CHARACTER ED.

Teaching Character Education Through Picture Books  

ACCEPTANCE 
 Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 The Bremen Town Musicians As Told By Eugene Evans (Unicorn) 
 Glasses: Who Needs ëEm? by Lane Smith (Puffin) 
 Marshmallow by Clare Turlay Newberry (Scholastic) 
 Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (Harcourt Brace & Co.) 
 The Stranger by Ursel Scheffler (North-South Books) 

CLEVERNESS/INTELLIGENCE 
 Babushkaís Doll by Patricia Polacco (Aladdin) 
 The Boy of the Three-Year Nap by Dianne Snyder (Houghton Mifflin) 
 Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin (Simon & Schuster) 
 Fin MíCoul:  The Giant of Knockmany Hill by Tomie de Paola (Holiday House) 
 The Girl Who Spun Gold by Virginia Hamilton (Blue Sky Press) 
 Raven: A Trickster Tale From the Pacific Northwest by Gerald McDermott (Harcourt Brace & Co.) 
 Wiley and the Hairy Man retold by Judy Sierra (Lodestar) 

COMMON SENSE/GOOD JUDGMENT 
 Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson (Lothrop) 
 Count Silvernose: A Story from Italy  retold by Eric A. Kimmel (Holiday House) 
 Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 

COMPASSION/SYMPATHY 
 Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst (Atheneum) 
 Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting 
 The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry (Trumpet Club) 
 Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 The Lily Cupboard by Shulamith Levey Oppenheim (HarperCollins) 
 The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Scholastic) 
 Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti (Creative Education) 
 Sato and the Elephants by Juanita Havill (Lothrop) 
 Uncle Jedís Barbershop by Margaree Mitchell (Simon & Schuster) 

CONTENTMENT 
 The Boy Who Lived With the Seals by Rafe Martin (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 The Bremen Town Musicians As Told By Eugene Evans (Unicorn) 
 Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson (Lothrop) 
 Hey, Al by Arthur Yorinks (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) 
 Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Prairie Tale by Lisa Campbell Ernst (Simon & Schuster) 
 The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf (Viking) 
 Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett (Scholastic) 
 The Treasure by Uri Shulevitz (Farrar, Straus, Giroux) 

COOPERATION 
 The Bremen Town Musicians As Told By Eugene Evans (Unicorn) 
 Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story From China by Ed Young (Scholastic) 
 Pet Detective by Betty Ren Wright (Troll/BridgeWater Books) 
 The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas (Margaret K. McElderry Books) 

COURAGE/BRAVERY/VALOR/HEROISM 
 Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter (Dragonfly Books) 
 Granddaddyís Gift by Margaree King Mitchell (BridgeWater Paperback) 
 Hansel and Gretel retold by Rika Lesser (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 Keep On Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson by Myra Cohn Livingston (Holiday House) 
 The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (Platt) 
 Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder (Dial) 
 A Picture Book of Jesse Owens by David A. Adler (Scholastic) 
 Rainbow Crow retold by Nancy Van Laan (Knopf) 
 Rainbow Fish and the Sea Monstersí Cave by Marcus Pfister (North-South Books) 
 Rikki-Tikki Tavi by Rudyard Kipling (Ideals) 
 The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (Scholastic) 
 Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs (Dutton) 
 The Tale of Custard the Dragon by Ogden Nash (Little, Brown) 
 Wiley and the Hairy Man retold by Judy Sierra (Lodestar) 
 Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull (Troll) 

DILIGENCE 
 Big Al by Andrew Clements (Scholastic) 
 Chester the Worldly Pig by Bill Peet (Houghton Mifflin) 
 Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin (Simon & Schuster) 
 Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 The Night I Followed The Dog by Nina Laden (Chronicle) 
 The Shamanís Apprentice by Lynne Cherry & Mark J. Plotkin (Harcourt Brace) 
 Uncle Jedís Barbershop by Margaree Mitchell (Simon & Schuster) 

ENCOURAGEMENT 
 Library Lil by Suzanne Williams (Dial) 
 My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston (Scholastic) 
 Oh, The Places Youíll Go! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco (Philomel) 

