Teaching Compassion
with Touching Children's Books

Teaching compassion and caring for others isn't a straightforward task. Children learn these traits through positive examples and the 'good feeling' they get after treating others with compassion and caring. One very powerful way to foster compassion and caring is to deliberately create opportunities for kids to act compassionately, like service learning activities. The impact of these experiential activities can be life-changing.

But there's another way: help kids to learn by example thru storybooks on compassion!  Parents, grandparents, teachers, and librarians can share examples of compassion via the children's books below, all of which are perfect for teaching compassion and caring. And, as always, if we've left of a great book for this category, please let us know.

The Teddy Bear
(a child leaves behind his
beloved bear, who is found
by a homeless man --
a very tender story!)
Preschool - 1st grade

A Sick Day for
Amos McGee
(a charming story about a
sick zoo keeper visited at
home by his animal friends)
Preschool - 1st grade

South
(a friendly cat helps a little
bird who wakes up and
discovers his family
has flown south for winter)
Preschool - Kindergarten

Bear Feels Sick 
(when bear feels sick, his
animal friends rally around
to care for him)
by Karma Wilson
Preschool - 2nd grade

The Three
Questions
(a short story by Tolstoy is
recast into a tale for kids)
by Jon Muth
1st grade & Up

Uncle Willie and the
Soup Kitchen
(fictional view of an soup
kitchen from the p.o.v.
of a little boy)
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

A Chair for My Mother
(in this Caldecott winner,
kids will feel compassion
for this struggling family
who are pulling together)
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

The Lady in the Box
(siblings see a homeless
woman living in a box
and decide to help)
2nd grade - 5th grade

Tight Times
(a little boy from a
poor family finds a
starving kitten)
by Barbara Hazen
Preschool - 2nd grade

The Can Man
(a boy collects cans to earn
for a skateboard but
has a change of heart when
he meets a homeless man)
1st grade and Up

Angelo
(the caretaker of an old
church finds an injured
pigeon and nurses it back
to health--so touching!!!)
3rd grade & up

How to Heal a
Broken Wing
(a boy finds an injured
pigeon and nurses it to
health with moms help)
Kindergarten - 2nd grade

The Birdman
(a story of grief turned to
compassion, set in India
and beautifully illustrated)
by Veronika Charles
Kindergarten - 3rd grade

Rose Blanche
(set during WWII, a girl
learns about concentration
camps -- a picture
book for older kids)
5th grade & Up

Great Joy
(a little girl encounters a
homeless vendor and
wants to help--a great story
for teaching compassion)
Kindergarten - 2nd grade

Under the
Lemon Moon
(a compassionate story
about a thief who was
stealing to feed his
impoverished family)
Kindergarten - 2nd grade

The Hundred Dresses
(a classic about kindness,
compassion, and standing
up for what's right)
by Eleanor Estes
3rd grade - 6th grade

Loser
(a story about a child
who is 'different' -- will
help kids learn to step
into another's shoes)
by Jerry Spinelli
3rd grade - 6th grade

Enjoy the books!

Betsy, Cindy, and Virginia (the teachers/sisters behind this website)

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