BU Bibliotek:
Children’s Books and
Activities about Competence,
Kindness, and Safety
butoylibrary@bloomu.edu
www.bloomu.edu/toy_library
his project was funded through a
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania TALE Teacher-Scholar Award.
© 2012, 2014 Mary Katherine Duncan, Ph.D.
Introduction
BU Bibliotek is one of the ways that the BU Toy Library strives to bring the
power of literacy to children and their families. BU Bibliotek was driven by the
realization that many children and families in our community experience exceptional
circumstances (e.g, natural disasters, serious illness, accidents) that threaten their shortand long-term mental health. BU Bibliotek offers a library of children’s picture books
that have been carefully selected using a cognitive theory of traumatic stress as a
conceptual guide. Briefly, Janoff-Bulman’s theory holds that basic assumptions about the
self’s competence, others’ kindness, and the world’s safety are learned and confirmed
through early and ongoing interactions with caregivers. Over time and with experience,
these assumptions are gradually modified into guardedly optimistic beliefs. Traumatic
events, in contrast, may abruptly shatter individuals’ assumptions and give rise to
maladaptive beliefs about the self’s incompetence, others’ malevolence, and the world’s
dangerousness. A growing body of research suggests that children’s literature provides a
safe and familiar medium to begin restoring guardedly optimistic perspectives on the self,
the world, and others. With funding from a Teaching and Learning Enhancement Teacher
-Scholar Award, Dr. Mary Katherine Duncan (Professor of Psychology, Bloomsburg
University of Pennsylvania) used Janoff-Bulman’s theory as a guide for identifying
relevant children’s literacy materials and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences as a
framework for developing the attached coordinating activity pages for the books.
SECTION ONE
The self is competent,
but incompetence is
also a reality.
Linguistic
Linguistic intelligence refers to
how children use language to express their thoughts and feelings
in words or writing.
Read or listen to books about characters who demonstrate competence most of the time such as
Pezzetino; The Dot; Ish; So Few of Me; The North
Star; The OK Book; Spoon; Leo the Late Bloomer,
The Very Quiet Cricket; The Very Clumsy Click Beetle; “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth; Stand
Tall Molly Lou Melon; And Here’s to You; Diary of
Fly; Diary of a Worm; Diary of a Spider; Giraffes
Can’t Dance; Biggest, Strongest, Fastest; What Do
You Do With a Tail Like This?; Many Colored Days;
My Heart is Like a Zoo; Perfect Square; Elephants
Cannot Dance; We are in a Book; Can I Play Too?;
Watch Me Throw the Ball; Pigs Make Me Sneeze;
and Today I Will Fly.
Look up synonyms for competence in a children’s thesaurus.
Use a children’s Spanish-English dictionary to learn how
to say competent and its synonyms in another language.
Make a list of the things that you do well.
Use a story pad to write a “Me at My Best” story about a
time when you acted competently. Share your story
and listen to others’ stories.
Create a wall of words or expressions that people use to
encourage themselves or others.
Read or listen to quotes about competence. Which quote
best summarizes the message of the story and why?
Use a puppet to retell the story or retell the story from a
different character’s point of view.
Logical-mathematical
Logical-mathematical intelligence refers to how children use
logic, numbers, and reasoning to
understand how something
works, detect a pattern, or create
something.
I SPY examples of competence in the story. How many
examples of competence did you find?
Compare/contrast the abilities of the story characters.
Create word searches for story words using http://
puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
WordSearchSetupForm.asp.
Examine cause-effect associations related to competence
in the story.
What do you think will happen next in the story? Write
and illustrate the next page or two.
Estimate the size (height, weight) of one of the characters
in the story. What are they bigger/smaller and lighter/
heavier than? What can someone that size do?
Follow simple no bake recipes to test your competence at
measuring and following directions.
What important numbers do you know (e.g., addresses,
phone numbers, birthdays, your height/weight, age)?
Shape up! Learn the names of simple and complex shapes
and then identify as many of these shapes as you can in
the picture book. How many different types of shapes
did you find?
How much time or how many ways do you spend building your physical, academic, or social competence in a
typical day (e.g., hygiene, homework, practicing an instrument or sport, talking to/playing with friends)?
