The Nice Book

Name: The Nice Book
Author: David Ezra Stein

A story that explores service and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families

Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →

♥ This book teaches: Service. using what you have to help others.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition : Service is doing something nice or helpful for someone else. Summary: This simple book is filled with suggestions about how to behave in a way that shows we care. One way to be of service to others is by just being nice and showing respect with our actions and words. Young children will benefit from these tips and they will enjoy the illustrations, too! Lesson Objectives:

Students will demonstrate more understanding of how to use their words and bodies to show respect for others. They begin a service project called “Be Nice!” (explained in the activity, “Be Nice!”)

Guiding Questions:

What do the words, “be nice” mean to you?
What are some nice things you do?
“When you get in a snit, don’t hit.” The words “get in a snit” means to get upset. What can you do instead of hitting or yelling when you’re upset?
If you have more of something than you need, what could you do with it?
Is there someone in your family, or someone you know who is younger and smaller than you? Do you do something nice for them sometimes? If so, what do you do?
To “break the ice” means to be the first one to say hello or start a conversation. Ask your parents to help you practice a conversation that you could have with someone you don’t know.
Try being the first to say hello and start a conversation when you meet someone new.
Start a “Be Nice” project at home. Ask your family members to share at the dinner table about something they did that day that was nice. Ask them to try it with you for a week.
Make your own “Be Nice” book. Draw pictures of things you do that are nice and ask for help to staple them together to make a book.
Ask your parents to help you make a list of all the people you know. Talk about ways that you could do one thing nice for each of them.

🌿 Virtue Connection: Service means using what you have been given to help others.

Activities for This Story.

Activity: Students act out the story, doing the “nice” parts, and making a signal for the “not nice” parts.

Materials needed: the read-aloud resource video

Directions: Begin by showing the video. Explain: “This story is all about what it means to be nice, and what it means to not be nice. We will look at the video again and act out the nice parts. For the ‘not nice’ parts we can make a signal that means ‘don’t do it!’ Let’s choose a signal for the ‘not nice’ parts [pause and ask for suggestions]. I will put you in pairs and you can share the nice parts with your partner. What that means is this: when it says, ‘Pat, but don’t stomp flat’ - you can softly pat your partner’s arm when I read ‘pat’ and then make the ‘don’t do it’ signal when I say ‘don’t stomp flat’.” Arrange the students in partners, practice the “don’t do it” signal, and read through slowly, pausing so they can act it out as you read.

Wrap it up: Explain: “We learned a lot about what it means to be nice, and what it means to not be nice. Let’s see if we can remember the lessons in this story. If you forget, you can always apologize and try harder the next time.”

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.

Read-aloud video · Best with headphones

Find this book at your library or bookstore →

Guiding Questions

Students will demonstrate more understanding of how to use their words and bodies to show respect for others. They begin a service project called “Be Nice!” (explained in the activity, “Be Nice!”)

Guiding Questions:

What do the words, “be nice” mean to you?
What are some nice things you do?
“When you get in a snit, don’t hit.” The words “get in a snit” means to get upset. What can you do instead of hitting or yelling when you’re upset?
If you have more of something than you need, what could you do with it?
Is there someone in your family, or someone you know who is younger and smaller than you? Do you do something nice for them sometimes? If so, what do you do?
To “break the ice” means to be the first one to say hello or start a conversation. Ask your parents to help you practice a conversation that you could have with someone you don’t know.
Try being the first to say hello and start a conversation when you meet someone new.
Start a “Be Nice” project at home. Ask your family members to share at the dinner table about something they did that day that was nice. Ask them to try it with you for a week.
Make your own “Be Nice” book. Draw pictures of things you do that are nice and ask for help to staple them together to make a book.
Ask your parents to help you make a list of all the people you know. Talk about ways that you could do one thing nice for each of them.

valuesandvirtues.org · Made possible by our supporters

The Nice Book

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Activities for This Story.

About the Story.

More Service guides.

A Hat for Mrs. Goldman

CHANGE SINGS

Community Superheroes

Doña Flor

Explore more guides for Pre-K & Kindergarten.

The Nice Book

Guiding Questions