Building Connections
Improve student comprehension, cooperation, and communication through a carefully curated collection of books focused on essential life skills and the whole child.
Delivery
Print & Digital
Imprint
Teacher Created Materials
Improve student comprehension, cooperation, and communication through a carefully curated collection of books focused on essential life skills and the whole child.
Teachers need easy-to-implement, meaningful, and creative teaching materials to teach important life skills, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. This new literacy-based product seamlessly integrates these skills, taking complex concepts and making them actionable in 15- to 20-minute learning sessions. Filled with our imprint Free Spirit Publishing read-aloud picture books, this resource gives teachers the tools they need to nurture the hearts and minds of their students.
Available for Grades Pre-K through 3, Building Connections offers:
- 12 single copies of captivating and beautifully illustrated picture books that activate students’ love of reading through a focus on shared experiences
- A thoughtfully curated collection of books that explores essential topics and cultivates reading and writing skills with research-based, read-aloud activities
- Best practices for integrating life skills concepts with collaborative listening and speaking activities to maximize learning time
- Opportunities to promote critical and creative thinking through easy-to-implement, teacher-led literacy activities
- More than 80 activities covering literacy standards that help students form meaningful connections to the texts
- Digital resources that include all student and teacher materials, plus read-along ebooks, audio files, family engagement letters, and fillable student pages to make planning and instruction more flexible.
*A note about Grade 2: DE&I Review Letter
Play
Classroom Packs include:
- 12 Picture Books developed by Free Spirit Publishing, a publisher focused on providing children with the tools they need to think for themselves, overcome challenges, and make a difference in the world
- Teacher’s Guide with more than 80 Literacy Activities that help students form meaningful connections to the texts
- Online access to Digital Resources including all student and teacher materials, read-along ebooks, audio files, family engagement letters, and student activity pages.
Add-on Packs include 12 picture books, one copy each.
Be Positive!
A sense of optimism is a key ingredient to success in life. Guide young children to develop a positive outlook and discover how the choices they make can lead to feeling happy and capable. This friendly, encouraging book introduces preschool and primary-age children to ways of thinking and acting that will help them feel good about themselves and their lives, stay on course when things don’t go their way, and contribute to other people’s happiness, too.
Feel Confident!
Empower children to recognize their individual worth and develop confidence in themselves, their abilities, and the choices they make. Children learn that they can speak up, expect and show respect, try new things, and believe in themselves. Confidence-building skills of accepting yourself, asking for what you need, making decisions, solving problems, and communicating are also discussed. Young children will respond to the true-to-life situations and colorful illustrations.
From A to Z with Energy!
Watch the alphabet come to life as children run and twirl and jump and play and learn their way through the ABCs! Combining movement and learning, this imaginative alphabet book teaches young learners not only how to move from A to Z but also how to creatively have fun as they stay active and keep their bodies healthy and strong.
Germs Are Not for Sharing
Sneezes, coughs, runny noses, spills, and messes are facts of everyday life with children. And that's why it's never too soon to teach little ones about germs and ways to stay clean and healthy. This book is a short course for kids on what germs are, what they do, and why it's so important to cover them up, block them from spreading, and wash them down the drain. Simple words complement warm, inviting, full-color illustrations that show real-life situations kids can relate to. A special section for adults includes ideas for discussion and activities.
Grow Strong!
Establishing patterns of a healthy diet, exercise, and sleep helps children stay physically active, make friends, learn well, and enjoy emotional health—all of which lead to greater happiness. Children’s health and confidence can increase as they become more aware of their own unique bodies and abilities, and as they incorporate the self-care principles presented in this warm and encouraging book. A section for adults includes advice for motivating kids and teaching about being healthy at home, at school, and in childcare.
Hands Are Not for Hitting
Children learn that violence is never okay, that they can manage their anger and other strong feelings, and that they’re capable of positive, loving actions—like playing, making music, learning, counting, helping, taking care, and much more. Includes a special section for adults with activities and discussion starters.
I Love You All the Time
Written from the perspective of a caring adult speaking to a child, I Love You All the Time strengthens relationships by addressing the common childhood fear: Am I loved all the time? Its charming rhyme, words of affirmation for kids, and heartwarming message make the book perfect for storytime, home, the preschool classroom, and whenever children need a reminder that they’re loved.
