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Cover of Kindness Makes Us Strong
Board · ages 1–4

Kindness Makes Us Strong

Written and illustrated by Sophie Beer

Buy itPaperback
£7.99
In stockat Waterstones
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Top giftable

A bright, simple board book showing toddlers and preschoolers everyday acts of kindness. Best as a first social-emotional book about sharing, helping, including others and using caring words.

  • Best for1–4
  • FormatBoard
  • Length24 pp
  • Read aloud~4 min
Where to buyPaperback
WaterstonesIn stock
£7.99
Amazon
See price at Amazon

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The vibe

What it’s like.

Style

  • Repetitive
  • Conversational

Tone

  • Warm
  • Heartwarming
  • Gentle
  • Inspirational
  • Silly

Themes

On the pageearly social emotional learning, kindness, helping, including others, sharing, diverse children, caring words, friendship

Experience meters

Energy2/ 5
Humour1/ 5
Scariness1/ 5
Peril1/ 5
Wonder2/ 5
Cosiness5/ 5
Emotional intensity1/ 5
Conceptual intensity1/ 5

What’s it about?

The story.

Kindness Makes Us Strong introduces very young children to kindness through simple examples: sharing, helping, cheering someone on, caring for animals, inviting others to play and offering a friendly word. Sophie Beer's bold, inclusive artwork is the main appeal, using vibrant colours and clear scenes that babies, toddlers and preschoolers can understand quickly. This is not a narrative picture book with a plot; it is a concept-led board book for repetition, naming and early social-emotional learning. Its value lies in being direct, positive and easy to use in everyday moments. It fills the youngest age range well: a sturdy, cheerful, parent-approved book for nurseries, baby shelves and families who want a very simple first book about kindness and inclusivity.

Fit check

Right for your child?

Where it lands by age

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7
  • 9
  • 11
  • 13
  • Best fit · 1–4
  • Read aloud · 1–5
  • Independent · 3–5

Prose load

Light

Visual support

Very high

Reluctant-reader friendly

Very

Read-aloud quality

Strong

Works well for

  • Reading aloud
  • Bedtime
  • Gift-buying
  • Reluctant readers
Low sensitivityNo content warnings

Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.

Bedtime suitability

5 / 5 · Bedtime-friendly

Sensitive-child

5 / 5 · Good fit

Graphic intensity

1 / 5 · None

Best for

  • Toddlers
  • Kindness
  • Board book
  • Inclusive art
  • Early social emotional learning

Avoid if

  • Wants story arc
  • Older than 5
  • Prefers subtle books
  • Wants funny plot

Particularly good for children who are…

  • Making friends
  • Starting nursery or preschool
  • Bedtime battles
  • New sibling

In the classroom

How it works in school.

A simple, warm board book about everyday kindness — a gentle first prompt for talking about being kind.

Classroom role

  • Read aloud
  • Discussion and empathy

A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.

Why it lands

Why they love it.

Why kids love it

The specific charm is the simple acts — children sharing, helping, including, using caring words. Sophie Beer's bright bold illustrations show toddlers exactly what kindness looks like in everyday moments. Concept book at its most useful.

  • Friendship and belonging
  • Making a difference
  • Family belonging

Why parents love it

The board book for the youngest end of the social-emotional shelf — direct, inclusive, cheerful, no preaching. Useful in nursery settings and at home when a parent wants something simple to point at and discuss. Genuinely inclusive in its cast.

  • Quick to read
  • Bedtime appropriate
  • Conversation starter
  • Cultural representation

About the author & illustrator

Sophie Beer.

SB

Sophie Beer

Writer & illustrator · Australia

Sophie Beer is an Australian author-illustrator best known for the Kindness Makes Us Strong board-and-picture-book series and a range of contemporary inclusive picture books. Beer's style is bright, bold, character-driven and warmly inclusive, with strong design sense and a clear-eyed approach to depicting diverse families and contemporary settings. A reliable contemporary Australian picture-book maker for ages 1–5, with particular value as inclusive-shelf reading.

More from Sophie Beer →

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Last reviewed · May 2026Suggest a correctionHow we recommend
£7.99
Waterstones · 2 shops
Where to buy

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