Children's books about values

Notes From the Reading Nook: Jan 23

Good morning! ☀️

I am deep in hibernation mode, literally and figuratively, which is one of the hardest and best parts of January — as slow as my life ever gets, alongside the eternal struggle to honor my energetic cycles and allow myself to rest. I have had very little interest in doing much of anything and even less motivation to do it, beyond the basics that keep me sane.

In the past, I have gotten spun up about these periods — full of fear that I’ll never create anything again, convinced that no new ideas will come, deep in the depths of the lie that I will never again experience the joy of being absorbed in, much less delighted by, any project, ever. (Typing this out makes me chuckle a little — so dramatic — but there is also a small echo chamber up top that at the same time reverberates, “Never again, never again, never again.” It’s fascinating to me, the patterns our brains fall into and then follow, even when we can objectively see ourselves on that false path.)

I put a note in the header here — which will repeat a few times — that this newsletter is going on hiatus for the month of February. This was — and has been for the past few years — a planned break, one that coincides with the beginning of the most intense period of my year at work, in my career, but also one that I find I need pretty desperately by this time, here.

But it also aligns with where I am, energetically and emotionally — deep in a hollow log with a bear, or in a rock crevice with the bats, in a horrifying hibernaculum with a pile of cold snakes. (Unsurprisingly, Unsplash — the stock photo service connected to Substack — doesn’t have any results for hibernacula, which is disappointing but also okay, because they are truly stomach-turning. Google Image it.)

If you are here too — hibernating, in whatever form that takes for you — please know that you have permission. (You don’t need permission, by the way.) We might not reward it, as a culture, the hibernation — and we might even personally believe we’re only of value if we’re productive, banging out our to-do lists endlessly, constantly going and doing — but it’s part of the creative process, not to mention the cycle of being human, to overwinter, no matter the season.

Whatever story you’re telling yourself — whatever never again you’re up against — remember that life is surprising, and only rarely turns out the way we expect it to, and you — with your (and my) endlessly lovely but ultimately limited little human brain — never know, cannot know, all the good that’s coming next. So go down deep and stay there, but don’t for a second believe’s it’s forever, or that you won’t emerge at some point, into new light.

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• Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett

• Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (this is our current audiobook in the car)

• Give Me Back My Dad by Robert Munsch

• Rabbit’s Snow Dance: A Traditional Iroquois Story by Joseph and James Bruchac (I reviewed this in my 2021 special edition on winter)

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I originally published this post on March 22, 2022. I’ve edited and updated it here.

Mini issue: Values

I can’t remember where I first came across the idea of reading books based on values — my guess is that it was the book, Tender Topics: Picture Books About Childhood Challenges by Dorothy Stoltz, Elaine Czarnecki, and Buff Kahn, which I borrowed from my local library (and enjoyed).

And while I do like the idea — I could hardly be an advocate for connecting everything to reading and reading to everything if I didn’t believe in doing this for my own principles, could I? — I despise the current trend in the publishing industry of producing books heavy on message but short on child appeal. (I often feel that many titles published today are for grownups, not young children, and the results are heavy-handed and extremely annoying.)

And yet: in Books That Build Character: A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories, authors William Fitzpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M. Wolfe write:

We think many parents want books for their children that are not simply a good read but good in the other sense of the word — books that not only capture the imagination, but cultivate the conscious as well.

Such books bestow a double blessing. They provide hours of pure pleasure. They also provide good companions. They introduce your child to friends who are a little older, a little wiser, a little braver. Along with these companions, your child gets to ask some tough questions. Is Long John Silver good or bad? Should Beauty keep her promise to Beast? Should Frodo continue on his seemingly doomed mission while there is still a chance to return to the safety of the Shire? These are not easy questions to answer, especially when time is running out or the edge of the cliff is crumbling underfoot, but they are the kind of questions with which we are all confronted sooner or later. And when they come, they often come in situations in which we have little time to think or at times when we may be angry, fearful, or just plain exhausted. It’s exactly at times like this that the half-forgotten memory of a story can rise to our aid.

Okay.

