Children's books about values

Mini issue on values

I originally published this post on March 22, 2022 and again on January 3, 2024 — I’m doing it a third time because you all seem to like it a lot, which is reason enough for me, but I always have books to add. So, 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.

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, but 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 — a feeling that has only increased over the past few years, even though, I want to say clearly, I also think there are incredible, beautiful, awesome new books that are not like this being published every day.

And, as someone pointed out the last time I published this, very few, if any, stories are ever completely values-neutral — every book carries a worldview, which is part of why we read them, and it’s up to us as parents and caregivers to choose stories that reflect the values we hope to share with our children.

I agree with that totally — I just want to share my values via stories that are enjoyable to read.

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 in the past, I’ve included a link so you can read about it yourself. And this list is, of course, not exhaustive for either books or values — undoubtedly I’m overlooking many in both categories, which is where you come in.

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 crowdsource this a bit, so when I republish it again on some date in the future, it will be even better.)

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

• Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

• Leila and the Voice by Shahrzad Maydani

• The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade by Justin Roberts

• 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

• Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens

Family

• Full, Full, Full of Love by Trish Cooke

• The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker

• Being Home by Traci Sorell

• 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

• 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

• When Grandma Gives You a Lemon Tree by Jamie L. B. Deenihan

• 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

• Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

• 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 by Michael O. Tunnell

• The Tin Forest by Helen Ward

Service

• Maddie’s Fridge by Lois Brandt

• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

• A Castle on Viola Street by DyAnne DiSalvo

• The Lady in the Box by Ann McGovern

• Our Little Kitchen by Jillian Tamaki

Tolerance

• Stinky by Eleanor Davis

• Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

• Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev

• All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold

• Too Many Golems by Jane Yolen

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