Join in and Play
It’s fun to make friends and play with others, but it’s not always easy to do. You have to make an effort, and you have to know the rules—like ask before joining in, take turns, play fair, and be a good sport. This book teaches the basics of cooperation, getting along, making friends, and being a friend. Includes ideas for games adults can use with kids to reinforce the skills being taught.
Share and Take Turns
Sharing is a social skill all children need to learn—the sooner the better. Concrete examples and reinforcing illustrations help children practice sharing, understand how and why to share, and realize the benefits of sharing. Includes a note to teachers and parents, additional information for adults, and activities.
We Accept No
Accepting no for an answer is a key foundation of consent. We Accept No builds children’s social and emotional skills and helps teach them how to ask for permission, how to respect no, and how to handle rejection.
We Check In with Each Other
Physical and emotional awareness are key foundations of consent. We Check In with Each Other gives children a vocabulary to understand that they can change their minds at any time, develop and communicate personal boundaries, and build their social and emotional skills.
Words Are Not for Hurting
The older children get, the more words they know and can use—including hurtful words. This book teaches children that their words belong to them: They can think before they speak, then choose what to say and how to say it. It also explores positive ways to respond when others use unkind words and reinforces the importance of saying “I’m sorry.”
Accept and Value Each Person
The world is becoming more diverse, and so are the daily lives of our children. Accepting and valuing people and groups who are different from oneself and one's immediate family is a critical social skill. Accept and Value Each Person introduces diversity and related concepts: respecting differences, being inclusive, and appreciating people just the way they are. Includes questions, activities, and games that reinforce the ideas being taught.
Be Honest and Tell the Truth
It's never too soon to learn the difference between what's true and what isn't. Words and pictures help young children discover that being honest in words and actions builds trust and self-confidence. They also learn that telling the truth sometimes takes courage and tact. Includes discussion questions, skits, scenarios, and games that reinforce the ideas being taught.
Be Polite and Kind
When children are kind, courteous, and respectful, people enjoy being around them and reciprocate with the same behavior. This book helps kids understand the importance of showing politeness, speaking kindly, using basic courtesies (please," "thank you," "excuse me"), and respecting the feelings of others. Scenarios and role-play activities help adults reinforce the book's lessons.
F Is for Feelings
Young children often need help learning and practicing their “feelings words” so they can express themselves well. Friendly and positive, this picture book uses an alphabet-book format to share and reinforce emotional language and the ideas that while some feelings are more comfortable than others, all emotions are natural and important. Charming, colorful illustrations accompany the sweet and simple text. A section in the back provides tips and activities for parents and caregivers to reinforce the themes and lessons of the book.
I'm Like You, You're Like Me
In this colorful, inviting book, kids from preschool to lower elementary learn about diversity in terms they can understand: hair that’s straight or curly, families with many people or few, bodies that are big or small. With its wide-ranging examples and fun, highly detailed art, I’m Like You, You’re Like Me helps kids appreciate the ways they are alike and affirm their individual differences. A two-page adult section in the back provides tips and activities for parents and caregivers to reinforce the themes and lessons of the book.
Know and Follow Rules
A child who can’t follow rules is a child who’s always in trouble. This book starts with simple reasons why we have rules: to help us stay safe, learn, be fair, and get along. Then it presents just four basic rules: “Listen,” “Best Work,” “Hands and Body to Myself,” and “Please and Thank You.” The focus throughout is on the positive sense of pride that comes with learning to follow rules. Includes questions and activities adults can use to reinforce the ideas and skills being taught.
Respect and Take Care of Things
Everything has a place. Things last longer when we take care of them. Respect, responsibility, and stewardship are concepts that even young children can relate to—because they have things they value. This book encourages children to pick up after themselves, put things back where they belong, and ask permission to use things that don’t belong to them. It also teaches simple environmental awareness: respecting and taking care of the earth. Includes ideas for adult-led activities and discussions.
Sometimes When I'm Mad
Anger is often an overwhelming emotion for children. Using gentle and straightforward language, Sometimes When I'm Mad describes a child's experience with anger and the many ways it can surface, along with ways children can use anger management techniques.
Talk and Work It Out
What’s the best way to solve problems between people? By talking them over and working them out. It’s never too soon for children to learn the process of peaceful conflict resolution. This book distills it into clear, simple language and supporting illustrations. Children learn to calm themselves, state the problem, listen, think of solutions, try one, evaluate results, and even agree to disagree when a solution isn’t possible. Includes skill-building games and role plays for adults to use with children.
