This is an adorable picture book about the happy stones you sometimes find along the road. The concept of pay it forward plays a big role in this story. In the story you meet all kind of children from a neighborhood. They help, encourage and support each other by decorating pebbles with kind messages and putting them in places where they can be found. The bright colorful pictures contribute to the kind message of this book. The story mentioned all kind of children having a bad day, the story would have been more interesting to me, when it would give a little more detail about the sort of ‘bad’ day.

Altogether a sweet picture with a kind message.

Just recently one of the high school clubs I advise painted Kindness Rocks. It has been a tradition at our high school for at least five years. Students will often show me the rocks that they find around campus. Most of the time students keep them, but sometimes they pass the rocks along to others who are in more need of that particular message.

The story “Kindness Rocks” follows a group of children as their days are turned around by the kind messages of others. In turn, they pay it forward and create their own Kindness Rocks to help others.

This book would be great as part of a project where older students bring a copy of “Kindness Rocks” and rock painting supplies to a class of younger students. The older kids could read the book to the younger ones then the two groups could then create rocks to leave around campus or the community to spread messages of kindness.

I received an advance review copy for free from Netgalley and Familius Books, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I absolutely adored this book! The e-book was formatted perfectly for viewing on a kindle colorsoft.

For my child’s school / we have to complete a community service project. We incorporated this fun story and made rocks to share in our community. The kids had fun and loved learning about the positive impact they are capable of having on strangers.

How can you brighten someone's day when you don't know them or their problems? Try painting a smooth rock with a simple message and you BOTH will feel better! Read along in the book to see how kindness can leave a trail to follow
The illustrations by Jiajia Hamner are simple, brilliantly colored, and meaningful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected e-file on Adobe Digital Editions from Familius via NetGalley. Thank you!
Avail Mar 11, 2025, #KindnessRocks by Megan Murphy with Laurel Alyesworth illustrator @Familius#NetGalley @CBCBook @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble @waterstones ***** #Review @booksamillion @bookshop_org Ages 3 and up @bookshop_org_uk @childrensbookcouncil #TheKindnessRocksProject #PictureBook #CaringAndSharing

Oh my gosh this book is so cute! The artwork is beautiful and the story and message is so precious. My kids and I love looking for these rocks in a local town. They love this book! Thank you NetGalley!

I am a teacher, but I’m also Girl Scout leader. I have heard of many troops and scouts decorating rocks with positive affirmations or kind words. I love that there’s a book to explain it. I did feel that the books words could’ve been improved on throughout the book it was a bit too simple like they were trying to make it like a Dr. Seuss book that repeats itself however it didn’t really bring life to the characters.

I was so pleased to find each page only had about a sentence on them, just right for early readers. Not only that, but this concept is the best! :)

I will definitely be joining the Kindness Rock Project with my family and I hope this publishing brings more people to the cause.

I'll be buying this when it comes out along with recommending it to everyone I know who has children.

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Megan Murphy, JiaJia Hamner and Familius for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

A wonderful picture book from the founder of The Kindness Rocks Project, highlighting the power of kind words and actions. My children were aware of the Kindness Rocks Project and have previously created beautiful rocks to place in various public places locally. This book has re-ignited their creativity and desire to ‘pay it forward’. We appreciate that the illustrations showcase diverse characters in a variety of real-life situations, to promote discussion and empathy.
This book is ideal for every family, classroom or school library – to encourage kindness and empathy.

With thanks to Familius for the digital review copy, via NetGalley. This review is voluntary, and all opinions are my own.

I received an electronic ARC from Familius through NetGalley.
Readers see how a small kindness like an encouraging note written on a rock can help so many people. One young boy had a really bad day and found a rock with "It's okay" written on it. He painted another rock and left it for someone else to find. From here the circle of kindness spreads and finishes with a class choosing to paint rocks and share them. The illustrations capture the characters' emotions and the way they change when they find the encouraging notes. Informative text on kindness rocks is included at the end. Perfect book to introduce being kind and sharing encouragement with others.

For people who like: interesting creative projects

In five words: children - kindness - rocks - messages - colorful

Positive points: For those who aren't familiar with 'kindness rocks', these are painted rocks or pebbles which often feature positive words or quotes and are left for others to find and collect them. This book is perfect to teach children about empathy and kindness as it discussses situations they can relate to. Furthermore it sparkles the creativity of children and adults alike. Because after reading this book and looking at the website, I'm sure lots of them will want to try this out and create their own kindness rocks.

Negative points: The plot of this book was too repetitive without adding something new and the illustrations didn't really appeal to me.

More info: Read all about the Kindness Rocks Project on the official website: https://www.thekindnessrocksproject.com/
A tutorial on how to create a kindness rock can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TraVFnPvdgc&t=97s and a motivational movie about kindness can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrSkDX2ELmU&t=20s

Rating: 2,5* rounded up to 3* because it promotes kindness

Publication date: 11.03.2025

*Thanks to NetGalley and Familius for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a different kind of rock book. The kids in this story have feelings just like everybody does and sometimes those feelings lead to bad days, days where you need something to keep you going. These anonymous kind rocks lift these kids into a better frame of mind and allow them to spread the kindness throughout their community. The helpful information at the end of the book encourages readers to help spread kindness rocks of their own.

This book seems a little incomplete, especially without the journal. It fails to stand alone. . While there is information about the Kindness Rocks Project, the content did not feel entirely linked to each other. I would have preferred more "I feel..." statements about the Kindness Rocks and how they helped the kids with their "bad, bad day". As it reads now, the power of kindness rocks feels diminished. I was just waiting for more.

It's a wonderful story for children to learn kindness and empathy towards others. They learn that the kindness they are shown is something they can duplicate to make someone else feel good as well. This initiative is such a beautiful wave that started as a ripple. There's lots of great information in the back to guide children to create their own kindness rocks garden.

This book was absolutely adorable. I loved what every rock said and found myself laughing at some of them. The 🐝 cool one had me laughing way too hard. The book gave such a sweet message that even though you're having a bad day you could still make someone else's day better and maybe that'll make you feel better too. I loved the message. I love the art. This is the kind of book I would buy my nephews and nieces. This is just a great message for kids and for adults.

I enjoyed reading this book. I teach fourth grade and found it to be too simplistic for upper elementary. It is, however, absolutely perfect for K-2! I loved how the chain of kindness expanded. Megan Murphy does a good job showing how ripples of kindness continue, even after our initial act.

I like this cute picture book because it shows how easy it is to make a difference and spread kindness. I had seen the kindness rocks before, but never thought about them. It's so easy to use rocks to create a personal, durable message. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This book has a great message about spreading kindness, I loved the art and the child friendly instructions for how to paint your own kindness rocks

Kindness Rocks is an illustrated children’s book that emphasizes the importance of spreading kindness even when you are feeling down. I love the idea that this book encourages children to create their own “kindness” rock with instructions on how to child-safely paint the rock at the end. The artwork was beautiful with a great diversity of characters. Overall a great read with a wonderful message.

Such a cute and well written book. The Illustrations just make the story that much better.
Depending on where you live you might have seen Kindness Rocks around at different locations. I've been seeing them for many years and this book shows kids how fun they can be to find but also to make. It's also fun after making them trying to find places to put them so that they can make someone's day extra special.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Thank you for the ARC. This is a solid, quick, book. I misjudged the cover and thought it would be more advice on being kinda, but it's about spreading kindness, which is also nice. Thank you!