It can be true that:

There are far too many overtly didactic, moralistic books out there.

AND, some wonderful picture books manage to impart values while also telling a great story that’s enjoyable and compelling for children.

The latter is what I’m focusing on here.

If I’ve reviewed any of these titles, I’ve included a link. And this list is, of course, not exhaustive for either books or values — undoubtedly I’m overlooking many in both categories.

If you have books or values to add, leave a comment! (In fact, I’ve purposely left some categories on the thin side in hopes that we can collectively flesh this list out.)

Community

• It Takes a Village by Jane Cowen-Fletcher

• Islandborn by Junot Diaz

• City Green by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan

• The All-Together Quilt by Lizzy Rockwell

Compassion and empathy

• The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfield

• The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

• A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead

Cooperation

• Raven and the Tide Lady by Pauline Duncan

• Quill Soup by Alan Durant

• Swimmy by Leo Lionni

• The Ying-Yang Sisters and the Dragon Frightful by Nancy Tupper Ling

• Boxitects by Kim Smith

Courage

• The Tunnel by Anthony Browne

• Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

• The Cats in Krasinski Square by Karen Hesse

• Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak

• Do Not Open by Brinton Turkle

Determination, commitment

• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton (also Katy and the Big Snow by the same author)

• Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

• Brave Irene by William Steig

Fairness

• Me First by Helen Lester

• The Little Red Fort by Brenda Maier

Family

• Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke

• Rise and Shine, Mariko-Chan! by Chiyoko Tomioka

• Let’s Eat by Ana Zamorano

• Eating Up Gladys by Margot Zemach

Forgiveness

• Under the Lemon Moon by Edith Hope Fine

• The Little Blue Bridge by Brenda Maier

• Bravo Anjali! by Sheetal Sheth

• The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas

Generosity, selflessness

• The Spiffiest Giant in Town by Julia Donaldson

• Dogger by Shirley Hughes

• Tico and the Golden Wings by Leo Lionni

• Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora

• The Star Child by Bernadette Watts

Gratitude

• All of Me: A Book of Thanks by Molly Bang

• Gracias · Thanks by Pat Mora

• We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorrell

• It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach

Helpfulness

• Alfie Gives a Hand by Shirley Hughes

• Amos and Boris by William Steig

Honesty, trustworthiness

• Harriet and the Garden by Nancy L. Carlson

• The Empty Pot by Demi

• The Honest-to-Goodness Truth by Patricia C. McKissack

Integrity

• Ma’ii and Cousin Horned Toad by Shonto Begay

• A Hen for Izzy Pippik by Aubrey Davis

• The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts

• One Little Chicken by Elka Weber

Kindness

• Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

• How Kind! by Mary Murphy

• A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead

• The Lion and the Mouse by Rand Burkert

Loyalty

• Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari

• Chester’s Way by Kevin Henkes

• Sophie’s Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller

Patience

• Waiting by Kevin Henkes

• Not Yet, Yvette by Helen Ketteman

• The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

Perseverance, grit

• Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe

• The Magical Yet by Angela DiTerlizzi

• Izzy Gizmo by Pip Jones

• Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin by Chieri Uegaki

Respect

• Alejandro’s Gift by Richard Albert

• We’re Different, We’re the Same by Bobby Jane Kates

Responsibility, self-reliance

• Ida and the Wool Smugglers by Sue Ann Alderson

• Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

• The Paperboy by Dav Pilkey

• Pigsty by Mark Teague

Resourcefulness

• Mrs. McNosh and the Great Big Squash by Sarah Weeks

• The Dumpster Diver by Janet S. Wong

• Mailing May

Service

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

• A Castle on Viola Street by DyAnne DiSalvo

• The Lady in the Box by Ann McGovern

Tolerance

• Stinky by Eleanor Davis

• Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

• Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev

• All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

Do you have any values or books to add to this list? Help me grow it! (And don’t feel limited to picture books — I’d love to create a list with books for older readers.)

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Read good books and take good care 😘
Sarah

P.S. All Bookshop.org links are affiliate ones — I receive a small commission if you make a purchase and trust me, this adds up, and I appreciate it.