Explore what keeps our bodies healthy/competent and
why we sometimes get sick.
Spatial
Spatial intelligence refers to how
children visualize and represent a
spatial world in their minds.
Using the Draw-A-Person art pad, draw yourself as an
expert at something. Describe what you are doing in
detail.
Create a diorama of a scene in the book when one of the
characters shows his or her competence.
On a half-sheet of paper, draw a picture of a scene in the
book when one of the characters shows his or her competence. Use the BU Toy Library’s puzzle die cut to
turn your picture into a puzzle. Scramble the pieces and
put the picture back together again.
Use everyday items to design and construct a sculpture
symbolizing competence.
Construct a backdrop or props for reenacting one or more
scenes from the story.
Use the BU Toy Library’s shield or badge die cut to create a symbol of your own talents or abilities.
Using the Storybook Art, Great Artists, or Great American Artists books, imitate the work of artists and book
illustrators.
Use the BU Toy Library’s filmstrip die cut to construct a
timeline to summarize examples of your growing competence at something during the past week, month, or
year.
Bodily-kinesthetic
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
refers to how children use their
bodies to make something, find a
solution, or convey meaning.
Perform challenging tasks that require multiple attempts
before achieving the desired outcome (e.g., building a
house of cards).
Use the BU Toy Library’s copy of Signs For Me to learn
sign language for competence and its synonyms.
Using the BU Toy Library’s yoga cards, practice body
movements that symbolize competence or choreograph
your own movement or series of movements to represent competence.
Perform a scavenger hunt to see how many objects from
the story you can find in a certain amount of time.
Make a list of things that children your age do competently. Play charades using these acts of competence.
Reenact a scene or scenes from the picture book.
Write your name with your eyes closed, using your nondominant hand, or by holding a pencil between your
toes, lips, or teeth to test your competence at an otherwise simple task.
Musical
Use the BU Toy Library’s collection of instruments to
learn how to play or sing a new song.
Musical intelligence refers to
how children relate to sounds and
music and how children recogSing songs or finger plays about competence.
nize and manipulate sounds and
music.
Use instruments (or your clapping hands) to put the book
to music.
Use onomatopoeia to add relevant sounds to the story.
Using a rhyming dictionary, retell the story through
rhyme and/or repetition.
Interpersonal
Interpersonal intelligence refers
to how children relate to other
people.
Thank someone for helping you to become or to feel
more competent at something.
Work with others to retell or role play the story.
Use your talents or skills to serve others. VOLUNTEER!
Visit www.bloomu.edu/toy_library to see the most recent edition of Y.O.O. Rock Columbia County: Youth
Outreach Opportunities for Families, Children, and
Youth.
Work with your classmates to create a mural, word cloud,
or sculpture that represents competence.
Interview a classmate to learn more about his or her competencies and challenges. Present your findings to the
class.
Invite guest speakers to talk about the skills that are required for success in their line of work.
Who are your role models of competence and why?
Use the BU Toy Library’s copy of 104 Activities that
Teach to play cooperation and teamwork games. Sometimes, you have to work together to succeed!
Intrapersonal
How are you like the main character of the story?
Intrapersonal intelligence refers
to how children understand them- What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not
selves.
fail?
Use the BU Toy Library’s copy of Listography to begin
listing your competencies in a personal journal.
What are your goals? What plans do you have for reaching your goals?
Create a collage or scrapbook page that shows what you
have to offer this world in terms of your current skills
and talents.
Design an “I Keep on Trying” badge to remind you of a
personal goal and how far you have come toward
reaching that goal.
Naturalistic
Naturalistic intelligence refers to
how children recognize, understand, and classify living things.
Explore examples of competence in the natural world
(e.g., migrations, hibernation, adaptation to extreme environments).
Explore extraordinariness in the ordinary (e.g., the use
and usefulness of rocks and minerals).
If the main character of the book is an animal, learn more
about the specific competencies of that animal.
SECTION TWO
Others are benevolent,
but not everyone and
not always.
Linguistic
Linguistic intelligence refers to
how children use language to express their thoughts and feelings
in words or writing.
