classmate wants to make her feel better, wondering: What does it mean to be kind?

From asking the new girl to play to standing up for someone being bullied, this moving story explores what kindness is, and how any act, big or small, can make a difference―or at least help a friend.

Be Kind is an unforgettable story about how two simple words can change the world. See Story

The Name Jar Four Feet, Two Frog and Toad are by Yangsook Choi Sandals Friends by Karen Lynn Williams & by Arnold Lobel Khadra Mohammed, Illustrated by Doug Chayla

Age range: 1st & 2nd Age range: 3rd & 4th Age Range: Pre-K / K Genre: Fiction Genre: Fiction Genre: Fiction

Being the new kid in school Four Feet, Two Sandals was From writing letters to going is hard enough, but what inspired by a refugee girl swimming, telling stories to happens when nobody can who asked the authors why finding lost buttons, Frog pronounce your name? there were no books about and Toad are always there Having just moved from children like her. With warm for each other—just as best Korea, Unhei is anxious colors and sensitive brush friends should be. about fitting in. So instead of strokes, this book portrays introducing herself on the the strength, courage, and first day of school, she Frog and Toad Are Friends hope of refugees around the is a Level Two I Can Read decides to choose an world, whose daily existence American name from a glass book, geared for kids who is marked by uncertainty and read on their own but still jar. With the help of a new fear. need a little help friend, Unhei will learn that the best name is her own.

See Story See Story See Story

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson IIlustrated by Tara King

Age Range: 1st & 2nd Genre: Fiction

It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily, Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy!

In this funny yet endearing children’s book, filled with charming illustrations, kids learn about dealing with conflict as See Story well as the difficulties, and ultimate rewards, of making new friends.

Henry and Ella’s Big Jar of Kindness by Audrey Lane

Age range: 1st & 2nd Genre: Picture Book

Henry & Ella’s Big Jar of Kindness is a charming, heartwarming story that teaches children the power of small acts of kindness.

When Henry and Ella get a little too sassy with each other, Grandpa comes up with a fun idea: they’ll write acts of kindness on slips of paper, filling an old pickle jar. Once the jar is full, grandpa will take them out to ice cream! While at first they’re just in it for the reward, Henry and Ella soon discover See Story that the real magic isn’t the jar, but the kindness itself.

Thanks for reading and have a happy holiday season!

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