The Little Book of Kindness

BOUNCE

Little Book of

Kindness

In a world where you can be anything be kind.

The Little Book of Kindness is a celebration of kindness.

Made during the November Lockdown by children across Earlsfield, Tooting and Putney.

They either joined a workshop, chatted with their parents or worked on their own to decide what kindness meant to them.

We are delighted to share the results in this book as a celebration and a reminder of the value of kindness this year.

We hope you enjoy it!

Everyone at Bounce.

The cover artwork was made by children and young people at the Home Cafe in October 2020.

Additional artwork in the book was made by children at Smallwood Primary School in November 2020.

from our house to yours It’s that time of year when we spread some cheer around the neighbourhood.

No matter what the weather we’d usually come together and celebrate to get us in the mood.

It’s not the same this year but we won’t shed a tear for we’re all in each other’s hearts.

So let us have a good time!

We’ll all be fine, if we focus on the best parts.

A Merry Christmas we wish you and a Happy New Year, To our nearest and dearest, far and near.

by Leah, age 9

A Kindness poem

Kindness sounds good Kindness smells like flowers Kindness tastes like sweeties Kindness feels like gentle hands Kindness looks like cuddles and a nice jelly

by Daniel Taggart, age 4

Thoughts on Kindness

The kindest thing anyone has ever done for me is play with me.

The kindest thing I’ve ever done for anyone is play with them.

Kindness feels great, it feels nice in my tummy.

To make someone happy I would tickle them.

I would share with someone to make them happy.

I would be kind to them and share my food.

by Marley Oldham, age 4

Kindness Senses

Kindness looks like a round, brown face, Kindness sounds like my puppydog whining for me, Kindness feels like a fuzzy t-shirt, Kindness smells like lavender, Kindness tastes like grapes, banana, and yoghurt.

by Hazel, aged “nearly 5�

If you need to cheer up what you have to do is think of things that make you happy, or if you can’t think of any you can borrow some of my things to think about, like dinosaurs, rainbows, ice cream (with three scoops), cake, going to the beach, a very soft scarf, glitter, Christmas trees, my friends at school and my bike. If you are a grown up or a big kid you’re lucky because you can read a book yourself and my granny says you’ll never by lonely if you have a good book.

by Evie Tett, age 4

KINDNESS FOREVER Kindness spreads across the world To make you feel okay Give a smile, share a joke and your worries go away When I’m feeling lonely I think of lots of ponies So just be you You know it’s true That kindness spreads between us too

by Matilda Cullen, aged 7

Kindness poetry Keeping people happy is kind I am happy kindness is here Never lets you down Doing things for others Nobody should be unkind Everybody deserves kindness Special friends should always be kind Sam my best friend is always kind to me.

by Dexter Holding, age 8

Spread Some Kindness Kindness is not just a word It can be shown in many ways Neighbours; check in on them Do your chores without being asked Notice when others need a friend Enjoy making others happy Simple acts of kindness are free So spread some kindness, just like me!

by Conor Maile

Unnoticed

by Bertie Howarth Ben was very affable. Well, he tried… No-one seemed to notice him. The reason for this was because he was very small. So small, that when he was born, it took his parents one hour to find him. Ben had no friends because of his size. When he put his hand up in class, his teacher Mrs Huo, never called his name.

When he played football at his school, Caple Primary, no-one passed to him. Instead of being passed to, Ben was trampled over. Ben thought he was too small to be cared about, or have friends, or make a difference in the world.

He had future dreams that he knew would never come true. Stuff like becoming a footballer or exploring the past.

It was even hard for Ben to eat because he couldn’t reach the table. He lived a mournful, dull, miserable life, that made him think that he wasn’t a human being. But there was a time that finally came, that changed Ben’s life forever.

It all started when Ben was going on holiday to France.

Not that it cheered Ben up at all. They got in a taxi to travel to The Mungo Airport.

Ben kept slipping out of his seatbelt but his parents didn’t notice.

“Mummy, Daddy!” squealed Ben. “What is it darling?” wheezed his Mum, Liling.

“I’m slipping out of my seat!” cried Ben. “Well we can’t do anything about it.” sighed Ben’s dad, Richard.

“RICHARD!” yelled Liling, “HAVE A HEART FOR ONCE!” “Oh sorry,” croaked Richard.

“When will he learn?” mumbled Liling to herself.

“Hey! I heard that!” shouted Richard.

“Excuse Me!” complained the taxi driver, “but I will not have passengers screaming in the back of this vehicle.”

“Oh, do be quiet, this is our son we’re talking about!”

“Okay, that’s it, get out of this taxi at once!” the taxi driver hit the brakes.

