A child's guide to self-growth

[AaronMoots]

Respect is a value that encompasses a lot of other values and actions, and is often a value that needs to be taught to young learners before these learners can truly appreciate respect on its own. These three books I've looked at all focus on instilling values like perspective and empathy to ultimately encourage readers to value respecting not just others, but themselves as well.

"What if Everybody Did That?" by Ellen Javernick encourages young readers to think outside of themselves and about how their actions affect the world around them. By asking the simple question "What if everybody did that?" the author begs the reader to consider their own place in the world and the relationships they have with their peers. 

"Our Class is a Family" by Shannon Olsen uses a relationship dynamic that is familiar to young readers to teach the reader about building additional healthy relationships. By encouraging the reader to view their classmates as brothers and sisters  students are less likely to view their classmates as people that just go away after a few hours. Each and every student has their own life, backstory, and aspirations, and this book is written to encourage young readers to remember that. 

"The Sour Grape" by Jory John is a book about grudges and forgiveness. This book encourages readers to behave respectfully by teaching them perspective - perhaps the most important value in any productive, life-long learner. In essence, this book demonstrates how acts of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness can go a long way toward encouraging those same kinds of acts from others. The value of treating others the way you want to be treated is prevalent in this book.