Michigan 4-H Youth Development: Character Education-Bibliography


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Character Education

Character Development and Education Bibliography

A list of books available for adults and children that focus on character development and education follow. These books can be found in libraries and bookstores.

Character Education Books for Adults

Bringing Up a Moral Child - A New Approach for Teaching Your Child to Be Kind, Just, and Responsible, by Michael Schulman, Ph.D., and Eva Mekler. NY: Main Street Books, 1985.
Examines forces that work against leading a moral life, and how children learn and develop values and a conscience.

Character Education in America's Schools, by Terri Atkin, Gerry Dunne, Sussanna Palomares and Dianne Schilling. Spring Valley, CA: Innerchoice Publishing, 1995.
Explores the six pillars of character, why they need to be taught, who should teach them and how.

Character Education – Teaching Values for Life: Grades K–2, 3–4, 5–6 and 7–8, by Kathleen Knoblock. Grand Rapids, MI: Instructional Fair, TS Denison, 1997.
These four books offer a series of activities designed to help children learn to think critically so they can evaluate their own decisions and attitudes. The activities focus on trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.

Educating for Character – How Our Schools Can Teach Respect and Responsibility, by Thomas Lickona. NY: Bantam Books, 1991.
Provides a twelve-step approach to educating children about values. Lickona describes why it is important to teach values, where they should be taught and which should be taught in our society.

40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child, by Barbara Mathias and Mary Ann French. NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1996.
Poses ways to talk to children about racism. Explains why it is so hard for adults to have interracial relationships and how the developmental stages of childhood are affected by it.

In a Different Voice – Psychological Theory and Women's Development, by Carol Gilligan. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Explores how women perceive the world and deal with moral issues such as fairness, citizenship and respect.

The Kids' Book of Questions, by Gregory Stock, Ph.D. NY: Workman Publishing, 1988.
Poses questions for parents to explore with children that are not the kind that have answers that can be found in books. Helps parents practice learning how to answer the way that they actually feel and to not avoid difficult subjects.

Mapping the Moral Domain, by Carol Gilligan, Janie Victoria Ward and Jill McLean Taylor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988.
This collection of articles explores and defines moral development and its implications for adolescents and adults.

The Measure of Our Success – A Letter to My Children and Yours, by Marian Wright Edelman. NY: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1992.
Edelman recalls her life and how her ancestors provided a plan to live: work hard, never give up and know that you are never alone.

The Moral Child – Nurturing Children's Natural Moral Growth, by William Damon. NY: The Free Press, 1988.
Damon shows how morality grows out of a child's early social experiences with peers and parents.

The Moral Intelligence of Children: How to Raise a Moral Child, by Robert Coles. NY: Random House Inc., 1997.
Coles explains how parents, teachers and peers give shape to children's values. He describes moral intelligence and how children learn it from birth to adulthood.

The Moral Judgement of the Child, by Jean Piaget. NY: The Free Press, 1965.
Piaget explores moral development by examining areas such as the way children feel about rules laid down by adults and the way adults feel that rules should be enforced.

Playwise: 365 Fun-Filled Activities for Building Character, Conscience and Emotional Intelligence in Children, by Denise Chapman Weston and Mark S. Weston. NY: Putnam Books, 1996.
This book features activities that focus both on elements of character-building such as unconditional love and acceptance, stability and good role-modeling, and on developing character skills such as personal potential, moral awareness and resourcefulness. It's written for people who live with, work with or care about children.

Shared Values for a Troubled World – Conversations with Men and Women of Conscience, by Rushworth M. Kidder. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1994.
Kidder interviews successful people from many diverse cultures and asks them what they believe are the most important values in order to survive in today's world. Their answers include love, truthfulness, tolerance, responsibility and respect for life.

The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families, by Mary Pipher. NY: Ballantine Books, 1996.
Through stories of many families, Pipher examines the strength and energy of family life and the challenge to protect and nurture families and communities.

Some Do Care: Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment, by Anne Colby and William Damon. NY: The Free Press, 1992.
Moral heroes do exist, as shown in indepth interviews with 23 Americans who have provided exemplary moral leadership and who can serve as important role models.

Teaching Conflict Resolution Through Children's Literature, by William J. Kreidler. Jefferson City, MO: Scholastic Inc., 1994.
This book is designed to help primary grade teachers help their students become more effective and independent in handling conflicts. Uses reading and language arts to help children learn conflict resolution and other social skills.

Teaching Tolerance: Raising Open-Minded, Empathetic Children, by Sara Bullard. NY: Doubleday, 1996.
No one is truly exempt from the habit of judging others. Bullard discusses the importance of recognizing and, in some cases, reversing that process in order to teach children true tolerance toward others.

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Character Education Books for Children

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst. NY: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1972.
In Alexander's day, everything has gone wrong and no one will listen. He's cranky and it's getting him nowhere so he wants to run away to Australia. His mom explains that some days are just like that, even in Australia. Alexander learns to cope.