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS 
 Bigmamaís by Donald Crews (Greenwillow Books) 
 A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams (Scholastic) 
 Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton (Scholastic) 
 Granddaddyís Gift by Margaree King Mitchell (BridgeWater Paperback) 
 Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (Firefly Books) 
 The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy (Dial) 
 Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Scholastic) 
 The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant (Scholastic) 
 When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant (E. P. Dutton) 
 Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree by William Miller (Lee & Low Books) 

FORGIVENESS 
 Lillyís Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow) 
 The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (Scholastic) 
 The Stranger by Ursel Scheffler (North-South Books) 

FRIENDSHIP 
 The Banza: A Haitian Story by Diane Wolkstein (Puffin Pied Piper) 
 The Blue and the Gray by Eve Bunting (Scholastic) 
 Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise (Simon & Schuster) 
 Donít Need Friends by Carolyn Crimi (Doubleday) 
 The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci (Simon & Schuster) 
 Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco (Dell) 
 Oregonís Journey by Rascal (Troll) 
 Stellaluna by Janell Cannon (Harcourt Brace & Co.) 
 Three Wishes by Lucille Clifton (Dell) 
 Woe Is Moe by Diane Stanley (G. P. Putnamës Sons) 

GRATEFULNESS/THANKFULNESS 
 Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton (Scholastic) 
 The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry (Trumpet Club) 
 It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach (Farrar Straus Giroux) 

HELPFULNESS 
 Cleveland Leeís Beale Street Band by Art Flowers (BridgeWater Books) 
 Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco (Dell) 

HONESTY/INTEGRITY/TRUTHFULNESS 
 The Honest-to-Goodnes Truth by Patricia C. McKissack (Atheneum) 
 Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Sato and the Elephants by Juanita Havill (Lothrop) 
 The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka (Scholastic) 

IMAGINATION 
 Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise by Diane Stanley (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 The Wizard Next Door by Peter Glassman (Morrow) 
 Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree by William Miller (Lee & Low Books) 

KINDNESS 
 Gittelís Hands by Erica Silverman (BridgeWater Books) 
 Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Scholastic) 
 Time for Horatio by Penelope Colville Paine (Advocacy Press) 

LOVE 
 Arabella by Wendy Orr (Angus & Robertson)  The Bunyans by Audrey Wood (Blue Sky Press) 
 A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams (Scholastic) 
 Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco (Philomel Books) 
 Just the Two of Us by Will Smith (Scholastic) 
 Love You Forever by Robert Munsch (Firefly Books) 

LOYALTY/FAITHFULNESS 
 Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco (Philomel Books) 
 Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 

OBEDIENCE 
 Gittelís Hands by Erica Silverman (BridgeWater Books) 
 Judy and the Volcano by Wayne Harris (Scholastic) 

OPTIMISTIC/HOPEFUL/POSITIVE ATTITUDE 
 Crackling Brat by Andrew Matthews & Tomek Bogacki (Henry Holt) 
 The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop & Kurt Wiese (Trumpet) 
 Four Famished Foxes and Fosdyke by Pamela Duncan Edwards (HarperCollins) 
 My Olí Man by Patricia Polacco (Philomel Books) 
 Oh, The Places Youíll Go! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Peeping Beauty by Mary Jane Auch (Holiday House) 
 The Seven Chinese Brothers by Margaret Mahy (Scholastic) 
 Whistling Dixie by Marcia Vaughan (HarperCollins) 

OVERCOMING FEAR 
 Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson by Myra Cohn Livingston (Holiday House)  
 Storm in the Night by Mary Stolz (Harper Trophy) 

PATIENCE/STEADFASTNESS 
 Babushkaís Doll by Patricia Polacco (Aladdin) 
 Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Library Lil by Suzanne Williams (Dial) 
 Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 

PERSEVERANCE/PERSISTENCE 
 Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin (Simon & Schuster) 
 Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 The Khanís Daughter: A Mongolian Folktale by Laurence Yep (Scholastic) 
 Library Lil by Suzanne Williams (Dial) 
 The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (Platt) 
 Mirette On the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully (Scholastic) 
 More Than Anything Else (A story from Booker T. Washingtonís childhood) by Marie Bradby (Orchard Books) 
 Oh, The Places Youíll Go! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall (Scholastic) 
 Private I. Guana: The Case of the Missing Chameleon by Nina Laden (Chronicle Books) 
 Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson (Dragonfly Books) 
 Uncle Jedís Barbershop by Margaree Mitchell (Simon & Schuster) 
 Wiley and the Hairy Man retold by Judy Sierra (Lodestar) 

