ABCs of Kindness

Inclusive Children's Book Teaching Guide

by Patricia Hegarty

Illustrations by Summer Macon

What is this book about?

A is for all of us—be everybody's friend.
B is for believing things will be okay in the end!
C is for being caring in everything you do.
D is for dear ones who mean the world to you!

Described by Kirkus Reviews as "Light, friendly and not at all preachy—a gentle win for a kinder world," this whimsical board book helps foster social-emotional development by using the letters of the alphabet and rhyming couplets to teach children ages 1–4 about the abstract concept of kindness.

Complete the series with 123s of Thankfulness and Happiness is a Rainbow.

Who is depicted in this book?

Animals playing together and engaging in acts of kindness

What early childhood themes and concepts does this book explore?

Examples of generosity and kindness
Noticing and responding to others’ needs, feelings and struggles
Ways that we can play together
Capital letters and the basic vocabulary of kindness are presented and depicted

How does this book support anti-bias education?

This book depicts the early foundations of friendship and allyship—understanding differences, including others, choosing kind words, and helping others in need. The images and text may be used to support the following core goal from Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves:

Diversity—Teachers will promote each child’s comfortable, empathetic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds so that children will express comfort and joy with human diversity, use accurate language for human differences, and form deep, caring connections across all dimensions of human diversity.

How can this book be used to meet early childhood learning standards?

For all ages

Use ABCs of Kindness to meet early childhood literacy standards

For children from birth to age three

Teaching suggestion: Point out forms of play, kindness and helping that the animals are engaged in. Encourage the children to point at, name and react to these examples.

What Illinois Early Learning Guideline does this meet for children from birth to age three?

Developmental DomainSocial-Emotional Development

Standard: Relationship with PeersChildren demonstrate the desire and develop the ability to engage and interact with other children.

Indicators for children:

Begins to engage in parallel play, in closer proximity to other children (7–18 months)
Begins to engage in simple reciprocal interactions, e.g., rolls a ball back and forth (16–24 months)
Demonstrates a preference toward select peers (21–36 months)

Teaching suggestion: Encourage the children to notice examples of animals responding to their friends’ needs and emotions.

What Illinois Early Learning Guideline does this meet for children from birth to age three?

Developmental DomainSocial-Emotional Development

Standard: EmpathyChildren demonstrate an emerging ability to understand someone else’s feelings and to share in the emotional experiences of others.

Indicators for children:

Imitates comforting behaviors (16–24 months)
Communicates how other children may be feeling and why (21–36 months)

For preschoolers (ages three to five)

Teaching suggestion: Select and share examples of caring and empathy (e.g. pages focusing on the letters C, I, J, K, N, and U). Notice, narrate and introduce vocabulary for these behaviors and their effects.

What Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards does this meet for preschoolers?

Social/Emotional Development Standard31BUse communication and social skills to interact effectively with others.

Benchmark 31.B.ECa:

Interact verbally and nonverbally with other children.

Teaching suggestion: Point out and discuss examples and consequences of acts of kindness and inclusion. Relate these to children’s everyday experiences. Although Learning Standards 30A and 32A are framed almost entirely through examples of “negative” behaviors, rules and consequences, books like this one provide opportunities to identify, teach and discuss behaviors that foster positive relationships and a caring community.

What Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards does this meet for preschoolers?

Social/Emotional Development Standard30AIdentify and manage one’s emotions and behavior.

Benchmark 30.A.ECf:

Begin to understand the consequences of his or her behavior.

See inside this book.

What other resources are available?

What are the four core goals of anti-bias education,and how do they apply to LGBTQ+ social justice?

Goal 1: IDENTITY

Teachers will nurture each child’s construction of knowledgeable and confident personal and social identities so that children will demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Encouraging children to express positive feelings about their gender identity and become comfortable with their own way of expressing gender

Creating opportunities for children of any gender to explore a wide range of opportunities, interests and activities

Encouraging children to share openly about their families

Goal 2: DIVERSITY

Teachers will promote each child’s comfortable, empathetic interaction with people from diverse backgrounds so that children will express comfort and joy with human diversity, use accurate language for human differences, and form deep, caring connections across all dimensions of human diversity.

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Teaching children about the diversity of people both within and across genders

Celebrating the uniqueness and assets of diverse families

Goal 3: JUSTICE

Teachers will foster each child’s capacity to critically identify bias and nurture each child’s empathy for the hurt that bias causes so that children will increasingly recognize unfairness (injustice), have the vocabulary they need to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts.

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Engaging in activities that help children recognize and challenge stereotypes

Helping children understand the unfairness of identity-focused harm

Questioning unfair depictions or erasure of LGBTQ+ families

Goal 4: ACTIVISM

Teachers will cultivate each child’s ability and confidence to stand up for oneself and for others in the face of bias so that children will demonstrate a sense of empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discriminatory actions.

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Empowering children to claim their identity and gender

Modeling how to support others, regardless of their identities

Teaching children how to resist rejection, teasing or bullying

Interested in learning more about anti-bias education? Check out the book, Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves, by Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards (Second edition, 2020)

ABCs of Kindness

What is this book about?

Who is depicted in this book?

What early childhood themes and concepts does this book explore?

How does this book support anti-bias education?

How can this book be used to meet early childhood learning standards?

For all ages

For children from birth to age three

What Illinois Early Learning Guideline does this meet for children from birth to age three?

Developmental DomainSocial-Emotional Development

Standard: Relationship with PeersChildren demonstrate the desire and develop the ability to engage and interact with other children.

Indicators for children:

What Illinois Early Learning Guideline does this meet for children from birth to age three?

Developmental DomainSocial-Emotional Development

Standard: EmpathyChildren demonstrate an emerging ability to understand someone else’s feelings and to share in the emotional experiences of others.

Indicators for children:

For preschoolers (ages three to five)

What Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards does this meet for preschoolers?

Social/Emotional Development Standard31BUse communication and social skills to interact effectively with others.

Benchmark 31.B.ECa:

What Illinois Early Learning and Development Standards does this meet for preschoolers?

Social/Emotional Development Standard30AIdentify and manage one’s emotions and behavior.

Benchmark 30.A.ECf:

See inside this book.

What other resources are available?

What are the four core goals of anti-bias education, and how do they apply to LGBTQ+ social justice?

Goal 1: IDENTITY

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Goal 2: DIVERSITY

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Goal 3: JUSTICE

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

Goal 4: ACTIVISM

Early childhood educators can work toward this goal by:

For more information, fill out the form below or email info@earlypridematters.org

Join our mailing list.

What are the four core goals of anti-bias education,and how do they apply to LGBTQ+ social justice?