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I would highly recommend this picture book to all teachers and parents. This book is an excellent piece of literature suitable for both girls and boys and all ethnic groups. The characters represent children of ethnic diversity, with one of the main characters being African American. There is a valuable lesson to be learned from this book.  With bullying on the rise and income disparity, this story serves to deliver a thought provoking and poignant anti-bullying message.

The reader (or listener) will feel heartbreak for Maya as she experiences the rejection and unkindness of Chloe, her clique of friends, and other classmates. They will also be able to feel Chloe's deep remorse when she realizes she can't undo her lack of kindness toward Maya.

The message is clear that even small acts of kindness can change the world for the better.

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You could use this book at any elementary grade level to promote ethnic diversity, kindness, empathy, literacy and critical thinking skills.  It would serve well as a literature resource for a Back to School or Friendship unit.
I would incorporate the following activities to promote literacy skills in a primary grade classroom.

*  As a pre-reading strategy, the students will complete a graphic organizer identifying what they know about kindness.

*  After taking a picture walk and using their prior knowledge related to kindness, students will complete a writing activity stating their prediction and providing reasons for their prediction.

*  After reading, the students will be provided critical thinking opportunities, as they think about these quotes:  “This is what kindness does.  "Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple into the world.”  They will respond in writing what they think it means, evaluate if this statement affected the characters and, if so, offer supporting evidence from the story.  They will also evaluate this quote:  “Each kindness makes the whole world a little bit better,” and apply it to their own lives by writing about a time in their life when kindness made their world or someone else’s world better.
*  This story serves as a wonderful opportunity to introduce or review the concept of “Fact or Opinion,” where students will distinguish and identify facts related to kindness, as well as their opinions of it.

*  The concept of character traits can be applied to this story with students identifying traits of Maya and Chloe and offering supporting evidence from the text.

*  The concept of theme versus main idea can also be introduced or reviewed with this story.

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*  2013 Coretta Scott King
Author Honor Book
*  2013 Charlotte Zolotow Award
*  2013 Jane Addams Peace
Award

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"You are here to serve others, to be a light for them, to participate in their lessons and to help heal humanity. You are also here to serve yourself, to heal your karma, to enable your soul's growth and reconnect to the Source.

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Jacqueline Woodson is an award winning African American writer who resides in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.  As a young reader, she didn't see many books with characters like herself,  her family, her neighborhood, or her ethnic group.  It was during  her adulthood that she decided it was her job to write these stories.  She often writes about the difficulties young people face and about characters who feel out of place.  Woodson believes good stories need characters that the reader will care about and contain an emotional core so the readers will be able to experience the emotional journey of the characters.  She also believes good stories need a physical journey that transforms the main character dramatically.

Woodson shares her  motivation to write this book:
"At some point in our lives, we are all unkind. At some point, we are all treated unkindly. I wanted to understand this more. I think too often we believe we’ll have a second chance at kindness – and sometimes we don’t. I do believe, as Chloe’s teacher, Ms. Albert, says, that everything we do goes out, like a ripple into the world. I wrote this because I believe in kindness."

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"Kindness is a Muscle" Official Music Video ft. Aidan Prince, William Alexander | Universal Kids

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Meet the Characters:
Chloe - main character, African American student to whom Maya is assigned to sit beside.  She is the leader of her clique of friends.
Maya - the new girl in school who is treated poorly by Chloe and her friends
Kendra - friend of Chloe
Sophie - friend of Chloe
Ms. Alberts  - the teacher

Setting: - inside a rural school, outside in the school 's recess area, and at a pond in the meadow

Story Summary:
When the new girl, Maya, enters school, Chloe and her clique of friends won’t play with her or even share a smile with her.  They look down on her because she wears second hand clothing and out of season, worn out shoes.  Despite Maya's repeated efforts to play with the girls at recess, they refuse to allow her to join in their fun.  Other classmates also make fun of her.  One day, Maya is absent from school and never returns. The teacher, Ms. Alberts, presents a powerful lesson on kindness by having the students toss a pebble into water to demonstrate how even small acts of kindness can have a positive ripple effect in helping to make the world a better place.  Chloe learns from this lesson how her lack of kindness affected Maya.  She deeply regrets the choices she made and feels great remorse over the loss of friendship.

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Uploaded by William Knipfer on 2016-09-23.

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E.B. Lewis is an award winning African American illustrator and artist, living in Folsom, N.J., who has illustrated over 70 books and has won numerous awards.

His artistic inspiration began in the third grade with the encouragement of his uncles. He taught art in the pubic school system for 12 years and at the collegiate level at the University of Arts in Philadelphia. He presently travels throughout the United States presenting to schools as a guest artist.  His art medium of preference is with watercolor.