As parents, we want to raise kids who grow up to be kind and compassionate and maybe even thoughtful enough to return their grocery store cart to the parking lot corral.
Thankfully, research shows that kids act with kindness and compassion from a very early age – before we ever try to teach them to be kind. For example:
- Babies as young as six months old show a clear preference for kind and helpful behavior as opposed to mean behavior.
- 3-year-olds can actually be great about sharing prized toys with their friends.
- When given the opportunity to be kind to others, kids feel happier than if they’re doing something that just benefits them alone.
But Then, Something Happens…
Between the time we see our toddlers’ first sprout of compassion and the time we send our sweet kiddos off to school:
“Research shows that as they enter school around age five or so, children shift away from their innate altruism toward selfishness.”
But…why five? Why do parents and teachers tend to see a change in kids’ behavior around this timeframe?
Because that’s when your child is thrown into a big group with other kids, and herd mentality isn’t always a pretty sight. Kids start teasing other kids. Showing aggression. Bullying.
This is when kids’ innate kindness is put to a real-life test.
Here’s the Good News
As a parent, you can bolster your child’s innate kindness. In fact, when your child is between ages 4 and 7, that’s a critical developmental window when their brain is especially open to developing a lifelong kindness habit.
How? According to a report by Harvard researchers:
- Kids need to hear from us that kindness is important,
- Kids need daily opportunities to practice caring for others, and
- We need to encourage kids to consider the perspective and struggles of others.
That may sound like a lot, but we’re lucky to have one powerful parenting tool that will knock out all three of those in one fell swoop: children’s books about kindness.
Related: 40 Questions That Will Teach Your Kid to Be Kind to Others {Printable}

Why It’s So Important to Read Children’s Books About Kindness
When we read children’s books about being kind and talk to our kids about the stories, this is what happens:
- We deliver the message that kindness is important,
- We give our kids a chance to practice flexing their kindness muscle, and
- We give them an opportunity to put themselves in someone else’s shoes.
In other words, reading books about kindness takes care of every one of those three essentials for raising kind kids.
Plus, reading books works way better than lecturing kids on the virtues of kindness.
Lectures typically go in one ear and out the other. But when you read fiction, research shows that the brain reacts the same way as if you were living the story in real life. In other words, reading children’s books about kindness is akin to setting up a virtual reality simulation where your child can fully enter the experience and understand different perspectives.
Related: The Ultimate List of the Best Picture Books, Endorsed by Kids And Parents
40 Best Children’s Books About Kindness
A while ago, my kids and I spent months putting together a list of the best children’s books about friendship, and parents wrote back with sweet notes of gratitude. But they also had another request: What are the best picture books about kindness?
And so my family set out on another months-long research project to find children’s books about kindness that both kids and parents will enjoy. (If kids are going to ask us to read it again and again, it may as well be something we’ll get a kick out of, too!)
Every week, I put 25 books on hold at the library, plus at every visit I browsed the shelves for even more picture books about kindness. All told, my kids and I read hundreds of picture books on the topic of kindness.
The list below is the cream of the crop from those hundreds of books: the books I loved reading, and the books my kids couldn’t get enough of. Read these picture books about kindness, and you’ll be priming your child’s brain to grow into a kind, compassionate soul. We all know the world could use more of those!
Note: indicates my family’s absolute top favorites on the list. These are the books my kids can’t get enough of!
Books to Inspire Your Kid to Be an Includer And Upstander†
When you’re looking for books about kindness for preschoolers and early grade schoolers, it’s important to tackle the subject of including and standing up for others. The preschool or grade school environment may be their first experience dealing with exclusion and relational aggression.
1. Stick and Stone
2. Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
3. One
4. Strictly No Elephants
5. I Walk With Vanessa: A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness
6. Nerdy Birdy
7. The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade
8. The Big Umbrella
Related: The Ultimate List of the Best Children’s Books About Friendship
Books About Being There for Others
No list of books that teach kindness would be complete without showing how to be there for others.
9. A Sick Day for Amos McGee
10. A Chair for My Mother
11. The Rabbit Listened
12. Grumpy Goat
Books About Seeing the Good in Others
When you’re looking for children’s books about being kind, make sure to include stories that inspire kids to see the good in others.
13. Good People Everywhere
14. Horrible Bear
15. Ribbit!
16. Dragon Was Terrible
17. The Story Book Knight
18. Most People
19. We’re All Wonders
20. Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth
Books About Being Kind, Even When It’s Hard
Sometimes making the choice to be kind isn’t easy, and children’s books about kindness should acknowledge that.
21. Should I Share My Ice Cream?
22. Knuffle Bunny Free
23. Little Fox in the Forest
24. The Girl and the Bicycle
25. A Hat for Mrs. Goldman
26. Enemy Pie
27. The Fox Wish
28. Leonardo, the Terrible Monster
Books About the Karma of Being Kind
These picture books about kindness show kids that what goes around, comes around.
29. Plant a Kiss
30. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates
31. The Lion & The Mouse
32. Extra Yarn
33. Sidewalk Flowers
34. Ivy Loves to Give
35. If You Plant a Seed
Books That Show Real-Life Examples of How to Be Kind
When teaching kids about the concept of kindness, they’ll learn it much better if you give them real-life, tangible examples of what it means to be kind – which is where these children’s books about kindness shine.
36. Baby Be Kind
37. Peace Is an Offering
38. Be Kind
39. Come With Me
40. Last Stop on Market Street
Bonus! 5 Chapter Books About Kindness
My oldest still loves when I read picture books out loud, but she also devours chapter books any chance she gets. Which means we’ve read a lot of chapter books about kindness too.
You can’t go wrong with these chapter books that have a powerful message of kindness for kids.
Before you go, get my FREE cheat sheet: 75 Positive Phrases Every Child Needs to Hear
Your Turn
What are your favorite books about kindness? Share in a comment below!
The post The Ultimate List of the Best Children’s Books About Kindness appeared first on Happy You, Happy Family.