Books with a Positive Message for Kids

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Books are a great tool to teach lessons to kids in the form of colorful pictures and memorable personalities. While there are many books out there that are just plain silly or tell a cute story, there are also just as many that provide a lesson or positive message for kids. Consider adding one of these books full of lessons and a positive message to your shopping list!

We LOVE books in our house and we don’t limit reading them to only bedtime. I recently sorted through our bookshelves and asked a few fellow book loving moms to help me put together this list of books with a positive message for kids.

• Giraffes Can’t Dance – Gerald is a giraffe who can’t dance and all the jungle animals make fun of him at the Jungle Dance. He later meets a cricket who tells him “Sometimes when we’re different we just need a different song.” He discovered the music that makes him a great dancer and everyone asks for his secret where he answers “We can all dance when we find the music that we love.” This book has an important message that people can achieve the same results but might go about it in a different way.
• Llama Llama Time to Share – Llama Llama’s new neighbor is coming to visit and she tries to play with his beloved Fuzzy Llama toy. The story continues in it’s rhyming fashion to show how he learns to share and it’s fun to do so!
• What Do You Do With an Idea? – A book to inspire you to follow your dreams.
• Beautiful – Great for girl moms to read! It discusses things a “girl should be” as far as gender stereotypes go, but the photos show examples of the girls doing, wearing and acting differently than one might expect.

• The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners – Most of the Berenstain Bears series teaches lessons and this one is no exception. In this case Mama Bear tries to teach the kids a lesson about using manners and in the end it teaches Papa Bear how to use his manners as well!
• Pout Pout Fish – All the friends in the ocean try to get Pout Pout Fish to smile then one fish comes and gives him a kiss and he learns he shouldn’t be pouting but he’s a Kiss Kiss Fish instead! This book has a whole “turn that frown upside down” type of attitude!
• Little Tree – Great to discuss the benefits of change.
• The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy – This book starts off with a conflict between two brothers trying to play together, but they figure out how to resolve their differences and get along! Through their imaginary adventures, Sam and Owen discover just how much fun a brother can be, and learn that there are times to play alone and times to play with others.
• Mo’s Mustache – A wonderfully silly book about style and individuality.
• Strega Nona – The book teaches taking responsibility for your actions, honesty, and obedience.

• Please, Mr. Panda – A cute story that might seem to be all about donuts but when you read the book, they quickly learn it’s about saying please!
• Waiting is not Easy – The title here says it all!
• Oh the Places You’ll Go – Like most Dr. Seuss books, this one is full of silly illustrations and even goofier rhymes. But it does include lots of positive messages and is a favorite to give for graduations! I have a copy and plan to get all of Brielle’s teachers to sign it and give it to her at high school graduation.

Do YOU have a favorite book with a positive message for kids you love? Please leave it in the comments!

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