BE KIND TO YOURSELF
is a social emotional learning (SEL) children's book written in loving memory of Josh Knutti who believed it was important for kids to learn how to be kind to themselves.
In this enchanted children's book, Josh is a boy who becomes a first grade teacher. He learns what it means to 'be kind to yourself' from a beautiful fairy and then he shares the lesson with his students.
The story concludes with an interactive element to get the reader to think about 3 things they like about themselves - an opportunity for parents, teachers and caregivers to have a teachable moment about self love.
The overall social emotional learning theme of this book is self awareness / self knowledge. When kids start to understand what they like about themselves (internal validation) compared to what others (peers, parents, teachers, etc) tell them they like about them (external validation), they can build a strong mental health foundation to help navigate adolescents and adult life.