Random Kindness & Senseless Acts of Beauty

by Anne Herbert, Mayumi Oda

Illustrations of animals beautifying and destroying their society encourage the reader to recognize his or her own power to make the world a better place to live

Genres: Picture Books

36 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1993

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

(1950-2015)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_He...

Reviews

[WALEED · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Anything we do randomly and frequently, starts to make its own sense and changes the world into itself. Anything you want there to be more of, do it randomly. Don't wait for reasons."

"The steps we take now, make new earth grow beneath our feet."

"In every moment we live, we have the choice to find the fight or make delight."

[Whole And · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depicting the forces that govern our lives and the effects of violence, fear and vengeance vs the power of love, kindness and bringing forth beauty. Compelling and opens up rich discussion about how we govern ourselves with what we choose to feel. Some gore in the illustrations but real to what's happening in the world.

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This modern parable based on Anne Herbert's famous quote, "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." includes a foreword from Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

It teaches us that the world is ours and it is up to us to create the world we want. What we put out in the world (peace and respect vs. violence) will result in the kind of world we live in,

[Renata Leal · Rating 5 out of 5]

"They told us there was nothing we could do. They were wrong. When we tell ourselves there is nothing we can do, we are wrong. We never know how much and we never know how far it goes, but always - we have power."

A little work of art. Pure wisdom and inspiration for these difficult times.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting the violence but appreciated it because it is an important piece of the greater conversation. I loved the book's message which is powerful and relevant.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children's book for grown-ups. The world and all of human relation is one big slippery slope, where we can degrade our social experience simply by combined negative effort. This little book shows that we can make a difference both ways, with emphasis on the positive benefits of our "little" acts of everyday kindness.

[Theivanai P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent number of pages - less than 20.
Excellent number of sentences per page - one.
Unexpected violence references in what I had been hoping was a happy children's picture book.
Favorite line - in every moment we live, we have a choice: to find the fight or make delight.

[Jessica Mesquita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartfelt and Simple

Beautiful illustrations. Simple, heartening and profound message.
I wanted to stay on to hear more of the story but it’s accessible and handy enough to take with…

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Odd. I think the others may be partial to a certain green "herb" popular among the hippie crowd.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I can't see myself using it for my intended audience of elementary students, this is a beautiful book with a powerful and needed message. I may end up doing a read aloud for teachers!

[Jeana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this open your eyes and heart

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great message for all ages.

[floraelmcolone · Rating 5 out of 5]

:,)🫶

[LauraEllen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I expected..."we're all making, the soup we're all eating."

[Lucky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the artwork

[m. ✨ On Hiatus ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great message for all ages.