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Each kindness
by Jacqueline Woodson, E. B. Lewis
A short picture book about one girl's failure to be kind and the regret that follows, with illustrations that say what the text leaves unsaid.
What It's About
Each Kindness is a short picture book for young readers, written by Jacqueline Woodson and illustrated by E. B. Lewis. Its story is simple: Chloe, a schoolgirl, joins her classmates in turning away a new girl named Maya, who arrives with worn clothes and few friends. Chloe tells herself the choice doesn't matter much. The book lets the reader sit with that small, familiar failure rather than hurrying past it.
Woodson writes with economy. The sentences are spare, the dialogue is plain, and much of the feeling lives in what goes unsaid, which suits a text meant to be read aloud. Lewis's painterly illustrations carry a lot of the emotional weight, using light and faces to show what Chloe is slow to admit. It takes about as long to read as a cup of tea, but adults often find it lingers longer than expected.
The experience is quieter than a typical lesson-driven story. There is no villain and no big confrontation. The book asks readers, children and adults alike, to notice how exclusion usually happens through ordinary moments rather than cruelty, and how the consequences of those moments can outlast the people who caused them.
Read this if you…
- want a short picture book to share with a child about fairness and belonging
- are a parent, teacher, or librarian looking for a conversation starter about exclusion at school
- like stories where feeling is carried by pictures and silence more than by dialogue
Skip it if you…
- need a plot-driven story with conflict, twists, and a satisfying resolution
- want detailed characters or a longer narrative to get lost in
Key Ideas
- 1
Exclusion often happens quietly
The harm in this book doesn't come from a bully. It comes from going along with the group, looking away, and deciding someone isn't worth the trouble. The story shows how easily that kind of choice feels harmless at the moment it is made, which is why it is hard for children to recognize and for adults to remember.
- 2
Small kindnesses still carry weight
The title points to the idea that goodness is made of small acts, and so is its opposite. The book suggests that a single refusal to be kind can matter as much as a single act of kindness, and that both accumulate in the lives of the people involved.
- 3
Regret as the real subject
Much of the emotional force comes after the moment of choice, when Chloe begins to understand what she did. The book is less interested in a tidy resolution than in the gap between knowing what is right and having the chance to act on it, and it doesn't pretend that gap always closes.
- 4
Pictures carrying what words withhold
Lewis's illustrations often show more than the text says, so readers can see Chloe's feelings and Maya's isolation before either character names them. This split between words and images invites slow, attentive reading and gives adults and children different things to notice on the same page.
Limitations
Some readers find the moral stated more plainly than they would like, and the story is brief enough that it touches only briefly on why children exclude others or what pressures lead families to struggle. Maya's own perspective is limited, since the book is told through Chloe. The ending is bittersweet rather than reassuring, which some readers find moving and others find unsatisfying. As a picture book, it is best read as the start of a conversation rather than a complete treatment of its subject.
Questions Readers Ask
- Is Each Kindness suitable for young children?
- Yes. It is written as a read-aloud for roughly ages four to eight, and its vocabulary and sentences are simple. Younger children will follow the story and pictures. Older children and adults tend to get more from the regret at its center and from the way the illustrations add layers to the text.
- How does it compare with other picture books about friendship?
- Many picture books about friendship move toward reconciliation and reassurance. This one is more willing to leave some harm unrepaired. Readers who want a warm, resolved ending may find it sadder than expected, while readers who want a more honest picture of how exclusion works may find it more useful.
- Published
- 2012
- ISBN
- 9780399246524
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Category
- Education
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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