Each Kindness

Title: Each Kindness

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrator: E. B. Lewis

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards: Coretta Scott King Honor (Author)

Age Group: 1st–3rd grade

Each Kindness is a heart-wrenching and powerful story about the effect of small acts of kindness. There is a new girl, Maya, in Chloe's class at school. When Maya smiles at Chloe, Chloe turns away without smiling. When Maya asks Chloe and the other girls to play with her, they say no. When Maya isn't around, Chloe and her friends make fun of her hand-me-down clothes. One day, Maya doesn't show up to school. That day in class, the students learn  that kindness is a lot like throwing a pebble into a pond. The water ripples out and spreads, just like a small act of kindness spreads. Chloe finds out that Maya moved, and she feels regret and remorse for never having smiled back at Maya. She throws pebbles into a pond for each kindness that she should have shown.

I will absolutely use this book in my classroom. It is such an impactful book that is easy to read but takes a while to fully sink in. In so few words, so much is said. It tells such an important message about being kind to others, and how even little acts of kindness can make the difference in someone's day and in your attitude towards others. This is definitely something that we can all be reminded of!

I would recommend this book for 1st through 3rd grade, as it is very easy for students to read independently or to understand as a read aloud. It is written beautifully but is not overly complicated or confusing. The illustrations are amazing and really add to the understanding of the story.

A lesson idea for Each Kindness would be to cut out a rain drop shape out of construction paper and have each student write down an act of kindness that they can show to someone else. These would be great for a bulletin board display. Another idea is to have an exit ticket that asks students to explain how kindness is like a ripple effect.