Illustration by Ping Zhu
Our virtue of the month is generosity—showing children that even small acts of care can make a big difference!
One of the most important lessons we can offer children is that generosity doesn’t require having “a lot.” Each of us has something to give: our time, our talents, our ideas, and our care for others.
As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.” And service—and generosity—can take many shapes.
In Manjhi Moves a Mountain, children learn the true story of Dashrath Manjhi, who spent over 20 years carving a path through a mountain so his village could reach schools and hospitals more easily. His story shows how perseverance and generosity can change an entire community.
Another story, What Is Given from the Heart, reminds us that generosity isn’t measured by the size of a gift, but by the love and intention behind it.
Please feel free to explore our selection of stories on generosity below, and if you’d like more options, check out the service section of our website: valuesandvirtues.org.
1. Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Deed by Emily Pearson
- Age range: 1st & 2nd Grade
- Genre: Fiction
Can one child’s good deed change the world? It can when she’s Ordinary Mary—an ordinary girl from an ordinary school, on her way to her ordinary house—who stumbles upon ordinary blueberries. When she decides to pick them for her neighbor, Mrs. Bishop, she starts a chain reaction that multiplies around the world.
2. Why Should I Help? by Claire Llewellyn
- Age range: 1st & 2nd
- Genre: Picture Book
Helping around home and at school develops a child’s sense of personal accomplishment and responsibility. It’s an important part of growing up.
This book in the Why Should I? series of picture storybooks follows Susy in a very busy day as she learns an important lesson about generosity.
3. Helping Hands by Anna Prokos, Illustrated by Nathan Jarvis
- Age range: Pre-K / K
- Genre: Picture Book
Ocho is the best at helping others. But who will help him when he needs it? This lively book from the Funny Bone Readers series focuses on the character trait of caring and being kind.
4. I’ll Lend You My Daddy by Becky King
- Age range: 1st & 2nd
- Genre: Fiction
In I’ll Lend You My Daddy, young boys and girls find ways to manage their feelings about deployment (from goodbyes, to the first night, to missed birthdays) as they eagerly await their fathers’ return home.
Through the support of family and friends, care packages, and calls, these children grow strong with the knowledge of what it means to serve.
5. Manjhi Moves A Mountain by Nancy Churnin, Illustrated by Danny Popovici
- Age range: 1st & 2nd
- Genre: Biography
Dashrath Manjhi used a hammer and chisel, grit, determination, and twenty years to carve a path through the mountain separating his poor village from the nearby village with schools, markets, and a hospital. Manjhi Moves a Mountain shows how everyone can make a difference if their heart is big enough.
6. What is Given From the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack Illustrated by April Harrison
- Age range: 3rd & 4th
- Genre: Picture Book
“Misery loves company,”” Mama says to James Otis. It’s been a rough couple of months for them, but Mama says as long as they have their health and strength, they’re blessed.
One Sunday before Valentine’s Day, Reverend Dennis makes an announcement during the service– the Temples have lost everything in a fire, and the church is collecting anything that might be useful to them. James thinks hard about what he can add to the Temple’s “”love box,”” but what does he have worth giving?
With her extraordinary gift for storytelling, McKissack–with stunning illustrations by Harrison–delivers a touching, powerful tale of compassion and reminds us all that what is given from the heart, reaches the heart.
7. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
- Age range: 1st & 2nd
- Genre: Fiction
This moving parable for all ages offers a touching interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another’s capacity to love in return.
Every day the boy would come to the tree to eat her apples, swing from her branches, or slide down her trunk…and the tree was happy. But as the boy grew older he began to want more from the tree, and the tree gave and gave and gave. This is a tender story, touched with sadness, and full of heart.
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