Hi, I'm Todd Parr.
My books are about all kinds of different feelings.
One of my favorite feelings is kindness.
And kindness is so important
that I even wrote a book about it.
It's called "The Kindness Book."
Would you like to see it? Come with me.
♪ Come on an adventure ♪
♪ What will we read today? ♪
♪ Discover all the treasures ♪
♪ On every single page ♪
♪ Stories take you places you've never been before ♪
♪ Read with me and you will see new worlds ♪
♪ New friends, and more ♪
♪ Come on an adventure ♪
♪ What will we read today? ♪
Todd: Hey, everyone.
- Hey. - Hi.
Welcome. Thank you for coming today.
I'm so excited that you're here.
My name is Todd Parr.
Are you the real Todd Parr?
I've never been asked that before.
Do you think I'm the real Todd Parr?
- Yes. - I'm the real Todd Parr.
I'm an author and an illustrator of picture books.
So far, I've written over 50 books
in 18 different languages.
50 books is a lot of books.
Now I write about all different kinds of things,
like love, the Earth, peace, being different.
I even wrote "The Underwear Book."
So many different feelings,
but I wanted to write a book about kindness,
and it is called "The Kindness Book."
- Can I share it with you? - All: Yes!
Okay!
What is kindness?
Kindness is thinking about peoples' feelings
and helping them feel good.
Being kind makes you feel good, too.
Kindness is reading a bedtime story to someone you love.
- It's grandma. - Yeah, grandma.
It was nice of the boy to read a book to his grandma.
I love bedtime stories.
Kindness is taking care of your community.
That means helping your friends and your neighbors.
I feel better when I help people,
and maybe if I help someone, they'll help someone.
Kindness is holding the door open for someone.
That's very nice.
Do you think mice hold the door open for each other?
I do. I've seen it.
Kindness is listening.
And you're all very good listeners.
Kindness is keeping others safe.
The chickens go down the road.
Todd: Right, the policewoman is protecting the ducks,
- helping them cross the road. - Yes.
Did you see a dog driving this car?
Have you ever seen a dog drive a car?
All: No.
Once I was going down the highway,
and I saw a purple poodle pass me up in a convertible car.
Have you ever seen a dog drive a car before?
- Yes. - No.
- I have. - I have.
I have. Kindness is free.
Kindness is watching out for someone around you.
Kindness is holding hands.
Do you wear underwear on your head?
- All: No. - Who writes these books?
All: You!
I forget sometimes. Me!
Kindness is being there when someone needs you.
This is my favorite page because this is my dog Pete.
- Kid: Pete? - Do you know I have three dogs?
- Yes. - Pete, Tater Tot, and Jerry.
Tater Tot likes to lay in the sun on the couch outside.
Maybe he loves eating tater tots.
Yes. Kindness is taking care of yourself.
This is very important.
If you're not kind to yourself,
it's hard to be kind to other people.
Todd: Kindness is helping things grow.
Kindness is saying something nice.
"Thank you for being my teacher."
( warbly voice) "You're welcome."
I think that's how the teacher talks.
Kid: 'Cause it's a dinosaur.
Todd: Yes, it is a dinosaur.
What's your favorite dinosaur?
Oh, my favorite dinosaur
is Tyrannosaurus Rex.
- The T-Rex? - The T-Rex.
Kindness is not hurting someone's feelings.
"Your hair looks funny. Ha, ha."
- That's not very nice. - All: No.
Kindness is saying sorry.
"We're sorry. Let's be friends."
My favorite part of the story is when the mean kid said sorry.
It's kind to say sorry.
I always say nice things.
Kindness is remembering everyone's feelings are important.
- I love fireflies. Do you? - All: Yeah.
Have you ever seen one?
I have seen one.
I've seen the Tooth Fairy.
Ooh, I've seen a Tooth Fairy, too.
Wow, we've see a lot of the same things.
Kindness is welcoming someone new to the family.
Do any of you have a skunk in your family?
- All: No. No. - I think you do.
Kindness is giving a bug a hug.
Have you ever given a bug a hug?
- All: No. - I have.
- I have. - I love when the bug got a hug.
Kindness is saying hello to someone new.
What does this say?
All: Hello! Hello!
Todd: And what is the alien saying?
- Kid: "Hel-low." - Oh, that's good.
Kindness is saying thank you to those who help others.
Helpers are very important.
I like the parts where the people help each other.
Everything's better when people are kind.
Kindness is being nice to animals.
I think all animals are kind.
I love kindness, and I love my cat.
If I had a big enough yard and house,
I'd have all these animals.
I'd let them live in my house.
Kindness is letting others be who they are.
Kindness is cheering someone up when they are sad.
I love feeling happy.
It's easy to be kind.
Kindness is a choice. It's a good choice.
- Do you love doggy kisses? - Yes.
- No. - They feel good.
There are so many ways to be kind.
Don't forget to be kind to yourself.
The end. Love, Todd.
- Do you like that one? - All: Yes.
It's one of my favorite books.
- Because you wrote it. - Questions? Yes.
How do you get ideas for your books?
I get ideas for my books
from a lot of things that happened when I was younger.
I had repeat second grade, and when some of the kids
found out about that, they made fun of me.
So, a lot of things that I write about
are things that I want to write about to help you feel better
and good about who you are.
- Yes. - How do you make books?
First, I think of the idea and then I do all of the artwork.
When I'm all done, I send it to my editor.
She's like a teacher.
And then when I hear back from her,
there are lots of changes.
"Change this. Change that."
I do it. I send it back and I have to wait.
So I order pizza with my dogs.
And when I hear back from my editor,
she loves it,
and she stands on her desk doing cartwheels.
And then it goes to this little factory of mice,
and they sew all the pages together.
And sometimes there's cheese prints on the pages...
- Wow. - ...from the mice.
Do you think that's-- do you think that's all correct?
- Yes. - No.
Why did you make a book about kindness?
Well, we all need reminders. Even me.
I need reminders some days about being kind,
and there are so many ways to be kind.
How many of you think you can draw better than me?
- I'm an artist. - Cool.
And how many of you would like to write your own book?
All: Me!
Today would be a great day to write your own book,
- don't you think? - All: Yes!
Does anybody know how to work the hole puncher?
- It looks easy. - I did it. I did it.
- Look at this, everybody. - Good.
That's what your character's name is? "My Story"?
- I did it. See? - How did you do that?
I cut it like this, and then I just made it like that.
This is my kindness book, and it teaches you how to be kind.
It's by Olivia.
This book is called "The Kindness Adventures Of Sain And Kai, Volume 2."
It has me and my sister in it.
It's about two friends named Carl and John.
And John is alone, so Carl goes out and helps him,
and he brings him over to come play with him.
Do you want me to read you the book?
My kindness book is about ways to be kind.
This page is sharing toys with friends.
It's about if you do something kind to someone, it comes back to you.
This is one of my favorite pages.
It says you can take them places and help them.
There are so many ways to help.
Ooh, mine is almost done.
This is the best book ever.
- How did you make it that-- - Oh, here's my piece...
( overlapping chatter )
Kindness is awesome, isn't it?
There are so many stories about kindness.
I know you have one. Don't forget to tell it.
I'm gonna write a story about all my friends.
- My sister. - My cat Rascal.
Kind animals in the forest.
Space. People would be kind there, too.
I would write a book called "Konnichiwa."
I'm learning Japanese.
I want to write a bedtime story about sharing.
I'm gonna write 51 books about kindness.
The end! Love, Todd.