A young girl who loves to grow fruit and vegetables learns how to be kind by sharing the products of her persisitence while guided by her parents in ways to be kind to her sister, her community, her teachers and classmates. Additional information is included in the end to help guardians and teachers to work with their children on building a kind and compassionate mindset.

This book is absolutely adorable!
The illustrations are wonderful, the story has a great message, and it leaves you feeling like all wonderful picture books should, happy on the inside!
My daughters and I read this the other night and we loved it. It’s especially great for right now when everything around us seems negative and crazy! Everyone should learn to spread a little kindness!

This is a story of a boy and his sister who use the fruits and vegetables in the garden to spread happiness.

Grow Kind
By Jon Lasser and Sage Foster-Lasser
Illustrations by Christopher Lyles

Kiko loves to work in her garden. She shares the veggies, flowers and fruit she harvests with her friends and neighbors. She even shares with the grumpy man that shouted at her dog.

She also shares with others she does not know. The homeless person Kiko and her mom encounters on the way to school is very happy to receive the kindness of fresh produce.

On show and tell day, Kiko brings fresh snacks to everyone in her class. Sharing her harvest makes everyone happy.

The message of this story is sweet and kind and the illustrations are adorable. I am a bit confused when trying to put it in the one of the usual “boxes” for children’s books. It has more words that illustrations so I hesitate to label it as a picture book. Some of the words are too difficult for an early reader. I do like the message and the question at the very end for children; “How do you grow kind?”. This emphasizes the heart of the message and gives caregivers a springboard to open the conversation with young children to think about others. I feel that the author wants the important people in the child’s life to read Grow Kind with and to them. In this egocentric world, it is refreshing to see a book that gently reminds children and their caregivers just how much a simple act of kindness can impact the giver and the recipient. We need more kindness.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Copyright © 2020 Laura Hartman

I loved this little book about kindness.The story follows a young girl as she shares fruits and veggies from her garden. She starts out sharing with her family and neighbors, and then decides to bring the fruits and veggies from her garden to school.On the way she shares with a woman on the street who is hungry, We are shown acts of kindness with variety of different people.

I also loved the illustration style of the book. The pictures are bright, bold, and engaging for kids. The writing is also kid friendly. Using the example of sharing food as kindness is something that kids will be able to relate to and make sense of- since they are familiar with foods.

Overall, this is a book that I would love reading with my preschool classroom to supplement their learning of kindness, empathy, and friendships.

A quick read that can help guide conversations about kindness, compassion, and how to look out for others. Children can recognize the kind actions taken in the book and think of how they "grow kind." The book includes a note at the back for caregivers in order to expand on the message in the book.
I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is a delightful story that teaches children about the power of kindness with the focus on social awareness and relationship skills. I especially loved the tips in the back of the book for parents on how to use this book in teaching these concepts.

This is a wonderful book to help children learn to be kind, and share with others. It was a very good story!

A great children's book about the inner peace, kindness (and a bit of gardening). :) Easy and well written and appropriate for young children.

The American Psychological Foundation does a great job of producing children's books that are usable within the classroom.

Grow Kind, by Jon Lasser, is a great example of how this prestigious foundation is doing its part to help with the growth and development of kids today. The story provides simple, yet relatable, examples of how kids can find examples of kindness everywhere.

In addition to having great examples in the story, Grow Kind has additional parent/adult resources located in the back of the book. These resources are research-based and help adults continue the discussion about kindness after the book is long done.

The beautiful, happy art is my favorite part of this sweet children's book that encourages the reader to share and be kind to others. A little girl shares the flowers, fruits and vegetables from her garden with others around her neighborhood and city, and enjoys making people happy with them.

Another reviewer criticized the book for being too idealistic, and another made fun of it because the girl shares with her neighbors -- "even the gay ones" (!). I had to go read it again because I didn't notice any talk of gay neighbors and it turns out that two of the neighbors are two men who like to grill, but they could be roommates or brothers or in a relationship, and the comment had me a little aghast.

One negative comment that I will acknowledge is that yes, her produce all did magically ripen at the same time. She harvests peas, peaches and sunflowers on the same day and yes, peas are a spring crop while peaches and sunflowers are late summer. It would be great to teach proper garden seasons I suppose, but it seems to me that other reviewers are being particularly nitpicky and cranky.

All in all, it's a sweet story about sharing and being kind. Don't overthink it.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

*thank you to Netgalley, Jon Lasser; Sage Foster-Lasser and American Psychological Association/Magination Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*


4 stars.

A great sweet story book about kindness. <i>'Grow Kind',</i> is a little story about doing something big. Giving kindness to others and in return, to yourself. This story shows us how a little girl named Kiko gives her kindness and 'grows kind.' Everybody can give kindness and it's an important thing to teach little kids (and remind big kids), that spreading kindness can really make someone's day.

I liked the colours that were used in this. Nice and Brgy and cheery which matched the positive message this book sends. Definitely recommend for all kids but especially those with a green thumb.

A cute, simple story about cultivating kindness in the community. I loved the illustrations. This would be a great mentor text to use in a classroom.

This book was so sweet and kind. It was so nice to see such a sweet sibling relationship in a children's book. I loved how the book focused on seeing things from other's perspectives.

I received an arc of this title from Netgalley for an honest review. This is a great book for young kids about growing your own food and the kind things you can do with that food.

Grow Kind is another title published in conjunction with the American Psychological Association.  These books address issues and subjects that will lead to positive growth for children.

In this title, that is colorfully and very cheerfully illustrated, a young girl learns about being kind to others.  This is shown is several ways; there is allowing her older sister to sleep late, picking the bounty from a garden and sharing it with neighbors and classmates.  The protagonist also gives food to someone who is standing by the road and is hungry. 

As always, the story is followed by sections for adults that further enhance the lesson of the story and that help those who interact with children to understand their needs.  I found this title to be another good entry in a good series.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest

Our heroine here has a garden resplendent with things that have all managed to be ripe for harvest at the same time. How convenient. What immediately becomes important to her, and it is hoped to the reader, is giving of her bounty to one and all – veg for the father, pick-me-ups and produce for the neighbours, even the gay ones, and a sackful of peaches for the homeless. Everyone benefits, although I'm sure the turtle at the school show-and-tell felt a bit left out. I guess my cynicism shows through a little, but that's only there because I do admit to the moral being a hundred per cent laudable. I just don't think the book is natural enough, with everything being ripe at once, even when there's a pointless delay to the harvest that pads the plot out a bit, and the book just never mentions the effort in growing and nurturing so many varied vegetable plants and flowers. I know this is a portrayal of a cost-less generosity that benefits a whole society, but that didn't happen here if you factor in the cost of the young farmer's efforts, and all told this is a bit too idealistic for my kind of kids' book. Two and a half stars.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is a lovely picture book teaching children to think about others feelings, wants and needs sometimes, before themselves.
The book asks the children reading it two questions - one at the beginning and one at the end which encourage the child to talk about thise who care for them and what they think and feel.
There are some good discussion points and pointers at the end of the book for parents and care givers to think about and encourage in children too.

Sweet story of a very caring young boy who travels around his neighborhood and school giving away fruits and veggies from his garden! It's spreads cheer wherever he goes, from his family, to his cranky neighbor, to his school. I am sure most littles will enjoy this tale. I liked the illustrations- bright, detailed, so pleasant! great book!

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a delightful and colourful storybook illustrating how a little girl's garden can bring so much joy and happiness to those around her. Perfect for parents of toddlers and older children who want to teach their kids on the importance of kindness and emotional intelligence.