Worries Are Not Forever
Friendly and reassuring, this book geared to preschool and primary children explains what worries are and how it feels to be worried. The book assures children that lots of kids—and grown-ups—feel worried, and that they can learn to make their worries “smaller and smaller and smaller.” Talking about worries, moving around, keeping hands busy, breathing deeply, getting a big hug, and thinking good thoughts are all ways for children to cope with worries.
You Have Feelings All the Time
You Have Feelings All the Time is an affirming and supportive book about children’s many different feelings. It helps preschoolers develop emotional literacy by naming and normalizing emotions. Strong emotions can scare or overwhelm kids, and helping them see that everyone feels mad, sad, or scared sometimes can comfort them and build their perspective-taking skills and their emotional vocabulary.
You Wonder All the Time
Asking questions is an important part of learning that helps children grow and understand the world. Inspired by and containing questions from real kids, You Wonder All the Time explores and affirms all the questions children ask. The book features a series of engaging, playful, and curious what, when, where, why, and how questions from the child to the adult.
1-2-3 My Feelings and Me
This friendly, positive picture book helps children understand their feelings better, giving them coping strategies for communicating and managing emotions more effectively. Using an inviting counting format, 1-2-3 My Feelings and Me invites children and adults to count to ten as they share and explore feelings together. Along with presenting tools and strategies, the book reinforces emotional language and the ideas that while some feelings are more comfortable than others, all emotions are natural and important.
Be Careful Stay Safe
The world can seem so perilous, especially where our children are concerned. But even very young children can learn basic skills for staying safe in ordinary situations and preparing for emergencies. Without scaring kids (or alarming adults), this book teaches little ones how to avoid potentially dangerous situations, ask for help, follow directions, use things carefully, and plan ahead. Includes questions, activities, and safety games that reinforce the ideas being taught.
Dream On!
Imagination and motivation are key to young children’s happiness and health. Thinking about dreams and goals can help children cope with challenges when they arise and view life through a hopeful lens. With this encouraging book, nurture children’s imaginations and help them enjoy taking responsibility for their choices and goals. Back matter includes advice for motivating kids and teaching about goal setting at home, at school, and in childcare.
Forgive and Let Go
For young children, learning to forgive—when they’ve been let down or had their feelings are hurt—can take time. Help children develop their forgiveness skills and learn how to accept an apology and move on without holding grudges. At the same time, encourage children to let go of disappointment and to accept when things don’t go the way they hope. Back matter includes advice for teaching forgiveness at home, at school, and in childcare.
I'm Happy-Sad Today
Happy, and also sad. Excited, but nervous too. Feeling friendly, with a little shyness mixed in. With gentle messaging and charming illustrations, a little girl talks about her many layered feelings, ultimately concluding, “When I have more than one feeling inside me, I don’t have to choose just one. I know that all my feelings are okay at the same time.” A special section for adults presents ideas for helping children explore their emotions, build a vocabulary of feeling words, and know what to do if they feel overwhelmed.
Listen and Learn
Knowing how to listen is essential to learning, growing, and getting along with others. Simple words and inviting illustrations help children develop skills for listening, understand why it’s important to listen, and recognize the positive results of listening. Includes a note to teachers and parents, additional information for adults, and activities.
Reach Out and Give
Even very young children can help to make the world a better place. This book begins with the concept of gratitude, because feeling grateful is a powerful motivator. Words and pictures show children contributing to their community in simple yet meaningful ways. Includes discussion questions, a philanthropy role-play, generosity games, and ideas for service projects.
Screen Time Is Not Forever
As important as screens are in our lives, we all need to unplug, especially children. This reassuring picture book offers children and families a starting point for limiting screen time and making the most of the time you have with your screens and without.
Sometimes When I'm Bored
Helping young children learn how to redirect feelings of boredom deepens problem-solving skills and builds the ability to shift negative thoughts to more positive ones. Using gentle and straightforward language, Sometimes When I’m Bored describes a child’s experience with boredom and loneliness and the many fun ways to relieve the feeling of boredom.
Voices Are Not for Yelling
This friendly, encouraging book, geared to preschool and primary children, introduces and reinforces where and when to use an “indoor voice” or an “outdoor voice.” Vivid illustrations show the times and places for an indoor voice, the ways people ask us to quiet our voices, and times when yelling might occur. Children learn that they can quiet their voice and use their words to talk about a problem.
