"Spirit Day" Board Book Encourages Kids to Be Kind and Stand Up to Bullying

A new board book uses the occasion of GLAAD’s annual Spirit Day (today!) to teach the very youngest kids about the importance of kindness and caring as a way to prevent bullying.

Spirit Day: A Book About Spreading Joy, illustrated by J Yang (named as Joy Yang on the book), is the sixth book in the partnership between GLAAD and Little Bee Books. It begins by urging children to “Put on a purple shirt. It’s Spirit Day! Today’s a day to be SUPER-kind and stand up to bullying!” It goes on to offer simple ideas for how children can practice kindness with family and friends so they feel loved and safe—helping those who are upset or hurt; listening to someone who is sad; and keeping an open mind so that people are free to be themselves.

While saying, “You can stop bullying in many ways. One way is to spread joy,” may come across as naive to our adult ears, the overall message feels like it fits the target age group of zero- to three-year-olds. Even if the real causes of bullying (including deep-rooted systemic issues like racism, homophobia, and transphobia) are too complex to be solved simply by telling children to be kind, kindness is a good place to start for the youngest tots, especially when coupled with images of inclusion and diversity. Yang, a trans illustrator and designer, adds bold, colorful illustrations with multiracial characters that include a two-mom family, as well as several children who could be read as gender creative.

I do question whether the book really needed to be associated with Spirit Day, though. The line telling us it’s the third Thursday in October seems geared purely towards informing adult readers; toddlers won’t care. More importantly, the book’s message of kindness and support for others shouldn’t be confined to one day a year. I doubt Yang or GLAAD intended that—I just fear that some adults will only pull this bright little book off the shelves for a few days in October. Its encouraging words deserve to be heard year round. At the same time, if holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving can have children’s books devoted to them, there’s no reason Spirit Day can’t, too—making this little book’s existence a sign of progress.

Other books in the GLAAD-Little Bee partnership include:

Prince & Knight, by Daniel Haack and illustrated by Stevie Lewis, reviewed here.
Maiden & Princess, by Daniel Haack and Isabel Galupo, with illustrations by Becca Human, reviewed here.
Jack (Not Jackie), by Erica Silverman, illustrated by Holly Hatam, reviewed here.
Our Rainbow, by a variety of artists, reviewed here.
Except When They Don’t, written by Laura Gehl and illustrated by Joshua Heinsz, reviewed here.