Each Kindness
Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson; ill. by E.B. Lewis
Genre: realistic fiction
I'll start this review by saying that, as the mom of an eight-year-old, this book brought me to tears. The premise: the narrator, Chloe, tells the story of a new girl named Maya who joins her class. Maya's family is very poor, and her classmates are unkind to her. Chloe doesn't seem to have a reason to be unkind to Maya, but she is ... not aggressively so, but in ignoring her or asserting to her classmates that Maya isn't her friend, she rejects her. Maya tries for a while to reach out to her classmates, but eventually she becomes solitary--and one day, Maya doesn't come back to class. The next day, the teacher brings in a large bowl of water and some small stones. Dropping in a stone, she shows her students the ripples in the water and explain that each kindness we show ripples out into the world in the same way. The teacher gives each student a stone and allows them to drop it into the water while they announce a kindness they've done.
Standing in front of the bowl with her hand, Chloe is silent. She can't think of a single kindness. She can think of all the times she was hurtful to Maya. Chloe decides that when Maya returns to school, she'll be kind to her--but Maya never comes back, and Chloe reflects on her actions and the fact that her chance to be kind to Maya is forever gone.
This is a wonderful story for children, and the point of view might make it more powerful for children who are bullies or struggle with some of Chloe's issues. I love the realism in Chloe missing her chance; life is often like that. What a powerful lesson for children.
Lesson idea: Give each student a stone, and tell them to think of a kindness that stone could represent. When the students do that kindness, they can bring the stone back and drop it in a bowl and watch their kindness ripple.
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Genre: realistic fiction
I'll start this review by saying that, as the mom of an eight-year-old, this book brought me to tears. The premise: the narrator, Chloe, tells the story of a new girl named Maya who joins her class. Maya's family is very poor, and her classmates are unkind to her. Chloe doesn't seem to have a reason to be unkind to Maya, but she is ... not aggressively so, but in ignoring her or asserting to her classmates that Maya isn't her friend, she rejects her. Maya tries for a while to reach out to her classmates, but eventually she becomes solitary--and one day, Maya doesn't come back to class. The next day, the teacher brings in a large bowl of water and some small stones. Dropping in a stone, she shows her students the ripples in the water and explain that each kindness we show ripples out into the world in the same way. The teacher gives each student a stone and allows them to drop it into the water while they announce a kindness they've done.
Standing in front of the bowl with her hand, Chloe is silent. She can't think of a single kindness. She can think of all the times she was hurtful to Maya. Chloe decides that when Maya returns to school, she'll be kind to her--but Maya never comes back, and Chloe reflects on her actions and the fact that her chance to be kind to Maya is forever gone.
This is a wonderful story for children, and the point of view might make it more powerful for children who are bullies or struggle with some of Chloe's issues. I love the realism in Chloe missing her chance; life is often like that. What a powerful lesson for children.
Lesson idea: Give each student a stone, and tell them to think of a kindness that stone could represent. When the students do that kindness, they can bring the stone back and drop it in a bowl and watch their kindness ripple.
Discover more about the author
Discover more about the illustrator
Watch and listen
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