HOW TO BE KIND IN KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarteners get a crash course on practicing kindness.

The text is addressed to child readers, who are told that their “great big heart[s]” and “great big mind[s]” make them able to be kind. Readers are then treated to a tour of the settings a kindergartener will experience at school, including the hallway, the classroom, lunchtime, recess. In each setting, there are moments when other children who are depicted might need a touch of kindness: a helping hand, an invitation to play, a turn with a toy, an apology. Readers are reminded of kind gestures that can make situations better. The spare illustrations are full of joyful energy, showing a diverse classroom of expressive kids with an array of different skin tones and hair textures, a hijab-wearing girl, and a child in a wheelchair. The text is upbeat and enthusiastic, with rhyming verses set to a loose rhythm that is easy to read aloud. Adults and children will have fun reading this primer together, as both preparation for and reminder of the social situations children will face. The positioning of readers as the book’s subject enables thoughtful discussion and mental role-playing for effective social-emotional learning. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A helpful addition to any kindergarten shelf.