Help children cultivate a practice of gratitude and a sense of wonder for the world around them with Goodness Gracious: A Gratitude Book for Children.
Have you ever felt so happy that it seems like your whole body is smiling and you wanted to say thank you out loud? Have you ever been so glad for something in your life, like a friend or your favorite food or the way the grass smells, that you wanted to do a happy dance? This book is made up of lots of thankful thoughts that can help you practice saying thank you.
Meaningful, sweet, and sometimes downright silly, Kathleen A. Green's thankful thoughts, her kid-friendly term for expressions of gratitude, help children say thank you for all aspects of their lives, from the earth and their families to their pets, teachers, and even mac and cheese! Ages 38.
About the Author :
Kathleen A. Green is a Unitarian Universalist minister and doctoral candidate at New York Theological Seminary. She has served congregations in Illinois, Wisconsin, California, and New Jersey. She currently sits on the board of the Yale Humanist Community.
Lori McElrath Eslick's art is exhibited at the Mazza Museum of Children's Book Art and has been featured in Italy's BologniaFiere Illustrator Exhibit and Annual and three times in the Exhibit and Annual of the New York City Society of Illustrators. She has received the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator's Best Illustration Magazine Merit Award twice, and she is included on Banks Street College's list of best children's books. Her art for Da Wei's Treasure won the Parent's Choice Award, and Read for Me, Mama, which she illustrated, has been named the "Best Read Aloud Story" by the International Reading Association. She has illustrated more than twenty-two books.
Review :
“Goodness Gracious provides an excellent resource for teachers and parents who want to cultivate gratitude in small children and help them to verbalize wonder and appreciation for the natural world and for humanity. This collection of short songs, chants, and poems could resonate for small children of any religion or religions, or who are spiritual, or humanist, or any combination of those identities.” —Susan Katz Miller, author of The Interfaith Family Journal and Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family
“What a collection! There’s a prayer or grace for every occasion here, from giving thanks for pets and teachers to releasing fear about the ‘monster’ under the bed. I’m impressed by how gracefully these prayers address situations that are important to children—grandma moving away, feeling connected to the earth—yet are underrepresented in traditional collections. The prayers are in simple, vivid language to help children of all ages explore big feelings and connect those feelings to values like gratitude and wonder. And I’m delighted that many of these prayers can be sung to familiar tunes! I can imagine a child and parent singing a prayer together, day after day, as the song helps the prayer root into memory.” —Rev. Erika Hewitt, author of Story, Song and Spirit: Fun and Creative Worship Services for All Ages