PUNCTUALITY 
 Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett (Paperstar) 
 Cinder-Elly by Frances Minters (Viking) 

RESPECT (ESTEEM) FOR OTHERS AND THE ENVIRONMENT 
 Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War by Yukio Tsuchiya (Houghton Mifflin) 
 The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry (Trumpet Club) 
 Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) 
 The Lorax by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Sato and the Elephants by Juanita Havill (Lothrop) 

RESPONSIBILITY 
 Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg (Houghton Mifflin) 
 Library Lil by Suzanne Williams (Dial) 
 The Pirate Queen by Emily Arnold McCully (Paperstar) 

SELF-CONFIDENCE/SELF-ASSURANCE 
 Chester the Worldly Pig by Bill Peet (Houghton Mifflin) 
 Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson (Lothrop) 
 Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton (Scholastic) 
 John Henry by Julius Lester (Dial Books) 
 Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson by Myra Cohn Livingston (Holiday House)  The Pirate Queen by 

Emily Arnold McCully (Paperstar) 
 Rikki-Tikki Tavi by Rudyard Kipling (Ideals) 
 Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs (Dutton) 
 Wilma Unlimited by Kathleen Krull (Troll) 
 Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree by William Miller (Lee & Low Books) 

SELF-CONTROL 
 John Henry by Julius Lester (Dial Books) 
 Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti (Creative Education) 

SELF-DISCIPLINE 
 A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams (Scholastic) 
 Oh, The Places Youíll Go! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Uncle Jedís Barbershop by Margaree Mitchell (Simon & Schuster) 

SELF-ESTEEM/SELF-RESPECT 
 The Boy Who Lived With the Seals by Rafe Martin (G. P. Putnamës Sons) 
 Eggbert the Slightly Cracked Egg by Tom Ross (G. P. Putnamës Sons) 
 The Royal Raven by Hans Wilhelm (Scholastic) 
 Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell (G. P. Putnamís Sons) 
 Stephanieís Ponytail by Robert Munsch (Annick Press) 
 Friend by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat (Four Winds Press) 
 Tomís Tale by Linda Jennings (Little, Brown) 

SELF-MOTIVATED 
 Arabella by Wendy Orr (Angus & Robertson) 

SELF-SACRIFICE 
 The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein (Harper & Row) 
 The Lily Cupboard by Shulamith Levey Oppenheim (HarperCollins) 
 Opossum and the Great Firemaker: A Mexican Legend written and adapted by Jan M. Mike (Troll) 
 Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Scholastic) 
 The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister (North-South Books) 
 Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti (Creative Education) 
 Sato and the Elephants by Juanita Havill (Lothrop) 

SENSE OF HUMOR 
 Big Al by Andrew Clements (Scholastic) 
 Could Be Worse by James Stevenson (Mulberry Books) 
 Double Trouble in Walla Walla by Andrew Clements (The Millbrook Press) 

SHARING/GENEROSITY/UNSELFISHNESS 
 Night Tree by Eve Bunting (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) 
 The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy (Dial) 
 Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (Scholastic) 
 The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister (North-South Books) 
 Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti (Creative Education) 
 Whose Cat Is That? by Virginia Kahl (Scribners) 

TOLERANCE/ACCEPTANCE OF DIFFERENCES 
 Big Al by Andrew Clements (Scholastic) 
 The Bremen Town Musicians As Told By Eugene Evans (Unicorn) 
 Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 Keep on Singing: A Ballad of Marian Anderson by Myra Cohn Livingston (Holiday House) 
 A Picture Book of Anne Frank by David A. Adler (Holiday House) 
 Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti (Creative Education) 
 Smoky Night by Eve Bunting (Harcourt Brace) 
 Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss (Random House) 
 The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (Scholastic) 

VARIOUS (Many Different Character Traits or Values in one book) 
 The Aesop for Children by Aesop (Checkerboard Press) 
 Fables by Arnold Lobel (Harper & Row) 
   
 -  (Revised 8/05 - Carole Welch)