Children's Book Teaching Compassion and More

"Have You Filled a Bucket Today?"

i bet a librarian might be able to help you out, nothing specifically teaching of those skills comes to mind right now.

Although when the are older Highlights magazines has a lot of nice features.

Love, love, love Shel Silverstein. "The Giving Tree" is a much for all homes with children. I love the lessons of his poetry. "Where the Sidewalk Ends" was also a favorite of mine as a young one. Best of all, it's good reading without being overly preachy, which I am certain you want to avoid.

I like to read for enjoyment, especially to my kids. Kids don't learn life lessons @ age 2 & 4 from a book - they learn it from role modeling. I say get fun books that you & your grandkids will have fun reading.......w/o trying to teach them something except to want to spend time with their grandma :)

Max Lucado has some great children's books with a moral to the story. They may be better for the older one but I'm sure the 2-year-old loves having you read and may listen to the whole thing. My sister read Max's books to her public school kids when she was teaching so they are not preachy. The kids loved them.

What a great way to start a conversation about how to treat others. Way to go, Grandma!

I really like James Herriot's "Treasury of Animal Stories". It's a great volume and the messages of compassion and care are reflected in the stories of the animals and their owner. One of the most powerful stories in the book tells of a stray cat who is allowed to seek warmth by a kind woman's fire; when the cat is near death, she leaves her kitten with the woman. (The death is handled very matter-of-factly and is not the focal point of the story.)
It is very language rich and while the two year old may not understand the stories completely now, it's something they can grow into. It's also a good gift book.

Also: Wanda G'ag's book "The Funny Thing"; when Bobo (the funny little man in the mountain) meets The Funny Thing, he is saddened to discover that this "aminal" (yes, aminal) eats dolls. Being clever, Bobo tricks the aminal into eating food instead of dolls; the aminal is delighted with his newfound health and growth and stops even wanting to eat dolls. It's an older book and I love the sweetness and silliness of it, plus G'ag's artistry is truly darling and masterful.