Kindness is a Kite String: The Uplifting Power of Empathy

by Michelle Schaub, Claire LaForte (Illustrator)

Overview

Cultivating kindness is easy when you try. Spread a little kindness and watch empathy ripple through the community… spreading happiness like sunshine, connecting diverse groups like a footbridge and lifting hope like a kite string. 

How can YOU lift others with kindness?

This compelling book illustrates simple, yet impactful ways, to spread kindness and brighten the lives of others. Through poetry, the inspiring words uplift young readers, planting seeds of empathy, kindness and community support. 

The best book for positively teaching kindness.

Kindness is a Kite by Michelle Schaub carries the key message of kindness as well as how to teach similes and metaphors supported by the many advocates of positive parenting solutions. It'll sit comfortably on your shelf alongside other books that focus on the power of kindness. Like the work of Diane Alber (Scribble Stones) and Brandon Walden (Trees)  

This book comes with a free Reader’s Guide for children. The guide is available for free download from the publisher website. Lesson plans, activities and discussion questions to allow parents, teachers and caregivers to explore the topic further and deepen comprehension.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733035989
Publisher:	Cardinal Rule Press
Publication date:	04/01/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	674,285
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	460L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Michelle Schaub is an award-winning children's author and language arts teacher. Her previous books include Dream Big, Little Scientists, Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections, and Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers' Market. Her poems appear in several anthologies, including Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud. Michelle speaks at conferences on the power of poetry to boost literacy. Michelle lives near Chicago, where she loves finding creative ways to cultivate kindness. Learn more about Michelle at michelleschaub.com Claire LaForte (JungHwa Lee) is a former animator having worked in Seoul, South Korea for nine years. Now living in Buford, Georgia, her focus is on children's book illustration. Her passion for drawing began as a child sketching in the sand and on the rocks all about the remote little island on which she grew up in Korea's Yellow Sea. She likes to think her illustrations today are done with the same joy and enthusiasm as that little girl's on the island.

Editorial Reviews

"A sweet message of kindness and empathy" —Kirkus Review

"Through poetry, the inspiring words uplift young readers, planting seeds of empathy, kindness and community support. It is an ideal picture book approach for positively teaching kindness." —Children's Book Review

From the Publisher

2021-02-09
This illustrated poem shows readers that kindness is worth catching and passing on.

The first act of kindness spotlighted in this illustrated poem is a child hugging their caregiver upon waking in the morning. This action sets up a chain reaction of kindnesses that flows until the illustrations come full circle, and the family members from the beginning become the beneficiaries of a stranger’s kindness when their lost dog is returned to them. The illustrations, brightly colored with a multiracial host of characters, create a story somewhat separate from the poem at times. The commitment to illustrating the ripple effect of kindness creates moments where the text does not sync with the illustrations. Readers will not understand the story about the lost dog until it is resolved, for instance. It also fosters the misleading idea that kindness is always met with the same, a message that is understandable but also not, sadly, totally realistic. On the opening pages, there is a guide instructing adult readers in the practice of dialogic reading. That thoughtful addition will prove helpful to many, since dialogic reading is not intuitive for all adults but, when employed, creates a dynamic and pleasurable reading experience for a child. The backmatter includes an explanation of metaphors and similes that may be a bit advanced for the target age range of the book.

A sweet message of kindness and empathy, best tempered with a gentle jolt of reality. (activities) (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews