Coming off the success of her debut book, The Power of Positivity, author Ruth Maille offers young readers another book full of positive messages in The Power of Kindness.
The story opens with Orbit, a character we met in Maille’s first book. Orbit is "...a fun-loving Planet Earth whose purpose is to spread kindness...” (from The Power of Positivity) This time around, Orbit is a teacher, and still intent to spread kindness wherever, and whenever, he can.
Orbit arrives at a kindergarten class where he meets an enthusiastic group of children. He asks the students, “What is kindness?” and the hands fly up in the air. Children shout their answers, and they range from it’s “...a form of love” to it’s “…filling someone’s heart so they can feel happiness.” Orbit encourages the children by telling them that they are all correct and he explains further that kindness begins with a choice.
With the full attention of every student, Orbit tells them how anyone can choose to be kind. That comment catches young Dominic’s attention because he admits that making a choice can be hard. To help Dominic, Orbit suggests a simple breathing exercise and carefully explains how it’s done.
When Orbit then asks the kindergarten class where they’ve seen kindness, the responses came quick and enthusiastically. From helping a grandparent to rescuing a dog, the children come up with wonderful ideas of how to be kind. And those suggestions are sure to give young readers lots of great ideas as they keep turning the pages.
Author Ruth Maille has struck gold with her new “Power of” series for children. I read/reviewed her first book, The Power of Positivity, and found it a great way to help children understand and get through the pandemic. Now, with her second book, she shows children how to spread kindness, something we could really use more of right now. In her Introduction, the author notes that the idea for the book came when she asked children in her daycare and preschool “…where they felt kindness in their lives.” As children often do, they came up with some creative examples, and The Power of Kindness was born. But this book doesn’t just have a nice message, it’s also beautifully designed. The illustrations by Pencil Master Studio are gorgeous and a perfect match to the story, but that’s not all. The paper is a thick, high-gloss paper, the type that isn’t often used because of the expense. Finally, the cover is embossed and just beautiful. It’s obvious that these books are a labor of love for the author and readers are the lucky recipients. Kudos to the author for this lovely book and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Quill says: The Power of Kindness is a fantastic way to help children understand the awesome power they have to spread kindness and truly make the world a better place.
To learn more about The Power of Kindness: Through the Eyes of Children, please visit the author’s website at www.ruthmaille-author.com
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