We Can Get Along
At times, all children need a little help getting along with others and respecting differences—at school, in the neighborhood, at home, and on the playground. Teaching tolerance and encouraging acts of kindness through clear words and charming illustrations, We Can Get Along supports children’s development with simple yet essential skills for conflict resolution and peacemaking.
Zach Apologizes
Zach Apologizes teaches children social skills using a strategy presented as the “four-square” apology. It is illustrated with prompts so kids will easily understand and remember how to make an apology.
Bounce Back!
Resilience—the ability to recover or “bounce back” from problems, hurt, or loss—is critical for social and emotional health and helps people feel happy, capable, and in charge of their lives. Foster perseverance, patience, and resilience in children with this unique, encouraging book. Young children learn thought processes and actions that are positive, realistic, and helpful for bouncing back. The book also helps children recognize people who can support them in times of difficulty.
Coasting Casey
What does interest Casey is art. He loves to draw, make music, and create. Sometimes this enthusiasm interferes with learning and gets him into trouble. With help from his school principal, Casey learns to apply his passions to his schoolwork. Told in humorous rhyme, this lively story will speak to bored students and to any kid who can—and wants to—do better and turn their “snores into scores.”
Have Courage!
Help children develop the attitudes and skills of courage and assertiveness in order to make wise choices and work through challenges. Children learn to do what they think is right and be brave, even if it’s hard. They learn to distinguish between expectations set by trusted adults and hurtful, wrong, or dangerous things adults or children might pressure them to do. The book also highlights trying new things, taking reasonable risks, and speaking up.
I Can Play it Safe
Here's help for all adults who want to talk to young children about personal safety. Written by an expert in child safety, this full-color picture book teaches kids (and helps adults reinforce) seven important rules to personal safety in a nonthreatening way. It covers topics like safe versus harmful secrets, safe versus harmful touches, and the importance of having a community of trusted adults to turn to for help. Emphasizing the check-in" rule and teaching kids to trust their gut instincts, this book gives children the knowledge and confidence they need to make smart choices about their personal safety every day.
I Like Being Me
Twenty-five rhyming poems invite children to believe in themselves, learn from mistakes, cooperate, share, help others, solve problems, be kind, tell the truth, make positive choices, and more. The short poems are quick to read, easy to learn, and fun to recite—making them perfect for teaching social skills to young children. Children can memorize their favorite poems, talk about them, act them out, and get ideas for creating their own.
Jayden's Impossible Garden
Timeless and vibrant, this story highlights the beauty of intergenerational relationships and the power of imagination and perseverance in bringing the vision of a community garden to life. Jayden’s love of nature will inspire readers to see their environment and surroundings as bursting with opportunities for growth and connection.
Just Because I Am
Young children need support and encouragement as they learn to value themselves and recognize their own worth—“not because of the things I do, not because of what I look like, not because of what I have . . . just because I am.” This book of sweet, simple affirmations for children helps them respect their bodies, acknowledge their own needs, and name their feelings. Just Because I Am invites little ones to love, accept, and feel good about themselves exactly as they are.
Ollie Outside
In our technology-focused world, more kids than ever turn to screens for information and entertainment, just like their parents. By the time children are eight, they spend seven or more hours a day with screens and electronics. Ollie Outside invites kids and parents to read together, get outdoors, and focus on family fun. Tips at the end of the book reinforce this message.
Stand Tall
Integrity is an important trait for children to develop—especially as they grow, learn, and have more opportunities to make choices for themselves. With this encouraging book, support children in knowing right from wrong, making positive decisions, keeping promises, and staying true to themselves. Back matter includes advice for teaching integrity at home, at school, and in childcare.
Waiting Is Not Forever
With vivid illustrations and simple strategies, this reassuring book helps children learn to delay gratification and make waiting more fun without relying on electronics. Author Elizabeth Verdick provides activities and ideas for children—like observing the world around them, inventing new games, and anticipating what’s to come—that can be adapted for any situation.
Zach Hangs in There
Zach has set a goal for himself—to get across the tricky trapeze rings on the playground. Every time he tries, he falls off before making it to the end. But with encouragement from his best friend Sonya and positive self-talk, Zach uses a four-step approach to persevere to the end. Zach feels so great about his success that he writes down the steps he used so he can repeat them next time he faces a tough challenge.
