Kids Books About Compassion

We have a real issue being compassionate to others who don’t think like us these days. Everyone seems to hold a grudge against someone else on the opposite side of the political spectrum. We have been hurt. We are hurting others. We are not taking the time to understand another’s perspective. We are lashing out on social media and posting our black and white opinions on things that are many shades of gray, many layers deep of hurt piled on hurt. Honestly, it breaks my heart.

I’ve been listening to Easy by Jess Ray pretty much on repeat these days as a the soundtrack to my heartache of how uncompassionate we’ve become.

Our lack of compassion isn’t just out in the wider world – but in many cases it is in our homes, as impasses between our children, as blame in our marriages.

What is Compassion?

Sometimes people make mistakes. They make bad decisions and because of that they are hurting or are in trouble. Compassion is understanding, giving grace and caring about them even though they’ve done a wrong thing. It is not judging them, it is trying to understand where they are coming from, and saying kind, encouraging things. When you are compassionate, you forgive those who have hurt you because you love them and you care about them and you want things to get better. It is not holding on to your hurt as a grudge against them.

I think it is important to talk about these words in my home, to define them, and read really good books that exemplify the idea through the story. Not in a preachy-virtuous way that talks down to children, but in a “by the way” approach where we learn from the characters in our stories and then when a natural opportunity to be compassionate in our homes come up (as sibling fights often do), we can refer back to stories of compassionate characters.

To that end, I’ve been working my way through a list of virtues and connecting them to wonderful living picture books to read with my kids. Check out my first post in the series, or a recent post of a similar virtue – Kids Books About Forgiveness.

Anyways, without further ado…

Books about Compassion For Kids

Franklin is Bossy – Paulette Bourgeois

As a former bossy young thing, raising a little one who definitely has her demanding hat on often, we love this story of Franklin and his friends forgiving his bossy behaviour because they love and care for him.

Alice and Gert by Helaine Becker

A modern spin on the classic Ant and the Grasshopper story, Ant works hard all summer to prepare for harvest while grasshopper just sings and plays. Ant has compassion for the hungry and cold grasshopper, appreciates the beautiful music he plays to make work more enjoyable, doesn’t hold a grudge, and shares the harvest stores with grasshopper. It takes all kinds to make the world go around. We all have our gifts and purpose and we can have compassion for those who are different from us.

Fancy Nancy and the Mean Girl by Jane O’Connor

Fancy Nancy is racing against a mean girl who makes fun of how slow she is, but Nancy forgives her, shares her cookie, and makes a new friend.

Angelina Ice Skates by Katherine Holabird

Sometimes people with different vision just GET IN THE WAY, amiright? Angelina would agree. She’s just trying to put on an ice skating performance and two boys are thwarting her every effort! Instead of escalating the conflict, Angelina has compassion and figures out a way to include them using their strengths.

A Big Guy Took My Ball by Mo Willems

Sometimes we think someone is out to get us, that they are bullies, that they are wrong. But when we get to know their perspective better, we can appreciate that we do want the same things, that we genuinely believe we both have goodness in our hearts and we both think we are making the “right” choices based on the information we have. A Big Guy Took my Ball is a great book to introduce young readers to the idea that two different people can have their own thoughts and experiences that make them both think they are right, even when they are at odds.

I hope these books have given you some ideas for books to read in your home featuring compassionate characters. Maybe if we all keep working on our compassion muscles, we can come to a better place as a community.

Warmly,

-Heather

ps: This post contains Amazon affiliate links from which I receive a small commission. Thank you so much for supporting my blog – it really does means a lot to me.

Enjoyed this post? Check out some of my other recent posts:

• Cat Books for Kids
• Colorful Eclectic Family Room
• Books for Boys Resistant to Reading
• Hosting a Mother-Daughter Craft Club
• Building Community by Watching Sports Together

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