What a gem! How lucky was I, to get to read this with my 8 year old and 4 year old this week, just as homeschool is about to kick back up for the year and just as those end-of-summer blues are kicking in and the sibling bickering is at an all time high. This book was a perfect reminder to be kind to one another and that we can reshift our focus towards spreading kindness to others and helped facilitate a family conversation about dedicating our time as a family to acts of community service.
The illustrations were beautiful, and seeing all of the inclusion was beautiful! The use of colors was done so well and everything about this book really held my kids attention. The rhyming was spot on and the message really resonated with the world today and how I want my kids to treat others.

As an educator, I love a story with a message. I also always appreciate stories/illustrations, which include a diverse set of characters. This story had both. I appreciate all it had to say and I also like that it had kind ideas for the caregiver as well. Although it's not explicitly stated, it's obvious that some of these things would require some help from an adult. I think it is great for all whom are reading, regardless of age (although it is very much a children's book, of course)!

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Open this picture book and see the kindness as kids all around begin a race towards kindness. Offering a helping hand or donating things to others. A smile and a hug are deserved afterward, and a little "I appreciate you!" is just as wonderful. A little kindness can go a long way; all you need to do is just begin!
I found this lighthearted book to be sweet and caring to everyone within these brightly colored pages. From eating a feast together to starting a book fair, a small kindness is just the beginning. I highly recommend this one.

This is a book I’ll recommend our school buys for our SEL collection. It sends the message that little acts of kindness add up and that everyone can make a difference in some way. I’d use this for a pre-k to third grade lesson. The illustrations are fantastic.

I received this book from Netgalley. My son and I read this book before bedtime tonight and my son loved the book and the colorful pictures. I loves the message. Great book.

Race to Kindness by Orion Jean - 5/5
Children's Fiction

A book about kindness, what more is there to say or rave about? My children adore books and I find that if I try explaining something out of the blue it doesn't really sink in fully. Put a book in front of them, with some creative writing and it opens up the floor for conversations. Race to Kindness is a fantastic book that shows children many different ways to express kindness, small acts of kindness that can have a huge impact on others and is told with rhyming, lyrical text. Great family read and a book I would recommend many times over.

Thank you Netgalley and Zonderkidz for the eARC.

The thoughtfully crafted words and pictures show concepts that can be universally taught, enjoyed by all. The illustrations are bright, intriguing, and hold your attention to the activities on each page. With the melodic cadence of the rhyming, it is sure to be a hit with young readers.

I highly recommend it for teaching kids powerful messages and life lessons. Happily, surprised and gave it a 5/5 rating.

(Sponsored through NetGalley for an honest review)

I will definitely be purchasing Race to Kindness when it comes out in May 2024. I read it to my 3 year old multiple times already and she loves it! The author uses B.E.K.I.N.D to show the importance of kindness. We both loved how it rhymes and was easy to read and illustrated beautifully. Thanks for the ARC from me and my 3 year old!

Every library should include this wonderful book in their collection! Orion Jean's Race to Kindness is an inspiration for all.

Race to Kindness reminds us of the importance, and impact of kindness and shows and guides us all how one small gesture can make a big difference. Throughout Orion's book, he shows us to remember to include those who might feel left out, and with beautiful illustrations by Darshika Varma using the words KIND showing what to do to think of in those gestures such as Keep Your Eye Open in regards to the letter K, for the letter I Including Others, for the letter N Nothing is Too Small for lastly but not least for the letter D Do Something About It.

Inspringing book by Orion Jean Time Magagine's 2021 Kid of the Year and one that every young child's path should be exposed to.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Zonderkidz for the opportunity to read and review Race to Kindness by Orion Jean.

Thank you to Net Galley and Zonderkidz for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published on May 7, 2024. This is the perfect book to teach children and remind adults how to be kind. The text uses the author's BE K.I.N.D motto to structure the book and to show how to be kind in actionable steps. The illustrations are eye catching, representing diversity to further the meaning of the text. The author is child at 11 years old and has done so much to show kindness. He will definitely inspire other children to take action in big and small ways. What a wonderful book!

Race to Kindness by Orion Jean is a perfect read-aloud book for parents, grandparents, teachers and educators. This would be a great first day of school book! A rhyming book with beautiful illustrations that has a HUGE impact. One small act of kindness can change someone else’s day, or life. This wonderful story promotes being kind and doing good for others while giving examples on how you can do so! I will be purchasing this for my own collection!

