30 Books of Kindness Day 1: Miss Rumphius

To begin my 30 days of books that promote, cultivate, or teach about kindness, I thought it would be fitting to start with a book suggestion that was provided to me via my Facebook page.

The first book is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.(Recommended age range: 5 and up)

Miss Rumphius is a story about a little girl that has big dreams for her life. When Alice Rumphius tells her grandfather that she will travel to faraway places and then live by the sea when she grows up, he tells her she has one more thing she must do.

" 'You must do something to make the world more beautiful,' said her grandfather. 'All right,'   said Alice. But she did not know what that could be."

It is not until much later in her life that she realizes that by planting seeds all over, she is able to make the world a more beautiful place.




While doing research on this book...

• I found a list of questions you can use to discuss this book with your child.
• I stumbled upon the most adorable coffee sleeve inspired by Miss Rumphius on Etsy.
• I found this amazing blog about kid literature by a education professor. It really distracted me from writing this post because it is just a great blog about children's literature.

With spring upon us, this book has delightful illustrations that make you want to travel to far away places, but it also makes you want to plant some seeds of change. After Miss M and I finished reading this book, I asked her what she could do to make the world a more beautiful place. She said she wanted to go outside and pick up trash in our neighborhood. Even though her translation of doing something to make the world a more beautiful place was literal, it is still a kind thing to do for our community. So the next time we go for a walk, we will have to do just that.

What are you doing to make the world a more beautiful place?