A good thing happened today by Michelle Figueroa, Ill. Ramona Kaulitzki

Creator of the Good News Movement means that author and journalist, Michelle Figueroa has an issue to pursue and this she does without apology in this timely book. Designed to promote good news, the book underscores the good things happening in a child’s life, making a concerted effort to be inclusive as it jumps to different countries and their good news stories.

Figueroa bases her pages on stories she has heard or reported on in her years as a journalist. Each story from a different country, Colombia, Kenya, Netherlands has an accompanying paragraph at the end of the book explaining how the story came to be told.

In Kenya people bring water to animals in need. In Colombia a library is made from discarded books. Good things can happen in a moment or a melody. Songs can be played on the cobblestones in Colombia. We can do good deeds; in New York someone receives their diploma, while in the Netherlands a man receives a letter, people lend a helping hand, helping a bird take flight, or opening a door, or knitting a blanket out of old jumpers for someone in need. When disaster strikes a splash of colour helps lift the spirits. Goodness comes from inside, the need to be kind is in us all.

An earnest look at our inherent kindness, this book displays a range of kind moments where someone is helping another. It impels children to think about kindness and good news stories, about being helpful and doing good deeds, about other people and their needs.

Children will want to join in with the idea of the book, talking about the good news stories that are in their lives.

Themes: Kindness.

Fran Knight