5 Picture Books For Teaching Children About Compassion

As parents, every single one of us wants to raise our tiny humans with a concrete understanding of both empathy and compassion. Here are my five favourite books to help with this enormous task.


Red by Michael Hall - In this book a blue crayon is mislabeled as a red crayon. Everyone tries to get him to be a red crayon, and he tries his hardest to be a red crayon as well, but he is miserable. Eventually he meets a new friend who helps him learn to be true to his inner self. Red is such a beautiful story about acceptance and courage.

Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox by Danielle Daniel - This book is an introduction to Indigenous totem animals. On each page children can identify with the masks of different creatures such as deer, foxes, beavers, etc. I love this book because the short descriptions of the animals act as a guide for young children learning to understand their own feelings and the feelings of others.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein - This is a classic, but if you don't know this story, it's about the relationship between a young boy and a tree. This book is perfect for discussions about the give and take balance in friendships.

Have You Filled A Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud - My 4 year-old read this book in his Junior Kindergarten class, and it was a game changer. Both at school and at home we now use the language of "filling someone's bucket" to show kindness or we talk about "dipping into someone's bucket" with a negative action. Readers even learn that it's possible to fill or dip into your own bucket. Have You Filled A Bucket Today? is one of my favourites.

My Friend Maggie by Hannah E. Harrison - This book is about friendship, bullying, and fitting in. Paula and Maggie have been friends forever, but when some students start picking on Maggie, Paula starts to notice all of Maggie's faults as well and stops playing with her. When the mean girls eventually start to pick on Paula, Maggie steps in to defend her friend. My Friend Maggie is a heartfelt story that packs the same emotional punch as The Giving Tree.

xo
Jenn