A beautiful memoir about one Jesuit priest's experiences working for years with the poor in Portland, Oregon. It is a book about finding Christ in all places, and it challenges you to enlarge your heart to have greater compassion for a group of people our society often ostracizes and judges harshly. 

This story is about a sweet little girl who is named after a beautiful flower. She grew to love her name. What could go wrong? Now that this little girl is in school, she has hated her name more and more. What will happen now that she is getting laughed at for her name and what will she think about her name in the end?  Lets all pick a new name out of this jar that I have written up. Each name is a flower and I want you all to research more about the flower that you drew. After we all have our information, create a name plate for your new name with different drawings and colors that make your flower extra special. 

Lexile Level: 570L

Spinelli’s Sophie’s Masterpiece is a work of compassion, though it might spark a bit of hesitation from only the cover, given that the protagonist (Sophie) is a spider. This book is great for character education as well as setting the tone of a safe space in the classroom, as it promotes kindness, acceptance, and not to judge a book by its cover. The guided reading level, according to Scholastic, is “L” and is best for grades from Kindergarten to 2nd.

This book has a great meaning for friendship, forgiveness, and kindness. The little girls grandfather always reminded her to "treat people the way you want to be treated." This saying stuck with her while she was getting bullied in school. Having that reminder helped her to befriend the bully and help him when he needed it. This book will help create lots of group discussion throughout the classroom. Having this book to read before asking the students to write about a time where they can help someone who may need it rather than ignoring them. Having the students share their response to the class to encourage kindness all around. 

Lexile Level: 610L

This is one of my favorite books to read in the classroom. This story is all about a little boy and his tree. How the tree gives selflessly to the little boy. Silverstein truly shows the readers what giving selflessly, without receiving anything in return, to the people that mean the most to you. This would be a great story to read aloud and have a short writing activity about giving to others. The students can write a paragraph about the way they could give selflessly to others. Then having the students share their short stories to the class. 

Lexile Level: 530L