2020
WISE Score
A global tour of animals and kids that turns big concepts like forgiveness and standing up for yourself into rhyming, preschool-sized bites.
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This is a high-quality 'starter kit' for emotional intelligence. It doesn't just tell kids to be nice; it gives them a vocabulary for the harder parts of social interaction, like what to do after a fight.
The art is vibrant and the global scope is a nice touch that keeps it from feeling too insular. It’s a solid addition to a bedtime rotation, especially if you’re looking to anchor your kid’s day in something prosocial and calm.
Perfect for the 3-to-6 crowd who are currently navigating the 'mine!' phase and learning how to exist in a classroom or playgroup. Older 7- or 8-year-olds might find it a bit young unless they are reading it to a younger sibling.
It is essentially a manual for being a decent human, covering everything from sharing toys to the much harder skill of apologizing and forgiving.
While it follows a familiar rhyming structure, the use of animals from every continent adds a layer of global curiosity and visual variety.
Zero red flags. It is a gentle, supportive picture book designed for the youngest readers.
Strong social-emotional learning (SEL) core. It specifically highlights 'using your voice,' which is a vital nuance often missing in generic kindness books.
Most kindness books for the preschool set are a bit... fluffy. They focus on sharing cookies or smiling. Share a Little Kindness earns its keep by touching on the friction points of childhood. It specifically mentions apologizing and forgiving, which are the actual gears of social life for a four-year-old.
One of the best inclusions is the emphasis on using your voice. In an era where we talk a lot about consent and boundaries, teaching a kid that kindness includes standing up for yourself is a crucial distinction. It prevents 'kindness' from being synonymous with 'compliance.'
Because this is a rhyming book, it’s a fantastic tool for the language comprehension half of the Reading Rope. When you read this aloud, you're helping your kid build background knowledge about global geography (via the animals) and narrative structure. If they’re on the older end of the target range (6-8), let them try to predict the rhyming words at the end of the lines—it’s a simple way to keep them engaged while they practice their own decoding skills.
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