Sonja Lange Wendt is an award-winning author of the Cultivating Compassion in Children books series. Her books are intergenerational and address important and sometimes difficult topics with children on inclusion, acceptance, disabilities, bullying and aging. Serina and Seymour Seed kick off and end each story. Seymour and Serina are the seeds of compassion children have, but sometimes they need planting and nurturing to cultivate the best in them. Through increasing awareness, understanding and discussion, these books teach that using compassion in different situations shows kindness in the greatest way in this sometimes difficult to navigate world.
Sonja uses a variety of setting and characters from grandparents, little girl, little boy, and bugs to engage children in the stories. The settings all include nature and the outdoors. Each story ends with thought provoking questions to be asked by the adult and discussed with the child.
These books are generally fitting for children ages 4-8 but as C.S. Lewis states, “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” Her books are brilliantly illustrated with vivid colors and scenery.
There is a National holiday, called Joe Day, always on March 27. Who would have known! I didn’t until a couple months ago, but once I found out, I was so excited! I could share with you one of my favorite book characters who is named Joey. In this book, seven-year-old Joey misunderstands his grandpa as disabilities with aging take over.
Have you ever misinterpreted a situation just from the way it looked? I like this advertisement where a teenage boy is running up to an elderly lady and quickly grabs her purse strap. Our first thought is that boy is trying to steal her purse. But if you keep on watching, you see this boy is using the straps of her purse to pull her away from traffic and prevent her from getting hit by a truck.
It was through communication that Joey understood his grandpa. The bigger picture became more apparent after obtaining all the facts. This changed Joey’s perception of the situation. He realized his grandpa wasn’t mad at him. He understood that his grandpa still wanted to do the things together that they used to do too; he just wasn’t able to anymore. Joey learned the impacts of aging and how it creates challenging disabilities. Comprehension created more compassion between the two of them.
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