Read or listen to books about characters who demonstrate
kindness most of the time such as Honey, Honey, Lion;
The Lion and the Mouse; 14 Cows for America; The
Butterfly; Enemy Pie; Nubs; Sam and the Firefly;
Unlikely Friendship; Frog and Toad series; Lilly’s
Purple Plastic Purse; Julius, Baby of the World; The
Three Questions, Have You Filled a Bucket Today?; A
House for Hermit Crab; Pinduli; Crickwing; Stellaluna; Hey, Little Ant; I Love My New Toy; and My
Friend is Sad.
Look up synonyms for kindness in a children’s thesaurus.
Use a children’s Spanish-English dictionary to learn how
to say kindness and its synonyms in another language.
Use a story pad to write a “Me at My Best” story about a
time when you acted kindly or when someone was kind
to you. Share your story and listen to others’ stories.
Create a wall of kind words or expressions that people
say.
Read or listen to quotes about kindness. Which quote best
summarizes the message of the story and why?
Use a puppet to retell the story.
Logical-mathematical
Logical-mathematical intelligence refers to how children use
logic, numbers, and reasoning to
understand how something
works, detect a pattern, or create
something.
I SPY examples of kindness in the story. Count how
many examples of kindness you find.
Compare/contrast the kindness of the story characters.
Create word searches for story words using http://
puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
WordSearchSetupForm.asp.
Examine cause-effect associations related to kindness in
the story.
What do you think will happen next in the story?
Create a “recipe” for kindness. What are the essential ingredients?
Know thy friends. Using http://sciencespot.net/Media/
Biochall.pdf, make a bioglyph. Try to guess the names
of your friends, family members, or classmates based
on their bioglyphs.
Estimate how much time you spend talking to or playing
with your friends/siblings each day. Chart your data
over the course of a week. Do you notice any patterns?
Compare your chart to a classmate’s chart.
Who are your friends? How long have you been friends
with each one (days/weeks/months/years)? Who have
you been friends with the longest/shortest amount of
time? Who is your oldest friend/youngest friend? Who
is your tallest/shortest friend?
Spatial
Spatial intelligence refers to how
children visualize and represent a
spatial world in their minds.
Using the Draw-A-Person art pad, draw yourself engaging in an act of kindness.
Create a diorama of a scene in the book in which a character was acting kindly.
On a half-sheet of paper, draw a picture of a scene in the
book in which a character was acting kindly. Use the
BU Toy Library’s puzzle die cut to turn your picture
into a puzzle. Scramble the pieces and put the picture
back together again.
Use everyday items to design and construct a sculpture
symbolizing kindness.
Construct a backdrop or props for reenacting one or more
scenes from the story in which one or more characters
were acting kindly.
Make a bucket out of construction paper. Decorate the
bucket with symbols of kindness. Then, fill the bucket
with slips of paper that tell about your own acts of
kindness during the week.
Use the BU Toy Library’s filmstrip die cut to construct a
timeline to summarize friendships across your lifetime.
Use the BU Toy Library’s collection of card, bookmark,
door hanger, flower pot, or other die cuts to create a
craft for someone who would appreciate a homemade
gift.
Using a map of your city, state, or country, locate your
friends’ and family members’ homes.
Bodily-kinesthetic
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
refers to how children use their
bodies to make something, find a
solution, or convey meaning.
Use the BU Toy Library’s copy of Signs for Me to learn
sign language for kindness and its synonyms.
Using the BU Toy Library’s yoga cards, practice body
movements that symbolize kindness OR choreograph
your own movement or series of movements to symbolize kindness.
Make a list of kind acts from the story. Play charades using these acts of kindness.
Reenact one or more scenes of kindness from the picture
book.
Musical
Use the BU Toy Library’s collection of instruments to
make up a song or tune about kindness.
Musical intelligence refers to
how children relate to sounds and
music and how children recogSing songs or finger plays about kindness.
nize and manipulate sounds and
music.
Use instruments (or your clapping hands) to put the book
to music.
Use onomatopoeia to add relevant sounds to the story.
Using a rhyming dictionary, retell the story through
rhyme and/or repetition.
Interpersonal
Interpersonal intelligence refers
to how children relate to other
people.
