Monday, September 10, 2018

Books for Other People Matter



Our school has implemented the Positivity Project this school year. Have you heard of P2? Basically it is the idea of encouraging resiliency and empathy in students by helping them see the strengths in themselves and identify the character areas they need to work on. I am skeptical about projects like this--can you TEACH kids to be decent human beings if they don't want to change or their homelife teaches them something completely different? I don't know. But being a teacher in a public school has shown me time and again that something needs to change. We need to TRY. 

Do all the good you can
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can, 
In all the places you can, 
To all the people you can, 
As long as ever you can.

                                        --John Wesley

As librarian, I will be putting together lists of books that go along with the 24 character strengths. And as a blogger, I will be forcing my lists upon you. Yay!

At school this week, before we begin highlighting the various character strengths, we will be talking about the Other People Matter mindset. 

I am sorting these books by intended audience, but I totally believe that lower elementary books can spark a conversation in high school! 


Lower Elementary

We Don't Eat Our Classmates

We don't eat our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

I am looking forward to reading this one about a dinosaur who has a hard time not eating her human classmates. 

Horrible Bear!

Horrible Bear! By Amy Dyckman

Runaway temper, self-absorbed and careless of other people's feelings, this red headed heroine learns to think before acting. 

That Neighbor Kid

That Neighbor Kid by Daniel Miyares

The importance of friendship and how other people can make our world brighter

Be Kind

Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller

As the title implies, this book explores the ways in which you can be kind and how kindness affects others

The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse


A wolf learns consideration after swallowing small animals

A Perfect Day

A Perfect Day by Lane Smith

Animals teach us how our actions and viewpoint affects other people

A Chair for My Mother 25th Anniversary Edition (Reading Rainbow Books)

A Chair for my Mother by Vera Williams

After a fire, Rosa, her mother, and her grandmother work hard to save up money for the perfect chair to rest in

I Walk with Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness

I Walk with Vanessa  by Karascoet

A new student is bullied, but finds a friend who will stand (or walk!) by her side. 

A Piece of Home

A Piece of Home by Jeri Watts

Asks students to look at the familiar through the eyes of an immigrant family


Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka

A new kid in the neighborhood finds a friend--The importance of friends

Peace is an Offering

Peace is an Offering by Annette Le Box

What peace can be and what peace can do

Pass It On

Pass it On by Sophy Henn

Shows students the ripple effect of a kind act

Brave Like Me (Stories & Poems)

Brave Like Me by Barbara Kerley

Some kids live without their parents so that everyone can live a little safer--perfect other people matter material! 

Upper Elementary


Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

A repeatedly missed opportunity for kindness asks students if it is ever too late to be kind. 

The Hundred Dresses

The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

A classic bullying story gives students the chance to think about being a bystander--could I or should I do more to help others? 


Brave Girl by Michelle Markel

Wanting to make things better for her fellow shirtwaist makers, Clara Lemlich creates a union despite enormous obstacles. 


Tucky Jo and Little Heart by Patricia Palacco

Based on true events, a Vietnam soldier extends kindness to a local girl and finds his actions coming back to help him years later. 


14 Cows For America by Carmen Agra Deedy

After 9/11, the Maasai people of Africa choose 14 of their precious cows to send to America to help America heal from the pain of 9/11. 

Middle/High School


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Police brutality asks a community to think about how they interact and view each other

The Girl in the Well Is Me

The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers

Kammie tries to join the popular girl crowd, but that leads to being stuck in a well, so... maybe the popular girls are not the best friends. 


Long Way Down

A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Setting out to avenge his brother's death, our hero is confronted with the perspectives of those whose lives have been lost in similar ways. 

Patina (Track)

Patina by Jason Reynolds

A middle school girl does everything she can to help her sister, her aunt, her friends--when the unexpected happens, can Patina learn to let other people help her? 

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