When We Are Kind

"Notably centering Indigenous families and characters of color in personal and communal activities—and encouraging readers to evaluate their actions toward others.”—Publishers Weekly

When We Are Kind celebrates simple acts of everyday kindness and encourages children to explore how they feel when they initiate and receive acts of kindness in their lives. Celebrated author Monique Gray Smith has written many books on the topics of resilience and reconciliation and communicates an important message through carefully chosen words for readers of all ages. Beautifully illustrated by artist Nicole Neidhardt, this book encourages children to be kind to others and to themselves.

Orca Book Publishers is pleased to offer When We Are Kind in two accessible editions. The audiobook features alternate text descriptions of images, including the cover. The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Monique Gray Smith is a mixed-heritage woman of Cree, Lakota and Scottish ancestry and a proud mom of twins. Monique is an accomplished consultant, writer and international speaker. Her first novel, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, won the 2014 Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature. Monique's picture book My Heart Fills With Happiness won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize and was selected as the TD Grade One Giveaway Book for all grade one students in Canada in 2019. Monique and her family are blessed to live on Lekwungen territory in Victoria, British Columbia.


Nicole Neidhardt is Diné (Navajo) on her mother's side and a blend of European ancestry on her father's side and is from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has a Bachelor of Fine Art. Nicole's Diné identity is the heart of her practice, which encompasses mylar stencilling, painting and creating digital art and large-scale murals. She lives in Victoria, British Columbia.