“NO!” sobbed Ben. A few minutes later Liling, Ben, and Richard were standing on the pavement with their

belongings.

“Nice one, Liling.” Richard stamped his foot.

“Me!” Liling glared at Richard.

“ME?” Liling glared some more. “You were rude to your own child!”

“And you were rude to a taxi driver, done, end of conversation, boom bam bosh,” answered Richard.

“What do you mean ‘boom bam bosh’?!” demanded Liling.

“You were rude to someone who lives an awful life!”

“Sorry for changing the subject, but how are we going to get to France?” asked Richard.

“Arghh dang it, why didn’t I think of that?!” mumbled Liling to herself.

“Maybe we should just call another taxi and not fight,” Richard coughed.

“Good idea.” Liling stood up straight.

“Oh, thanks for coming.” said Liling.

“Come in, come in,” chirped the NEW taxi driver.

“Let’s not speak,” suggested Richard.

“Oh we’re speaking.” Liling’s temper rose.

“Actually, let’s not, I don’t want

to fight!” exclaimed Ben. His parents looked at him. Did he just make a change?

“Two vs one,” chuckled Richard, grinning.

When they got to The Mungo Airport, Liling told Richard and Ben that they had two hours until their plane left for France.

They had a bite in Giraffe, well, Ben tried.

An hour a later, they got in their seats after they had finally got Ben in the most comfortable position possible.

The pilot announced they would be taking off to France in one minute. While in the sky, Liling crouched down as low as she could, to show Ben a travel brochure of France and where they would be staying.

Ben liked the little caravan they would be travelling to.

A couple of hours later, Ben, Richard, and Liling, were paying for the keys to the caravan (well, not Ben). “I’m Maelle,” smiled the woman at the desk. “I need your address, your names and one of your numbers.”

“Liling Asdon, my husband, Richard Asdon, and my son

Benedict Asdon.”

“Your address?” inquired Maelle.

“NW 5TR London, 307 Domc Street.”

“Thank you, and your number?” Maelle looked at Liling.

“0, 7,” began Liling, “8, 6, 4, 9, 2, 4, 7, 8, 1.”

“Okay, that’s £20.”

“Thanks, Maelle,” panted Richard, even though he hadn’t done any exercise or talking.

Once they had settled in the caravan, Ben lay on his comfy bed and day-dreamed about the future, and stuff that Ben knew would never happen, just because of his size. His mother knocked on the door. “Come in,” groaned Ben miserably.

“Honey when do you want to go on a search?” Liling came into the room and sat on Ben’s bed. “You can make some new friends.”

“If I wasn’t so tiny!” continued Ben. He stormed out of the room.

Ben went into the backyard and sat on the bench. He breathed heavily. Then Ben started to sob. “Why am I unnoticed, why?!” A few

minutes later, Ben heard a buzzing sound. He froze and looked up. There, in the middle of the spotlight, an insect flew.

Ben recognised it immediately as a mosquito. Ben shrieked.

He had learned about them in Caple Primary, and that some were venomous. It flew over to Ben and stared at him with its black, beady eyes, filled with hate. It got on to him opening its mouth, ready to bite. Ben screamed as it bit, the pain was too much. His parents came running out.

“What is it, is someone hurt?” asked Richard.

“C’mon Richard, why are you acting like you’re part of the S.W.A.T team?!” Liling stamped on Richard’s foot.

“OWWWWWWWWW!” groaned Richard.

“Why didn’t I do that in the past?” Liling started thinking about that.

“Liling, look down.” Richard pointed to the bench.

“Ben?” said Liling, looking down confused.

“I-I.” stammered Ben. “I-I-I was uh,” there was a long, dramatic pause. “I was bitten by a mosquito.” Ben took a deep breath.

As they went inside, something occurred to Ben. “That mosquito was way tinier than me. Yet that hurt a lot. This whole time could I have changed the world for someone else, even though I am small?”

Once he was back home, Ben went on a playdate with his first friend, Geoff. It was pouring with rain, like a never-ending power shower. Everyone got cold and wet playing outside.

But when they went inside to dry out, they realised something was very wrong.

Geoff’s heating had stopped working. It kept going from hot to cold, hot to medium, hot to freezing. There was a tiny gap leading to the place with all the wires, but no-one could reach it to fix the problem. But Ben knew he could do something to help his friend. Which he did. Ignoring all the danger, Ben crawled through the tiny gap, to a bunch of complicated wires. With his knowledge, and size, he was determined to help his friend. He soon had the problem fixed. Maybe being small is good for some things after all, Ben thought to himself.

A few years later, Ben was still tiny, but had loads of friends, and was a bit famous actually.

