I Can Be Kind by Rainbow Gal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Introducing social emotional learning to children and encouraging them to be kind to one another.

Oscar, the ill-tempered piranha usually has a very convenient lifestyle, taunting weaker fishes and eating small goldfishes from the adjacent aquarium for his daily meals. But suddenly one day, instead of meeting another frightened goldfish, he is confronted by Marla, a brave little goldfish who remains defiant and unaffected by Oscar's threats. In fact, when Marla starts calling him a 'big bully', Oscar finds himself at a loss of words and gradually becoming intrigued by her courage. They begin to talk with each other. In fact, their unusual friendship marks the turning point for the story because ever since Marla stood up for herself, something within Oscar's personality changed.

Introducing the process of social emotional learning among children is difficult and yet crucial. What is interesting to note in this story is the casual style in which a 'bully' gets transformed into a "kind" person. Although simplistic, the story effectively captures the essence of a bigger problem, insecurities can breed unkindness but in the same way, love can also encourage us to be more empathetic and therefore kind to one another. These are complex emotions and it is no surprise that parents or educators alike, often face the challenges of making such concepts simple enough for children to be able to grasp. That is where this story plays a significant role.

The illustrations might need some more work as we can notice slight deviations in the basic anatomy of the face of the human, nevertheless, they serve as great milestones for every reader, adding to the nuances of the story. Together with the pictures, the story flourishes and becomes a composite of images as well as words that are inter-dependent. Perhaps this is not the most sensational story book out there, but that's not important, because this book is the product of sincere efforts where one can see how the author tries to contextualize and build an interesting model world in an attempt to demonstrate the importance of kindness in our lives to a young reader.

(Note: ARC obtained on Reedsy Discovery)



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