All You Can Imagine
Imagination and creativity give us the power to connect to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us. All You Can Imagine helps children embrace and expand their ideas and imagination, whether these ideas arrive slowly, piece by piece, or suddenly, like a bird taking flight. Imaginative play is an integral foundation for social, emotional, and academic development, so fill an entire day with the power of imagination and all the ways it can be shared and expressed.
Dare!
Jayla feels threatened by her classmate Sam, who has bullied her in the past for her "nerdy" love of astronomy and stars. Sam is now bullying Jayla's friend Luisa, and she enlists Jayla to participate. Jayla reluctantly joins in but soon realizes it is wrong. With the help of caring adults and friends, Jayla comes to sympathize with Luisa and finds the courage to dare to stand up to Sam and put an end to the bullying.
Ease the Tease
Teasing happens to lots and lots (and lots!) of kids. Every day. Sometimes that teasing can be fun, but other times it hurts. Ease the Tease helps young readers recognize what hurtful teasing sounds and feels like and provides simple but powerful ideas for dealing with teasing. How many ways can children ease the tease? Inside the book, readers will find not one . . . not two . . . but ten helpful ways to ease the tease.
Lulu and the Hunger Monster
This realistic—and hopeful—story of food insecurity builds awareness of the issue of childhood hunger, increases empathy for people who are food insecure, and demonstrates how anyone can help end hunger. Lulu and the Hunger Monster™ empowers children to destigmatize the issue of hunger before the feeling turns into shame.
Me and You and the Universe
Bringing together the worlds of social and emotional learning (SEL) and STEM, this calming and colorful picture book illustrates how we are all connected. By taking the reader on a journey from the minuscule (cells, the building blocks of nature) to the massive (a universe that is infinite), Me and You and the Universe teaches children about the importance of connecting with others, with nature, and with themselves. The message of universality and connectedness helps foster an appreciation for nature and our world’s ecology.
Penelope Perfect
This encouraging story told in cheerful rhyme will speak to kids who deal with perfectionism or other forms of anxiety. The book concludes with tips and information to help parents, teachers, counselors, and other adults foster dialogue with children about overcoming perfectionism and coping when things don’t go according to plan.
Smarts! Everybody's Got Them
There are eight types of smarts: word smarts, music smarts, number smarts, picture smarts, body smarts, people smarts, self smarts, and nature smarts. Smarts! Everybody’s Got Them vividly explains and depicts the eight ways that everyone is smart and shows kids how they can get better at each one—even when they make a mistake.
Tough!
Sam is concerned about keeping things orderly and “cool” at school. She thinks people need to have a tough skin in order to fit in and withstand others’ meanness and lack of cooperation. Sam teases her free-spirited classmate Luisa and enlists a friend, Jayla, to help. But when Sam is confronted by a concerned teacher about her bullying, and Jayla turns on Sam and befriends Luisa, Sam begins to show some heart and rethink her treatment of others.
Violet the Snowgirl
The stages of grief are complex, but using the simple analogy of building a snowman, Violet the Snowgirl is accessible and versatile. It helps children develop positive coping skills so they can process change, like moving to a new school. It also offers strategies for dealing with more difficult loss, like divorce or death. At the back of the book, you will find conversation prompts and resources to support children experiencing grief.
Weird!
Luisa is repeatedly teased and called “weird” by her classmate Sam, even though she is simply being herself—laughing with her friends, answering questions in class, greeting her father in Spanish, and wearing her favorite polka-dot boots. Luisa initially reacts to the bullying by withdrawing and hiding her colorful nature. But with the support of her teachers, parents, classmates, and one special friend named Jayla, she is able to reclaim her color and resist Sam’s put-downs.
Y Is for Yet
Not your typical alphabet book, Y Is for Yet uses the ABCs as an accessible framework to introduce growth mindset and all its possibilities. From A to Z, or Ability to Zany, kids learn new vocabulary that expands their view of themselves learners. Readers can open to any page and find useful information. Younger children learn new vocabulary, while older kids can increase their knowledge of the brain’s neuroplasticity and the many ways growth mindset can be put into action.
Zach Stands Up
When Zach sees his friend Sonya being bullied at school, he doesn’t know what to do or how to be an upstander. The kids who are being mean are popular—it’s scary to think about getting involved. After talking with his brother and remembering what his teacher taught the class about bullying prevention, Zach creates a tool for being an upstander called the stand-up-to-bullying STAR: speak up, take off, actively listen, and report.
Samples
Grade K
Grade 1
Grade 2
