The Kindness of Children Paperback – October 2, 2000

Every book by this author is wonderful. Superheroes in the Doll Corner was my favorite up until now. This book is so touching and affirming of goodness that it made me a nicer person for weeks after reading it! I bought more copies and gave them for Christmas presents; it makes a great present for teachers especially. Vivian Paley teaches more than children. She teaches her readers to really listen to others, especially children, and to harmonize feelings, good ones and unhappy ones, into a loving acceptance of all experience.

Super fast!

I don't know what I expected from this book. I thought it would be a series of stories about children being kind. It actually ended up as a free-flowing continuous stream-of-consciousness tale on the part of the author. It was partly on the children, and partly on the reaction of the author and other teachers towards the small kindnesses that children give to one another in diverse situations. Even though Paley tells us about the interesting story-telling learning which she instigates, the story-telling is less important to the book then the kindnesses of the children. The story-telling is the means by which the kindnesses continue, a means to acknowledge that kindness has occurred, and that children are responsible for solitary acts that can have ripple-like effects.What I find incredibly interesting and wish that Paley had dealt with is that this behavior of small children prior to the fourth grade seems to be 'taught' out of children, by the adults in their lives. I may be wrong about this, but the national problems with bullying seem to occur right after third grade (which most educators and parents know is a major transitional point). Where is it that we are teaching our children not to be kind to others?This book is sweet and extremely interesting. Paley brings up the possibility of an intelligence based not on intellect, but on an inner sense of being able to 'see' when another person is hurting. I would have liked more information...this book raises more questions then it provides the solutions for....

While this is certainly not her best book that does not mean it is not a wonderful tale of Mrs. Paley's experience working with children. Like many of her other books, this is a narrative tale of individual events that have been strung together to show a common theme. In this book, Paley focuses upon her art of having children create their own imaginative stories that are then acted out by the other children in the class. She digs deeper though to watch how the children interact.She tells of her observations and revelations that children are able to look past the minor defects and imperfections in a person's appearance or character and accept them for who they are. It is somewhere along our journey to adulthood that we lose that ability. Paley focuses upon the children and the actions that seem so remarkable to us that are so ordinary for them.What this book lacks however is in-depth analysis of a group of children. This is not Paley's fault however. Since she has left teaching she does not have the time with a single group of children necessary to make such observations. It is still a wonderful introspective on the way adults and children differ in our social interactions.Why 4 stars?: This book tells a nice and interesting tale of Paley's experiences with several classrooms around the world. She tells us of her observations of the why children are able to be unprejudiced and show true kindness to other children because they know no other way. Adults, on the other hand, seem to do it out of necessity. She reminds us that "The moral universe lies on the breath of schoolchildren." However, it would have been nicer to see some deeper analyses of groups and the individual episodes could have been strung together better. All in all, this is a nice and inspiring book for teachers and parents alike.

This book disputes the conventional wisdom "children can be so cruel" by focusing on the fact that children ALSO can be kind. Paley knows full well that children are not perfect -- she writes brilliantly about rejection in "You Can't Say You Can't Play" and addresses these issues in others of her books as well. This is an important book BECAUSE it is so commonplace to hear "children can be cruel" as if that is all that they can be.That said, this is NOT Paley's best book. Having retired from teaching, she no longer has the day to day experience of the classroom to write about. I find those books richer.

This is the first book by Paley I have read, and now I'm hooked! I am touched by her sensitivity and her openness to the wonder of the world of children. I felt that I was right there with her at the "storytelling table." An added bonus was her valuable references to Jewish storytelling traditions and her many biblical references. Anyone who works with children, especially "at-risk" children, would benefit from this book. An intimate and expressive work.