Kids books about Cleanliness

As I continue my blog post series about learning virtues through story, I want to put a big disclaimer at the top of this post – my kids are not neat and tidy kids. Nor am I a neat and tidy person. These books I recommend below, we enjoy, and we do talk about keeping our home and bodies clean. But I, like every other parent out there, still have to remind and nag and cajole to brush teeth, brush hair, make bed, clean up toys etc etc etc.

This post is not a magic bullet to a neat and tidy household. It just contains some book recommendations that help with discussion about why we care. Please don’t think I have this all figured out and my house is spotless. As I type this, my feet are on a crumpled up yoga mat that is covered in bits of ripped up cardboard. I am surrounded by piles of books and empty spaces on shelves. My dining room table is littered with yesterday’s homeschooling detritus. My home is lived in.

As I’ve explored different virtues with my kids each week, I have been inspired by Linda Kavelin Popov’s Family Virtues Guide. I really like her definitions of each virtue – one that are common to cultures all over the world. In this book, she includes the virtue of cleanliness. If you missed why I am taking on this task of going through a different virtue each week, check out my post Kids Books About Assertiveness.

Cleanliness means keeping your body clean. It means brushing your teeth, wearing clean clothes, and washing your hands and your body. Feeling clean feels good! Cleanliness is also keeping the space where you live and play clean. It means keeping your room neat and tidy. It means helping your family to keep your whole house clean. We can also keep a clean mind by thinking thoughts that are good for us. We can learn how to notice thoughts that hurt us and learn how to deal with these thoughts and feelings in a healthy way. Sometimes people will say they got a “clean slate” when they want to start over and make changes to be better. We can also “come clean” when we admit we’ve done something wrong and we want a fresh (and clean!) start. We can “stay clean” by keeping harmful drugs and alcohol out of our bodies.

The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room – Stan and Jan Berenstain

The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room is a childhood classic of mine and my kids love it too. It provides a solution to one major problem with clutter – solutions for storage and decisions for where things should go. I love that Ikea now makes pegboards. I always dreamed of having a pegboard when I was a child. We put one in my son’s room above his desk and it is great. I wish I had gotten the bigger one.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

We’ve loved Harry the Dirty Dog since my son was little. It’s about a dog who gets so dirty his family doesn’t recognize him until he takes a bath.

Franklin is Messy by Paulette Bourgeois

I’m a huge fan of the Franklin books by Paulette Bourgeois. I like how in this story, Franklin experiences some of the natural consequences of having a messy room – not being able to find what he wants when he wants it, and stepping on a toy left on the floor and breaking it. My kids really enjoy this one too.

Jillian Jiggs by Pheobe Gilman

I love the personality of little Jillian Jiggs. My daughter is a lot like Jillian – brimming with creative ideas for crafts and imaginative play. In this story Jillian often gets distracted from her tidying as she comes up with new creative games to play with her friends. Yes, it is a little bit about cleaning – but it also reminds me of the parable “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” It’s a good reminder to me as a parent that our home is for living in. We create, we play, we make messes, and that is also okay. There is a time for cleaning and there is a time for playing.

George Shrinks by William Joyce

In this story, George goes about his household chores as if he shrunk down. The pictures are quite inspiring and my kids and I have talked about what it would be like to do our chores if we were only a couple of inches tall. It’s a fun thing to imagine!

Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert Munsch

This is one of my favourite Robert Munsch stories. In this story, budding artist Bridget gets some super-indelible-never-come-off-until-you’re-dead-and-maybe-even-later coloring markers. And then she colours on herself…

I hope these books inspire you to explore with your kids why we care to be clean. It can also be a launching off point for older kids to talk about clean minds, and what the effect of looking at “bad pictures” might be.

I’d love to hear any books you have enjoyed that include characters dealing with cleanliness! Post in the comments below 🙂

-Heather

Ps: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. It’s just a small way I can fund my ever-growing library, so thank you for considering shopping through my links!