Author Spotlight: Christina Dankert
We have a special interview with Christina Dankert, author of The Kindness Machine. This book will be available in March of 2022. If you're a parent or teacher, you'll want to read below to learn more about this book and how it can help teach your child about kindness.
Christina Dankert is a second-grade teacher and mother of two. As a mom and teacher, she reads a lot of picture books. She believes that all children should be able to find themselves in picture books to identify with and connect to characters. She believes that picture books are a beautiful springboard into deeper conversations after the book is closed. She feels that now more than ever we need more kindness in the world.
The current description that you'll find on the back cover is this: There's a mysterious new machine in Mr. Wilson's 2nd grade class. Instead of grownups telling children to "make good choices" and "be kind," this special machine shows the students exactly what they can do to bring kindness to their classroom and even to themselves! But what happens when it's time to leave school? Mr. Wilson lets his class in on a secret that they have their very own Kindness Machine inside them to spread kindness wherever they go!
As a teacher, I want my students to grow up being kind to each other and to themselves long after they have left the four walls of my classroom. I want kindness to not only occur in the classroom but in the hallways, cafeteria, playground, neighborhood and community. This book is one more reminder of how to be kind to others and ourselves and is meant for all students, not just the students who have been in or will be in my classroom.
About Christina Dankert
Christina Dankert is a second-grade teacher and mother of two. As a mom and teacher, she reads a lot of picture books. She believes that all children should be able to find themselves in picture books to identify with and connect to characters. She believes that picture books are a beautiful springboard into deeper conversations after the book is closed. She feels that now more than ever we need more kindness in the world.
Please tell us a little about your book, The Kindness Machine.
I wrote The Kindness Machine for parents, teachers, counselors and caregivers. My book focuses both on how to be kind to others but also how to be kind to ourselves. The concept of kindness to ourselves is missing in the picture book world. If we can teach children to be kind to themselves early on, we can help raise young people who give themself grace, have positive self-talk and more self-love.The current description that you'll find on the back cover is this: There's a mysterious new machine in Mr. Wilson's 2nd grade class. Instead of grownups telling children to "make good choices" and "be kind," this special machine shows the students exactly what they can do to bring kindness to their classroom and even to themselves! But what happens when it's time to leave school? Mr. Wilson lets his class in on a secret that they have their very own Kindness Machine inside them to spread kindness wherever they go!
Why did you write The Kindness Machine?
As a mother I want my children to grow up knowing what kindness looks like and what it feels like. Parenting is one of the hardest, but often most rewarding jobs. Parenting isn’t easy and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Striving to not only talk about kindness, but show it through our actions and our words is so important. The Kindness Machine is extra special for me because my husband is the illustrator. He is showing our children through his illustrations the importance of being kind. This book is one more way to show kindness not only to our own children, but to my students as well.As a teacher, I want my students to grow up being kind to each other and to themselves long after they have left the four walls of my classroom. I want kindness to not only occur in the classroom but in the hallways, cafeteria, playground, neighborhood and community. This book is one more reminder of how to be kind to others and ourselves and is meant for all students, not just the students who have been in or will be in my classroom.