Welcome to Kind Hands Books. We’re very glad you found us. ♥ 🐾
This little corner of the internet was created around a simple idea: children who love animals can also learn how to understand them.
A child may adore a dog and still need to learn that the dog sometimes wants space. A child may want to pet a sleeping cat, hug an animal who is trying to walk away, or rush toward a pet because they are excited.
Those moments do not mean a child is unkind. They are chances to teach what kindness actually looks like.
Kindness Is More Than Gentle Petting
When adults tell children to “be gentle,” we often mean soft hands. That is certainly part of it, but animal kindness goes much further.
Sometimes gentle hands are hands that stay in a child’s lap.
Sometimes kindness means waiting for an animal to come closer.
Sometimes it means letting a dog finish eating without interruption.
Sometimes it means noticing that a cat has walked away and choosing not to follow.
Children can learn that animals have their own feelings, needs, preferences, and boundaries. They can also learn to notice the ways animals communicate without words.
That is the heart behind Kind Hands Books.
Stories Children Can Understand
Our children’s books use familiar situations to help young readers think about the choices they make around animals.
Rather than simply giving children a page of rules, our stories allow them to see characters learning, making choices, noticing what an animal is communicating, and trying again.
Our first Kind Hands Books story is currently being created, and we are very excited to share it with you.
It follows a young girl and her family dog through ordinary moments at home. Along the way, she begins to understand that loving her dog also means listening to him, giving him space, and allowing him to make choices of his own.
No lectures. No shaming.
Just a child learning how to make kinder choices.
There Will Be Plenty Here for Grown-Ups, Too
Kind Hands Books may create books for children, but this website is primarily a resource for the adults helping them learn.
Parents, grandparents, caregivers, teachers, librarians, and other adults will find articles about teaching kindness toward animals, reading discussion ideas, simple safety reminders, family activities, and ways to continue a lesson after the book has been closed.
Our For Grown-Ups section will also include discussion guides and companion materials that can be used at home, in classrooms, during story time, or anywhere children and animals are part of the conversation.
Free Printables Are Coming
We are also creating a growing collection of free animal-kindness printables for adults to download and use with children.
You can expect coloring pages, kindness activities, “Which Choice Is Kind?” pages, gentle-hands activities, bookmarks, puzzles, and other resources tied to the same ideas found in our books.
We want children to have opportunities to practice kindness away from the story page, too.
Welcome to Kindness Corner
This blog is our Kindness Corner.
We’ll use it to share family ideas, articles about children and animals, book updates, free printable announcements, seasonal activities, and occasional behind-the-scenes looks at what we are creating.
Some posts may answer very simple questions.
What should a child do when a dog walks away?
Should children bother pets while they are sleeping?
How can we help a young child understand a growl?
What does giving an animal space actually look like?
Those small questions can lead to very useful conversations.
We’re Just Getting Started
Kind Hands Books is new, and there is much more to come.
The first book is being written and illustrated. Free resources are being created. This website is growing one page at a time.
And that is perfectly fitting, because kindness grows the same way.
One choice at a time.
One conversation at a time.
One little pair of hands learning when to reach out and when to wait.
Thank you for being here at the beginning.
Welcome to Kind Hands Books.
Small hands. Kind choices. Happier animals. ♥ 🐾