Use the BU Toy Library’s collection of card die cuts to
write a Gratitude Letter to tell someone what their
kindness meant to you.
Every day for one week, make a list of three kind things
that someone does for you.
Work with others to retell or role play the story.
Be kind to others. VOLUNTEER! Visit
www.bloomu.edu/toy_library to see the most recent
edition of Y.O.O. Rock Columbia County: Youth Outreach Opportunities for Families, Children, and Youth.
Work with your classmates to create a mural or sculpture
that represents kindness.
Interview a classmate to learn more about his or her recent acts of kindness. Present your findings to the class.
Invite guest speakers to talk about how they serve others
in the community through their jobs or volunteer work.
Who are your role models of kindness and why?
Use the BU Toy Library’s 104 Activities That Teach to
play cooperation and teamwork games.
Assemble a care package for someone who could benefit
from an act of kindness today.
How are you like one or more characters in the story?
Every day for one week, make a list of three kind
Intrapersonal intelligence refers
things that you do for someone else.
to how children understand themselves.
Reflect on what makes you a kind friend, sibling, teammate, or classmate. How could you be even kinder?
Intrapersonal
What act of kindness would you perform if time, money,
and other the lack of other resources were not obstacles?
Keep a kindness journal for the day or week.
Create a collage or scrapbook page filled with pictures or
words that reflect the kindness of others.
Naturalistic
Naturalistic intelligence refers to
how children recognize, understand, and classify living things.
Take a walk to explore examples of kindness, nurturing,
or compassion in the natural world (e.g., teamwork,
symbiosis).
In what ways are you a friend to the earth? Visit relevant
websites to learn how you can live a “greener” life.
SECTION THREE
The world is safe, but
unpredictable things
happen sometimes.
Linguistic
Linguistic intelligence refers to
how children use language to express their thoughts and feelings
in words or writing.
Read or listen to books about characters who demonstrate
predictability most of the time such as The Little
House; The Giant Jam Sandwich; A Fly Went By;
The Quiet Book; the Loud Book; One of the Those
Days; Yes Day!; It’s Not Fair; Hush Little Baby;
Wave; The Old Woman Who Named Things; The
Very Lonely Firefly; If Everybody Did; What You
Know First; Long Night Moon; City Dog, Country
Frog; Knuffle Bunny; Blueberries for Sal; Owl babies; Twilight Comes Twice; I Will Surprise My
Friend; I am Going; There is a Bird on Your Head; I
Broke My Trunk; and Are You Ready to Go Outside?
Look up synonyms for safe or predictable in a children’s
thesaurus.
Use a children’s Spanish-English dictionary to learn how
to say safe or predictable and its synonyms in another
language.
Make a list of the ways that you and your family members stay safe.
Use a story pad to write a “Me at My Best” story about a
time when you kept yourself safe or when someone
else acted in a way to keep you safe. Share your story
and listen to others’ stories.
Make a list or just talk about some of the rules that we
live by at home, school, the playground, or on the athletic field to keep ourselves and other safe.
Read or listen to quotes about safety. Which quote best
summarizes the message of the story and why?
Use a puppet to retell the story or retell the story from a
different character’s point of view.
Logical-mathematical
Logical-mathematical intelligence refers to how children use
logic, numbers, and reasoning to
understand how something
works, detect a pattern, or create
something.
I SPY examples of safety or predictability in the story.
How many examples did you find?
Create word searches for story words using http://
puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/
WordSearchSetupForm.asp.
Examine cause-effect associations related to safety in the
story.
What do you think will happen next in the story? Write
and illustrate the next page or two.
Sometimes, we find a sense of safety in things or people
that are predictable (i.e., patterns). Do you notice any
patterns in the picture book? What other things follow
a pattern (e.g., calendars, school schedule, toys like
nesting blocks, clothes with stripes, menu in the school
cafeteria, weather)?
Perform simple science experiments (e.g., explore which
objects float and which ones sink in a glass of water) or
follow simple recipes (e.g., make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches using different types of peanut butter or
almond butter and different flavors of jelly) to see if
they yield predictable or unpredictable results.
Play a sorting and categorizing game (e.g., ‘Which of
these things does not belong?” in order to create a more
predictable grouping of objects.
