Each+Kindness

Each Kindness By Jacqueline Woodson



Each Kindness 2012 Ages: 5-8 Grade Level: Kindergarten-3 Author: Jacqueline Woodson Illustrator: E.B. Lewis Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books Hardcover Price: $16.99 ISBN: 078-0-399-24652-4 Language: English
 * Bibliographical Data**

Won Coretta Scott King Honor Award and the 2013 Jane Addams Peace Award


 * Summary:** A new girl in school, Maya, wants nothing more than to be accepted, but her classmates don’t want anything to do with her. Each day, Maya comes into school attempting to make friends with Chloe. Chloe ignores all of her attempts. Maya asked Chloe and her friends to play jacks with her, but they disregarded her. When Maya spoke to Chloe in class, their other classmates teased Chloe for having a new friend. They made fun of Maya every day for weeks and made up nicknames for her. Then, Maya stopped showing up to school. The teacher began teaching a lesson on being kind to others. They had to drop a stone into the water and when the water rippled, the teacher said that, “This is what kindness does. Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple into the world.” Then she had the students say something nice they did and drop the stone in the water. Chloe had nothing to say when her turn came. Maya never returned and she was left with nothing but the memories of her unkindness.


 * Book Review:** This book is a great way to teach bullying to a class. It shows how a student is bullied and then how the bully felt when she had no way to change what had happened. I think this is a great way for students to see that sometimes you don’t get a second chance at kindness. It comes from the point of view of the bully which is unique and I think that’s even more of a reason for people to read this book because they can see how the bully feels in the end.


 * Analysis of Literary Elements- Character Development:** From the start, Chloe had no intention of befriending the new girl. She completely ignored her and did not consider her feelings in any way. When Maya tried to talk to Chloe in class, a boy immediately started teasing Chloe for being friends with the new girl and told him that they weren’t friends. Later on, Maya came to school wearing a fancy dress and pretty shoes. Chloe and her friends made up the nickname “Never New” because everything looked old. She repeatedly hurt Maya’s feelings and made her feel insignificant and unwanted. Maya stopped showing up to school and when the teacher taught a lesson on kindness, Chloe realized that she hasn’t done anything kind. Even the mean boy in class did something kind, but she had nothing. When she found out that Maya’s family had to move away, she realized that she never got the chance to be kind to her and she never will. You can see a clear difference in Chloe from the beginning of the book to the end.


 * Author Biography:** Jacqueline Woodson was born on February 12, 1963 in Columbus, Ohio. She loved reading and writing from the time she was a child. She attended Adelphi University during her college years and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. She has written many books and is best known for Miracle’s Boys. She has won several Coretta Scott King Awards and Newberry Honor Titles. Most of her books aim at young audiences and have to do with the difficulties that young people face.


 * Related Links:**

[]

This is Jacqueline Woodson’s official website where she talks about what makes a good writer and some of the book’s that she has written.