Cover Image: How Can We Be Kind?

How Can We Be Kind?

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Member Reviews

This is a lovely, sweet children's book which teaches children how we can be kind, like the way animals are kind to each other. We are shown beautiful images of animals being kind.

My daughter and I loved this book, and we especially enjoyed the graphics and the facts at the back of the book. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

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Through animal examples, we learn how to be kind to each other. Animals can be kind, why not us? In the back of the book, the author includes the facts about these animals she's talking about. How this one helps, and that one protects. This one shows how to live in a community. So many good things we can learn from these animals.

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Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto for the ARC of this!

I loved this! My kids are very resistant to anything that feels like it’s supposed to improve you, and this was unfortunately not an exception. I thought it was cute, loved the animal focus, and I can definitely see it being a great reminder of ways to be kind for the preschool set.

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I liked the message of this book especially since so many kids connect with animals. I wasn't sure what age the audience of this book was for. The language used and repetition made it feel like it was for a younger audience (maybe 1-3). The length of the book and the art used made me feel like it might have been for older kids (3-6). The art was very muted and subdued and I don't feel would catch the attention of a younger child as much. I really enjoyed how there were real animal facts at the end.

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This is a really sweet book about kindness that uses real life examples from the animal world that show how we can take care of one another. I think this is a great way to introduce this concept and show children that acts of kindness can be really simple and don't really require much effort and thought, but can mean so much to others. I really like this book and would definitely recommend it to parents and teachers of children in the age 3-9 range. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

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Being kind is so easy with this descriptive book explaining to children the different ways to be kind and also explaining about the different animals in the book. Great learning opportunities

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A great, simple, non-fiction book about how we can be kind in the same way some animals are. The ways that the different animals show kindness would be fun for younger readers, but would hit slightly older (early elementary) students in a way that they could compare an experience of theirs to the animals. My child and I especially loved the real photographs and fun facts of the animals illustrated in the book at the end.

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A cute little book that shares characteristics of animals. Different animals have unique behaviors and we can learn about them and how to mimic these in our own ways. God gave dolphins playful and helpful characteristics and He gave those to us. Kids will enjoy the images and the facts.

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A book that says it's perfectly natural to be kind and generous and helpful where other people are concerned – because animals the world over find it natural as well. Badgers groom each other, ants cooperate, and daddy emus are great baby-sitters and creche runners. The animals come in slightly cartoonish double-page spreads, with the barest minimum of script – meaning the sciencey bit at the end is a bit too jarring when it comes with its detail. But the lesson is as clear as daylight that animals are much less discriminatory and self-centred than us humans, and surely that isn't an evolutionary step we should have taken. A strong four stars.

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Our younger two adored this book!

This was a cute story about how animals show kindness. This book is different from others because it features lesser known animals. At the end to the story the author includes information about the animals mentioned in the book.

The illustrations are cute, colorful and simple.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Cute book! Great message. Kind. If the world was just more kind. Imagine what it could be like. Kindness starts with one person and spreads. I loved reading this one to my son and it led to great questions and discussion.

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If you are after a beautifully illustrated and educational book for your collection 'How Can We Be Kind' would make a wonderful addition.

Full of stunning illustration and easy to read text this is a perfect book for Early Childhood and young School age children. Surprisingly education this book demonstrates animals interacting with kindness in the wild encouraging children to see similarities with their own lives.
The end of the book sealed the deal with a meet the animals section which is perfect for following on the learning.

My seven year old was particularly taken by the animals and education at the end whereas my four year old was more interested in the story and stunning illustration.

I was gifted a digital copy of 'How Can We Be Kind' in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This book is so darling with practical examples from the animal world to show littles different ways to exercise daily kindness. The illustrations are great and I love that there's a section at the end that teaches more about the animals mentioned.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

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Thank you so much Netgalley and The Publisher for the brilliant book!


How Can We Be Kind? : Wisdom from the Animal Kingdom by Janet Halfmann celebrates the sweet exhibitions of kindness in different species of animals. For example: European Badgers look after each other and clean each other's fur. Orangutans make funny faces, share great laughs and lift up everybody's spirit. It is a rhyming book which makes it even more appealing. The illustrations are beautiful; painted with soothing colours. There are also additional, detailed information on mentioned species at the end of the story. Highly recommended!

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There are many ways for us to be kind to one another, and this fun book shows that by using natural attributes of different animals in the wild for each way we can demonstrate that niceness.
At the end of the fun and illustrations are small pictures with accompanying paragraphs about each animal. It is a good book to read with others and is clear enough for ESL.
The illustrations by Darla Okado are simply delightful, fun, colorful, and forthright. Every public and school library needs a copy!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Quarto Publishing Group/Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.

This book is the cutest thing I have seen in a very long time.

I do love kid's books and, if they have anything to do with feeling, even better. However, this one doesn't only shows us many different ways to be kind to other people and to ourselves, but it also teaches us how different animal species are kind to one another and how we can introduce that in our life.

The book is brilliant and the illustrations and extremely adorable.

I am in love with it and I cannot wait to see it in bookshops!

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This is a wonderful book that gives children ways to be kind like animals do (sharing, being together, etc.). This would be a great story for animal lovers. There is an interaction component of the story that asks the reader questions. As a school social worker, I will definitely use this book in my practice!

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Such a great idea for a book!
It was so warm and cosy. Loved the positivity this book brings.
The illustrations were stunning too!

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4.5 stars. This is a very unique way to frame a discussion about kindness that will really capture kids' attention! Kids are encouraged to practice kindness using the example of 14 different animals. Each animal is featured on a big, colorful double-page spread, and context and extra information about their kind behaviors are included in an appendix. As such, younger students will need an adult reading partner to get the most out of this book.

This could be a wonderful conversation-starter, both about how we can be kind and about animals and their behavior. Some of the animals are familiar, like dolphins and chimpanzees, but others are more obscure, so kids will get a broader view of the natural world. This would be a great circle-time book for pre-K and early elementary and would be a wonderful addition to school and classroom libraries.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

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A nice enough book to use as a starting point. Lovely illustrations. I read with my older daughter to our youngest. The inclusion of more facts at the end of the book was helpful and really needed to aid me in padding out the pages as my daughter kept asking ‘but how?’ Some were obvious and I could use my existing knowledge but others were not.

I think more written content on the illustrated pages would have been more helpful, not only to explain specifically how the animals were demonstrating that skill but also to avoid the overly repetitive nature of the book. This could have been in a simple way that still kept some familiar pattern to each page and still be Early Years appropriate.

Overall a good starting point but needs the reader to add to it to make it better.

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