Sophie Beer

Kindness is a skill, and this book is the perfect way to practice it.

Each double-page spread begins with the sentence stem “Kindness is...,” which is then followed by illustrated examples of children caring for the peers, adults, and animals around them. In this follow-up to Love Makes a Family (2018), Beer populates the pages with children who practice a range of skills, from simply saying hello to being patient. She masterfully pairs fairly abstract ideas, such as offering comfort and show more reaching out, with pictures that elucidate the term in child-friendly situations, such as a preschool musical performance or playing dress up. The rhythmic, repetitive text makes this book an excellent read-aloud as well as a fun and rewarding choice for children who are beginning to read independently. The vibrant illustrations blaze with movement and light and, perhaps most importantly, are peopled with diverse characters with varied skin colors, hair textures, ethnicities, and abilities (one child has a prosthetic leg, another uses a wheelchair, two wear glasses). The curated examples are empowering: Each example of kindness is an action that a child can take independently, without adult supervision, and regardless of ability status. Furthermore, because they all take place in child-friendly settings such as playgrounds or classrooms, they can be easily related—not to mention applied—to real life.

A gorgeously illustrated, cleanly written introduction to the art of kindness. (Board book. 1-4)

-Kirkus Review show less

Aboard-book primer outlines simple steps for changing environmental culture for the better.

On the opening double-page spread, the book gets straight to the pith of the matter, stating the first small but powerful habit that people can cultivate on a daily basis in order to protect and help heal the environment: “Change starts with...planting trees.” With just one sentence per double-page spread, the text goes on to present 11 more eco-friendly choices that readers can make. Most show more preschool-aged children will find some of the actions easily understandable, such as turning off the tap to save water and picking up litter. Other action items, like “saving power” (the artwork shows a brown-skinned caregiver hanging laundry on a clothesline as a brown-skinned boy clad in a superhero getup looks on) and “ditching the car” (in the accompanying illustration, a White adult and a group of children—three White, one brown-skinned—ride bicycles and a scooter), are not as accessible. As such, children will need adult scaffolding in order to grasp some of the ideas. The text’s use of anaphoric repetition creates emphasis and memorability. Beer’s cartoony digital illustrations are cheerful, busy, and colorful with a flat-planed, childlike look. They depict many different children with various skin tones and hair textures in settings that range from the beach and a garden to an animal farm and a farmers market.

A clarion call for individual agency in protecting the environment that’s suitable for the preschool set. (Board book. 0-3)

-Kirkus Review show less

"This fun, inclusive board book celebrates the one thing that makes every family a family . . . and that's LOVE.

Love is baking a special cake. Love is lending a helping hand. Love is reading one more book. In this exuberant board book, many different families are shown in happy activity, from an early-morning wake-up to a kiss before bed. Whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each, this simple preschool read-aloud demonstrates that what's most important in each show more family's life is the love the family members share." www.amazon.com show less

Love Makes a Family shows us families of all kinds expressing love by encouraging, aiding, cheering, playing, creating, cooking and consoling. The copy I have is a large board book and the bold, bright illustrations make it well-suited to sharing in a group setting or as a lap book,