His best friends, Emma, Paul and Fred, listened to his story as a child and how he realised that no matter how small you were, there is nothing you can’t do. Ben also loved playing football with all his friends, and going to deserts to explore. He learned that being small was actually great for digging and exploring, because you barely have to crouch at all.

When Richard and Liling died, Ben made his first speech, all about how wonderful his mum was, and how hilarious his dad could be at any time.

Benedict Asdon lived a great, happy life, and couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next.

I would like to say that this story wouldn’t be possible without the quote from Dalai Lama “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with mosquitos.”

Thank you, Dalai.

Kindness is key

by Poppy Mouette Not many say it, but it’s true. Kindness is the best way to solve a problem.

Some say that the only way to solve a problem is violence, that’s plain wrong. Violence will only resolve a situation by giving people the mean bug. The mean bug is like a virus, you contract it then you spread it. You know when people say, “Don’t spread the mean bug!” It’s like that, but you don’t want to spread the mean, you want to spread the kindness.

Like butter on a piece of bread. The nooks and crannies on the bread are people, the butter is the kindness, and you are the knife. You want to spread the kindness to as many people as possible. And

there’s so many ways you can help spread the good.

You could visit someone who’s lonely, do a favour expecting nothing in return, bake a treat for your neighbours, or even say good morning to someone. Some people find it’s hard to get rid of the mean, but they don’t realise there’s so many people around them that will always love and support them. And one more thing, everyone deserves to have that kindness giving to them.

Don’t just give the love to some people, give it to everyone.

“Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain.

Made with love by the children at The Playroom London Nursery

10 Acts of Kindness to Brighten Someone’s Day

by Freddie Howarth Bake something and take it round to a neighbour Make a small child smile if you are standing near them in public Write a letter to someone who needs cheering up and post it to them Make friends with a new person in class, ask them to sit next to you at lunch Phone or Zoom someone you haven’t spoken to in ages Tell someone what you like most about them Give an unexpected treat to your brother or sister Offer to do a task around the house that you don’t normally do If someone looks like they are on their own in the playground, ask if they want to join your game Give some food to a homeless person or donate some clothes or toys to charity

Friendship

Fight for you Respect you Inspire you Encourage you Need you Deserves you Smiles with you

by Maryam Cummings

Kindness

All this cataclysm, it’s frightening every person.

But there’s always hope, even in the darkest generation.

But if we give it our all, we can be holding hands through walls.

Extroverts, introverts, and ambiverts alike.

It doesn’t need to be as long as a hike.

Donate to a charity, clap for a carer, make a meal for someone who’s barer.

And finally, if we all stick together, this situation will be as light as a feather.

by Alex Mouette

Kindness A poem inspired by the art work of children at SmallWood Primary School Kindness is to say something nice, Kindness is good friends and curry and rice, Roses and cupcakes and all things so sweet, And winter is coming, wrap up warm for some treats, Seeing our families from Christmas to Spring, With brothers and sisters and cousins we sing, The cards we might send to tell those family ‘We miss you’, The kindness in offering those crying a tissue, Smiling and laughing and friendship and sunshines, Kindness i the ‘I love you’ we say to our Valentines, Kindness is spreading love and letting it happen, Kindness from London to the streets of Manhattan, Kindness is gratitude to Mum, Dad or teacher, Kindness isn’t an upgrade, it’s a built-in feature, Kindness is joy in the darkest of times, Kindness is poetry, an art form of of rhymes,

Kindness is clothing that never goes out of fashion, Kindness is helping people and finding your passion, Kindness is truth, in word, deed and emotion, Kindness is love, and colour, and devotion Kindness is doing chores without being asked, Kindness is helping clear up after party time’s past Kindness is the affection in a magic hug, or a “thank you” Kindness is respecting people regardless of rank, you can be kind to one another, in each and every way, But one thing’s for sureKindness, will always make someone else’s day.

by Henry Mendoza, for Smallwood Primary School

what is Kindness?

K is for Kindle a fire of hope for the future.

I is for Imagine the things we will do again.

N is for Never forget, those who support us each day.

D is for Dearest friends, re-united again.

What is caring?

C is for Comforting, those who need it most.

A is for Arms, wrapping around you in a hug.

R is for Respecting those who work tirelessly to help.

E is for Everyone, who needs love in their lives.

What is connection?

C is for Caring for; and helping those in need.

O is for Oneness because together we stand.

N is for Normal and what we pray for again.

N is for New Normal and how the world looks today.

E is for Everybody in the same room at once.

C is for Celebrating good times, like before.

T is for Together and what we long for the most.

Maia Wootton, age 11

BOUNCE www.bouncetheatre.com

The Little Book of Kindness is a collection of art, stories and poetry made by children aged 4-12 with artists during lockdown.

BOUNCE December 2020