All the Places to Love, by Patricia MacLachlan. NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.
Eli, a young boy, explores "all the places to love," which come out of his love and respect for his family and the earth.

The Butter Battle Book, by Dr. Seuss. NY: Random House, 1984.
This story presents a ridiculous example of prejudice against people who do things differently. It looks at pride in one's own beliefs and examines trust, respect and responsibility.

Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White. NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1952.
This is the story of relationships between a runt pig named Wilbur and the girl, Fern, who has the compassion to save the pig from death and between Wilbur as he is helped by his farm animal friends, including a marvelous spider named Charlotte. True friendship is a major theme, along with caring, fairness and love.

Falling Up – Poems and Drawings, by Shel Silverstein. NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996.
This collection of poems includes several that focus on trust, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness and citizenship.

Franklin Is Bossy, by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark. NY: Scholastic Inc., 1993.
Franklin is always telling his friends what to play. One day, his friends decide they don't want to play with him and Franklin is alone. He decides that he should treat his friends with fairness and he apologizes.

George and Martha - One Fine Day, by James Marshall. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1978.
Five short stories about hippos George and Martha give examples of the confidence and self-esteem friends can give, bad results from invading someone's privacy, ruining fun things for friends and how revenge is less effective than forgiveness.

George and Martha Rise and Shine, by James Marshall. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1976.
Five short stories teach about lying, helping people, joining in, comforting and trusting.

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein. NY: Harper & Row Publishers, 1964.
The story of the unconditional love of a tree for a boy provides a touching example of deep caring.

How I Learned to Be Considerate of Others and How I Learned to Be Considerate of Others: A Workbook of Activities to Teach Consideration Toward Others, by Lawrence E. Shapiro. King of Prussia, PA: The Center for Applied Psychology Inc. 1995.
These books are designed to help children explore consideration skills. Five rules are highlighted in the activities.

If You Had to Choose, What Would You Do? by Sandra McLeod Humphrey. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1995.
McLeod presents 25 different situations for children to problem-solve, helping them to think through their own moral conduct.

I'm in Charge of Celebrations, by Byrd Baylor. NY: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1986.
In this joyous celebration of celebrations, a girl shares her love of and respect for life and the earth.

Kids Who Have Made a Difference, by Teddy Milne. Northampton, MA: Pittenbrauch Press, 1989.
Milne tells true stories of children who have in some way made a difference in our world.

A Light in the Attic – Poems and Drawings, by Shel Silverstein. NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1981.
This collection of poems includes several that focus on trust, respect, responsibility, caring, fairness and citizenship.

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. NY: Random House, 1971.
Greed is more important to the Once-ler than the environment, and as a result he becomes lonely and isolated. It becomes the responsibility of one boy to undo the Once-ler's mess and to save the environment by replanting trees.

Manners, by Aliki Brandenberg. NY: Mulberry Paperback Books, 1990.
This book explores issues related to manners, such as saying please and thank you, interrupting, sharing and helping.

Old Bear, by Jane Hissey. NY: Philomel Books, 1986.
An old toy bear is stuffed away into the attic and the rest of the stuffed animals miss him. They work together to free the bear they care about.

The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister. NY: North-South Books Inc., 1992.
One fish is the most admired in the sea for his shiny scales, but he won't share them with other fish until he finds out how lonely it is without friends.

A River Ran Wild, by Lynne Cherry. NY: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1992.
This true story examines how early Native Americans respected the environment and how people from other cultures came through and destroyed the rivers and wildlife. The story focuses on respect, responsibility, caring and citizenship.

Stellaluna, by Janel Cannon. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993.
Through a misfortune that separates her from her mother, Stellaluna, a bat, learns about differences and similarities between herself and her adopted bird family. This story explores respect and caring.

What Do You Think? A Kid's Guide to Dealing With Daily Dilemmas, by Linda Schwartz. Santa Barbara, CA: The Learning Works Inc., 1993.
This book presents situations dealing with different moral dilemmas children can tackle to help them prepare for resolving similar real-life situations.

Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox. Brooklyn, NY: Kane/Miller Book Publishers, 1984.
This is the story of a caring relationship between a young boy and a very old woman who has lost her memory. The rewards the boy gets as a result of his sharing and caring are evident.

Yo? Yes!, by Chris Raschka. NY: Orchard Books, 1993.
Two boys of different races use simple communication to find that they can be friends despite their differences.

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Learning Materials

More information on learning materials available to support these activities can be found in the Michigan Guide to 4-H or through the MSU Bulletin Office.

Training & Events

For upcoming training and events in this area, check the 4-H Volunteer Workshops web site, the MSU Extension Calendar and the 4-H Exploration Days web site.

Contact Information

For more information on how to get involved as a youth or volunteer, contact your county MSU Extension office or:

Karen Pace, Program Leader
Michigan 4-H Youth Development
160 Agriculture Hall
Michigan State University
E. Lansing, MI 48824-1039
USA

Email: pace1@msu.edu
Phone: 517-432-7575