Be The Change: Be Kind: Rise Up And Make A Difference To The World

by Marcus Sedgwick, Thomas Taylor (Illustrator)

A fun and empowering interactive mental health guide for 8-12-year-olds on the power of kindness by award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick

You can choose to make the world a better place. The power is within you!
 
Every one of us experiences the world differently – we have different worries and problems, and we all have unique hopes and dreams – but there’s one thing that can unite us and make the world a better place, and that’s KINDNESS!
 
Kindness is cool! No, really! Kindness can create positive change in all our lives. Whether it’s being a friend to someone who seems lonely, or simply smiling or giving somebody a thumbs up. When we support each other, we can be our best selves.
 
Be the Be Kind is your handbook on how to use your own voice to empower yourself and others to spread kindness. Award-winning children’s author Marcus Sedgwick tells the story of kindness – where it comes from, what it feels like and perhaps most importantly why it matters – and asks YOU what would you do in different everyday scenarios.
 
ARE YOU READY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE?
 

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2022

About the author

Marcus Sedgwickwas a British writer and illustrator. He authored several young adult and children's books and picture books, a work of nonfiction and several novels for adults, and illustrated a collection of myths and a book of folk tales for adults.

Reviews

[Clive Wallis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pragmatic. Optimistic. Uplifting.

I know Marcus Sedgwick best for his children's fiction, although 'children's book' hardly does justice to a novella like Revolver. That's a fabulous read and one that we use in the secondary school where I am librarian. So, I came to Be The Change: Be Kind not sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. There are no pat answers here. Sedgwick clearly knows young people and avoids the patronising and cliched tones that can sometimes appear in 'self-help' books.

There are meaty topics here which could easily become overwhelming or boring info-dumps. The author walks a fine line well in explaining some big ideas. There is a lot on philosophy, particularly ethics and a considered explanation of Darwinism and genetics. These are knotty problems which are carefully unpicked in the skilled hands of Sedgwick. As you would expect, there are real-life examples and activities for the reader, but they are relevant and pitched perfectly for today's young adults. I was also personally delighted that a plug on the power of reading was included!

If I'm being incredibly picky, a little bit more on being kind to yourself would have been useful. However, I throughly reccomend this book to young people, parents and educators alike!

[Melissa Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel that there is a lot of talk about kindness, " In a world where you can be anything, be kind", yet all too often, there is a cultural disconnect, even among those who would think they are! I have worked with several organisations in schools snd universities and there is a strong case for a book like this to be compulsory reading. It is hard to be generous, when you are following the herd, trying to be cool and even when you think you are good. Or even if you are not and you are trapped in being mean, as some young people are., even with PSHE classes, we rarely see ourselves as we are. I feel this book has the tools a young person needs to be at the vanguard, to do the right thing in an empowered way and perhaps influence others. It is intelligent and practical, does not talk down in any way, in fact the very opposite and I wish I had had this as a youngster and especially when my children were younger. It is easy to understand with sophisticated concepts and I think every PSHE teacher should buy one and every child too.