The Sound of Kindness by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater {Poetry Friday}

I'm so excited to have a sneak peak at Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's new book, coming in August! The Sound of Kindness gave me a different lens for thinking about kindness. Instead of showing examples of kindness this book is asking us to listen for kindness. Readers follow the journey of an adult and child on a kindness walk. A kindness walk is when we listen intentionally for words showing kindness.

Amy shows readers we can hear kindness through questioning, encouragement, empathy, understanding, invitations, walking, teamwork, and validating. This book encourages us to slow down and be aware of things going around of us. There's another message encouraging us to listen to the language of kindness; reminding us our words matter. 

Teresa Martinez is the illustrator and she did a very interesting illustration move that I didn't notice until I read it a third time. There are several people on each two page spread. The faces of the people not engaged in the kindness conversation are shown with muted colors. They blend in with the setting. The people engaged with the kindness conversation are natural skin tones and are wearing brighter clothing. I'm excited to see if my students notice this in the fall.

Here's an example.

I reached out to Amy and asked if this was one poem spread across the entire book, like she did with Every Day Birds and she said yes. I hope she shares the full version on her blog when it's released. I know my students are curious when they learn a poem is one picture book and they want to know what it looks like together on a page. I think it adds a layer to their understanding/comprehension for the text.

There are some notes in the back for readers describing a kindness walk with variations. I can't wait to find kindness discoveries in the fall in our classroom and our school community.

Thank you Buffy Silverman for hosting Poetry Friday this week.