I talk, and think, a lot about the importance of what we are reading our children and also about the importance of kindness. So, when I stumbled on this article, The Ultimate List of the Best Children’s Books About Kindness,I was got all the feels. The article’s author is a blogger mom and she’s got good stuff to say. She starts by explaining kids are hardwired for kindness, before we try to teach them. But, around age 5 something happens and selfishness takes a stronghold when we send kids school and kindness is “put to the test.” She goes on to explain that parents can bolster kid’s innate kindnesses and that “between ages 4 and 7, that’s a critical developmental window when their brain is especially open to developing a lifelong kindness habit.”
“How?
- Kids need to hear from us that kindness is important,
- Kids need daily opportunities to practice caring for others, and
- We need to encourage kids to consider the perspective and struggles of others.
That may sound like a lot, but we’re lucky to have one powerful parenting tool that will knock out all three of those in one fell swoop: children’s books about kindness.”
She draws an interesting conclusion — that reading books about kindness is setting up a virtual reality simulation so that kids can experience and understand different perspectives. I can think of few things more important than the ability to understand where others are coming from and what they are feeling.
Check out my other blogs posts for suggestions on kids books and more thoughts on teaching compassion and kindness. Here are a few of my favorites:
On Rabbits and Emotional Intelligence
This last post talks about the book The Rabbit Listened — which of course made The Ultimate List. I can’t say enough good things about this book, which shares the story of something gone wrong and a rabbit friend who doesn’t try to jump in and fix things. My hope for all of us, kids and grownups, is to have such a rabbit friend in our lives.
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