kindness

Popular, A Memoir

A touchingly honest, candidly hysterical memoir from breakout teen author Maya Van Wagenen. Stuck at the bottom of the social ladder at “pretty much the lowest level of people at school who aren’t paid to be here,” Maya Van Wagenen decided to begin a unique social experiment: spend the school year following a 1950s popularity guide, written by former teen model Betty Cornell. Can curlers, girdles, Vaseline and a strand of pearls help Maya on her quest to be popular? The real-life results are painful, funny and include a wonderful and unexpected surprise-meeting and befriending Betty Cornell herself. Told with humor and grace, Maya’s journey offers readers of all ages a thoroughly contemporary example of kindness and self-confidence.

Princesses Are Not Just Pretty

Princesses Mellie, Allie, and Libby are back in another rollicking, royal adventure. When the girls begin to argue about which princess is the prettiest in the land, they decide to hold a contest.

The Crane Wife

When Osamu, a lonely sail maker, nurses an injured crane one blustery night, he never suspects that this simple act of kindness will change his life forever. Weeks later a mysterious woman arrives on his doorstep, seeking shelter from a storm. Osamu again offers his help, and soon the sail maker and the stranger fall in love and marry. But when he learns of his wife’s gift for making magic sails, ambition replaces compassion–and Osamu risks losing the great happiness he has found. With majestic paintings and lyrical prose, this classic Japanese tale speaks to readers of all ages with its timeless lessons on the nature of kindness, love, and betrayal.

The Sea Man

When sailors aboard a Dutch ship in 1663 capture a creature, half man and half fish, the superstitious crewmen want to kill it, except for a young cabin boy who believes that the creature deserves to live.

Each Kindness

When Ms. Albert teaches a lesson on kindness, Chloe realizes that she and her friends have been wrong in making fun of new student Maya’s shabby clothes and refusing to play with her.

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

Featured in WOW Review Volume XIII, Issue 4.

Wonder

I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse. August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances?R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.

See the review at WOW Review Volume 5, Issue 4

The Christmas Eve Ghost

Two children find goodwill and acceptance in unexpected places even in the hardest of times in a moving tale from a master picturebook creator. In 1930s Liverpool, where streetcars clang on iron tracks, young Bronwen and Dylan live with their widowed Mam. Every day, in the wee hours of morning, Mam leaves the two alone as she gathers other people’s laundry to boil in a big metal copper at home. At night, if she’s not too tired, Mam tells fanciful tales of dragons and ghosties, and on Sunday, she cautions the children about the O’Rileys next door, who go to a church that is not for their kind. But on Christmas Eve, when Mam must go out, Bronwen and Dylan hear a ghostly plonk! plonk! plonk! from the washroom that sends them running straight into the arms of Mrs. O’Riley. Not only do they find that the house next door harbors nothing to fear, but it may hold a blessing for Mam, too. With evocative drawings full of compelling detail, Shirley Hughes tells a timeless, genuine tale of community and human kindness.

The Wind That Wanted To Rest

An old and tired winter wind is searching for a place to rest. But wherever he goes, the wind is turned away, until his pain fuels a raging storm. Then he meets a good-hearted child who offers him a place to stay, and in gratitude the old wind leaves the child a lasting legacy. From Sheldon Oberman, author of the award-winning The Always Prayer Shawl, comes a timeless tale about the good that flows from kindness and understanding. Neil Waldman’s stunnign art evokes the world of old Russia, where the story originated.