This was a super cute and sweet story. Told in rhyming sentences it was perfect to remind my new kindergartener to invite everyone into his kindness circle.

Race to Kindness by Orion Jean is a wonderful book with an important message for all kids. This book shows how even a small act of kindness can have a great effect on others. It really takes very little effort to make a huge impact on someone else's life. I love that it's written by a kid as well! I really enjoyed reading this & I highly recommend this book for home or even in the classroom.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zonnderkids for providing me with an advanced copy of this book to review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zonderkidz for my Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published May 7, 2024.

This children’s book is FANTASTIC! The rhyming text, the gorgeous illustrations and the powerful message of KINDNESS should make this an instant best-seller. It’s truly inspiring and calls on each of us to take small steps to show kindness. It was written by the 2021 TIME Kid of the Year Orion Jean.

Highly recommend for all school teachers, libraries and parents of young children.

What a wonderful story! I love the way that it is written with fun rhythm and rhyme. The tips for how to be kind are so practical for children and even adults! I really like that it gives the tips using the letters KIND to start each tip. I thought it was so inspiring to find out that this was written by a youth and to hear his story is so motivating to myself. I can't wait to share this book and his story with my kids and others.

The Race to Kindness is my new favorite children’s book!!! The illustrations are bright and gorgeous, the message is one of the greatest possible (ummmm hello kindness!!!) and it rhymes!!! I can’t wait to read this to my grandmuffin – it’s a truly beautiful book. Thank you to Netgalley and Orian Jean for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest opinion. (side note – even though I’m reading this book alone, I still read it out loud to see how it rolls off my tongue. May seem a little silly but it’s the BEST way to read any children’s book!!)

Race to Kindness is the perfect book to use in helping young readers know how they can use kindness in all parts of their lives. I can't wait to use the KIND acronym to help my students remember to- Keep Your Eyes Open, Include Others, Nothing Too Small, and Do Something About It.
Darshika Varma's illustrations portray an amazingly diverse, bright scenery, to engage even the youngest to oldest reader.
Orion Jean's Race to Kindness can be used in any classroom, any home, or out in the community to spark bigger and better things and to help remind everyone to shine bright and pay attention to others.

This book was so cute and fun to read. My 7 year old loves the rhyming and the bright colorful pictures! He wanted to read it over and over again! Amazing lesson to be taught in todays world!

Wow! Color me impressed! I was immediately taken by this book and the mature message it shares, along with the intelligent and clever way it is written. But now that I know the author is 11-years-old I'm even more blown away by it. This book is, dare I say, the best execution I've ever seen of successfully teaching a principal (i.e. kindness). Let's start at the very beginning, shall we? (...a very good place to start.) I love that the first page of this book is a form that children can sign that invites them to join the "race to kindness". Physical invitations like this are, in my opinion, the best way to evoke action. I truly think that children will take this invitation seriously as they sign their name and write the date. The next thing I love about this book is that it rhymes. I have heard book publishers mention that rhyming books are slowly becoming less appealing for them to publish, but as a pediatric speech therapist I understand and can attest to the value of books that rhyme. Rhyming is a pre-literacy skill that children need to learn in their pathway to reading. Not to mention that rhyming books are fun to read and a sure way to make a book's message memorable. The highlight of this book for me is the fact that the author made an acronym out of the short phrase, "BE K.I.N.D.". What better way for children to remember how to be be kind than through an acronym that they can easily memorize? As an adult, I struggle sometimes with knowing how I can help others and the specific things I can do to show my love through service. So, I especially appreciate that this book gives specific examples of things we can all do to "be kind". The "D" in the acronym "K.I.N.D." was my favorite thing to read about because it encourages people to get up and to take action. It's so easy for us, especially as adults, to reach out to the people who we know need assistance with a text that simply says, "Let me know if there's anything I can do for you." So often we don't take the initiative to help without someone asking for it. But this book makes it clear that there are so many ways to serve and to show kindness, and that we should do so without waiting for someone to tell us what to do. To sum up my views on this book I'll say one thing- I wish this book wasn't categorized as "children's literature" because I think everyone, and especially adults, should read this book and learn from it's beautiful and powerful message.

Thank you to the author and netgalley for allowing me to read and review this masterpiece of a book.

Schön gemachtes englischsprachiges Kinder-Bilderbuch über Freundlichkeit, Mitmenschlichkeit und Hilfsbereitschaft. Sehr schön gereimt. Nett illustriert. Tolle Gesamtbotschaft des Buches.