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Books about Respect for Kids
Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller
While Mr. Rabbit is excited about new neighbors, he is also nervous. The new neighbors are otters, and Mr. Rabbit knows nothing about otters! So, he worries whether or not everyone will get along. On top of this, he worries that maybe they won’t want to be friends but will still be stuck living next door.
Luckily, Mr. Rabbit remembers the Golden Rule thanks to his friend Mr. Owl. This conversation reminds Mr. Rabbit that he just needs to treat the otters the same as he wants to be treated. Since everyone wants respect and kindness, Mr. Rabbit will show these qualities as soon as the otters move in.
Click here to grab the read aloud lesson for Do Unto Otters.
What if Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick
The world would be a mess if people were not responsible for their actions. Thankfully, teaching responsibility with What If Everybody Did That? shows how amazing the world could be if everyone obeyed rules. This is another one of the important books about respect for kids.
Click here for the lesson for What if Everybody Did That?
The Bad Seed by Jory John
The Bad Seed is a tale of a sunflower seed that is “very baaadd” according to himself and others. His actions aren’t terrible, but they are quite rude. As the book goes on, we find out that he wasn’t always bad and we learn his heartbreaking story.
He had a loving family in his sunflower, but then he was put into a bag and almost eaten! This awful event led him to becoming “bad” by isolating himself and pushing others away.
But then he decides to make a change. He chooses to be happy to make better choices. And, while he doesn’t always get it right, he is trying to be a “good” seed!
Click here for the read aloud lesson for The Bad Seed.
We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
Penelope Rex is so excited about the first day of school. She can’t wait to begin learning and making new friends. However, Penelope struggles to make friends when she can’t help but think of how delicious they taste! Everything changes when Penelope is no longer at the top of the food chain. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they wait to see how Penelope handles new obstacles with her friends.
Click here for the lesson for We Don’t Eat Our Classmates.
Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Your Name is a Song is an incredibly beautiful picture book. Frustrated by a day full of teachers and classmates mispronouncing her beautiful name, a little girl tells her mother she never wants to come back to school. In response, the girl’s mother teachers her about the musicality of African, Asian, Black-American, Latinx, and Middle Eastern names.
Click here to grab the interactive read aloud lesson for Your Name is a Song
All are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold
This story will take readers through a day at school. It will follow a group of students who show how everyone is welcome. Readers will see students sitting through a lesson, eating at lunch, and playing outside. They will see beautiful illustrations of children in patkas, hijabs, baseball caps, and yarmulkes. No matter what students are doing, they are all together and learning about each other’s traditions.
Click here to grab the FREE lesson for All are Welcome.
Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
Every day all over the world, children are laughing and crying, playing and learning, eating and sleeping. They may not look the same. They may not speak the same language. Their lives may be quite different from each other. But inside, they are all alike.
Stirring words and bold paintings weave their way around our earth, across cultures and generations and remind children to accept differences, to recognize similarities, and—most importantly—to rejoice in both.
Click here to join the Colorful Apple Book Club for more read aloud lessons!
What are some of your other favorite books about respect for kids?
Free Picture Book List
Looking for more books to read aloud with your students? Grab this FREE list of books to teach Social Emotional Learning skills! SEL skills are more important than ever before. This book list of social emotional learning topics will make it so much easier to teach these skills to your students. The titles are split up by SEL skill and competency. This will make it easy for you to teach just one at a time!
Save this Book List
Be sure to save this pin to your favorite read alouds board on Pinterest! You’ll be able to come back to this book list when you are ready to read them aloud with your students.
