How Kind! by Mary Murphy

How Kind! by Mary Murphy

Rating: 5 stars

If ever there was a book for my mother, this is it.  My mom grew up telling us to "be charitable" (my best friend still tells me that in her best mom-voice because she heard it almost as much as me); here is a book that has the same message without that parental you-know-better-than-that tone of voice! 

This book is wonderfully simple: Hen does something kind for Pig, who replies "How kind!" and then Pig wants to do something kind for someone else, and he decides to give Rabbit a carrot.  Rabbit replies "How kind!" and then Rabbit wants to do something kind for someone else, and he...  It's just a chain reaction to kindness that ends up with Pig returning the egg (now turned chick) back to Hen.  See?  What goes around comes around, especially kindness.  (My mother would so agree.)

Lorelei has begun to have some, um, loquacious moments when her mouth doesn't seem to stop moving.  She likes to repeat the same thing over and over again, something that requires more patience than a deep breath or a full night's sleep can provide.  But when she repeats "How kind!" or "I want to do something kind!" I really don't mind at all.

Just a few things that I wonder about, though: How does Cow milk herself to give milk to Cat?  And did Mary Murphy decide that the first kind gesture would be giving away one of Hen's unhatched children?  I find that a little funny, but I think it's a detail that few, if any, 3- or 4-year olds would actually pick up.