Did you ever hear someone say, “There is safety in numbers?” What numbers do you know that could keep you
safe in an emergency situation?
Chart all of the predictable and unpredictable things that
happen today. Do you notice any patterns? Did more
predictable or unpredictable things happen today? Are
there certain time of the day when, places where, or
people with whom predictable things are more likely to
happen? Compare your chart to someone else’s chart.
Spatial
Spatial intelligence refers to how
children visualize and represent a
spatial world in their minds.
Using the Draw-A-Person art pad, draw yourself acting
safely. Describe what you are doing in detail.
Create a diorama of a scene in the book in which one or
more characters were acting in a safe or predictable
way.
On a half-sheet of paper, draw a scene in the book in
which one or more characters were acting in a safe or
predictable way. Use the BU Toy Library’s puzzle die
cut to turn your picture into a puzzle. Scramble the
pieces and put the picture back together again.
Construct a backdrop or props for reenacting one or more
scenes involving safety or predictability from the story.
Examine illusions to better understand the unpredictable
or unexpected.
Use the BU Toy Library’s badge or shield die cut to construct a shield and decorate it with symbols of safety.
Using a map of your home, neighborhood, school, town/
city to pinpoint safe locations.
Visualize and describe in detail a picture of a perfectly
safe world.
Bodily-kinesthetic
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence
refers to how children use their
bodies to make something, find a
solution, or convey meaning.
Use the BU Toy Library’s copy of Signs for Me to learn
sign language for safety, predictability, and their synonyms.
Using the BU Toy Library’s yoga cards, practice body
movements that symbolize safety OR choreograph your
own movement or series of movements to symbolize
safety.
Make a list of safe or predictable activities either from
the story or in a typical day. Play charades using these
activities.
Reenact a scene or scenes involving safety from the picture book.
Role play keeping yourself and others safe in unsafe or
unpredictable situations (e.g., Stop! Drop! Roll!)
Musical
Use the BU Toy Library’s collection of instruments to
sing songs or perform finger plays with a safety theme.
Musical intelligence refers to
how children relate to sounds and
music and how children recogSing a repetition and rhyming song or read repetition and
nize and manipulate sounds and
rhyming books that are oh-so-predictable.
music.
Use instruments (or your clapping hands) to put the book
to music.
Use onomatopoeia to add relevant sounds to the story.
Using a rhyming dictionary, retell the story through
rhyme and/or repetition.
Interpersonal
Interpersonal intelligence refers
to how children relate to other
people.
Use the BU Toy Library’s collection of card die cuts to
write a Gratitude Letter to someone who has kept you
safe.
Work with others to retell or role play the story.
Work with your classmates to create a mural or sculpture
that represents safety or that educates and encourages
others to be safe.
Interview a classmate to learn more about his or her recent acts of safety. Present your findings to the class.
Invite guest speakers to talk about how they keep others
safe through their jobs or volunteer work.
Invite guest speakers to talk about how they dealt with an
unexpected event.
Establish a new ritual or routine in your classroom or at
home to increase the predictability of your day and
feelings of safety.
Who are your role models of safety and why?
Assemble a care package for someone who is recovering
from an unexpected event (e.g., natural disaster, illness,
accident).
Intrapersonal
How are you like the one or more of the characters in the
story?
Intrapersonal intelligence refers
to how children understand themselves.
What would make you feel safer if time, money, and other resources were not obstacles?
Journal about how you usually deal with unpredictable
things that happen at school or at home. How do these
coping strategies work for you? Are there other coping
strategies that you would like to learn?
Create a collage or scrapbook page filled with pictures or
words that represent safe things or people in your
world.
How predictable are you? What are some of your rituals
or routines?
To whom do you turn to when unexpected things happen?
Naturalistic
Study unpredictable natural phenomena (e.g., tornadoes).
Naturalistic intelligence refers to
how children recognize, understand, and classify living things.
Distinguish between safe and unsafe plants and animals.
Create a safe habitat for native birds, animals, plants, and
trees.
Explore the predictability of nature through the four seasons and by studying animals’ patterns of activity.
Learn how to predict the weather through observation or
with simple instruments.