Honesty: A Review of The Principles of Our World Book Series for Kids {+ Giveaway}

Harvest Time Partners Publishing provided Becky with free copies of their new book series The Principles of Our World and compensation in exchange for her time in reading and reviewing the materials.  All opinions expressed below are her own.

As parents we probably all agree that one of the most important things we can do for our children is help them develop a healthy moral character. We want our kids to be able to navigate difficult situations and choices that involve principles like honesty, courage, compassion, sacrifice, commitment, self-control, etc.

I know I’m always looking for ways to work this kind of moral teaching into the daily fabric of my family’s life. Sometimes it can be a challenge to meet my kids on their level of understanding and communicate in ways that will help them internalize these moral concepts.  That’s why I was pleased to review a line of books from Harvest Time Partners publishing called The Principles of Our World Children’s book series.

These children’s books are appropriate to read to preschoolers and as read-alone books for older children, though I think parent/child interaction while sharing these books is extremely valuable.  The books are divided into different moral principles, and the book I reviewed is about Honesty.

I like how the book is divided into smaller sections of stories that portray real-life situations that would require a person to choose to be honest even when it is difficult.  The first story is about two children who spill a drink in the playroom.  When the mother asks what happened, one of the girls is faced with a difficult choice about how to answer.  The book goes through all the reasons she doesn’t want to be honest, but also why it would be best to tell the truth. After she tells the truth and receives the consequence (cleaning up the spill and a reminder to not bring drinks in the playroom) she is able to sleep well because she “did the right thing.”

The next stories concern a father who must decide to give back excessive change from a purchase, a boy who declines to share test answers when the teacher leaves the room, and a woman who follows the rules at her workplace.  Every story follows the same pattern of laying out the problem, going over the reasons it is hard to be honest, choosing honesty, participating in the result of the choice, and being able to sleep well because they chose to do the right thing.  I like how the stories involve people of all ages and situations.  This shows children that honesty is a decision one makes throughout their life.

I especially love the end of the book called “Where Do We Go From Here?”  This section reassures kids that choosing to be honest is difficult and requires lots of practice.

Just like practicing your favorite sport or playing your favorite instrument, practicing to be honest every day will help you grow stronger in your ability to be honest.

These books are not Christian-based, so they would easily apply to any family, regardless of their belief system.  However, in my family’s case, I chose to substitute the idea of Honesty itself being the one my child would call on for the strength and support to be honest with our concept of God.

There are also additional opportunities at the end of each book to discuss “What Would You Do?” in hypothetical situations.  This is a great way to role-play making choices with kids and reinforce the idea that difficult situations will always be coming up and we will have to choose how to behave.

My 7 year old and I really enjoyed this series.  In fact, I am considering sharing the books with his classroom teacher.  I think these would be great character-teaching resources for that setting, too.

Find out more about this series and some of the other books and games available at www.harvesttimepartners.com.

Win Your Own “The Principles of the World” Series Books!

One reader will win their own copies of The Principles of the World Children’s book series.  Books included are The Principle of Honesty, Teamwork, Sacrifice, Courage, and Compassion. (Valued at $8.99 per book) The winner will be chosen at random by PTPA with Harvest Time and announced on Dallas Moms Blog!

Good Luck!

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**Disclosure: This post was a part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Harvest Time.  In exchange for my honest review of this new children’s book series, I received the books for free to review along with compensation.  All opinions expressed are my own, and were not influenced by the generosity of Harvest Time Partners Publishing.