These books for kids about patience will help as you are developing the character of your children. As a mom, I think I need a good dose of these patient lessons as well.
Literature is a wonderful way to engage with kids about character traits you’d like to seem them develop. Reading grows us in a way that is unique to the other ways we learn. It’s essential for a child’s development.
Character Building Education Series
This series focuses on 52 important traits to teach kids. Heck – all of us adults need to continue working on these qualities as well.
Why 52 traits? There is one character quality for every single week of the year. I have at least 7 lessons for each trait, so you could be working on character with your kids 365 of the year.
Here are all the lessons for our week on patience.
Start with my first patience lesson if you haven’t already. Once grounded in the concept, gather up some of these books so you can teach this character trait more fully to your kids.
Amazon affiliate links are provided for your convenience, but you can also head to your local library to find these titles.
Read these books throughout the week to your kids. Plan to do one a day to support the topic of patience. Follow up with a conversation and questions about how this all relates to the word of the week.
Books for Kids About Patience
Subject: Patience
Objective: Kids will use literature to understand patience.
PATIENCE VERSE
“And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:14 NIV
* Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney – This book is definitely a book on patience. The mom tucks her llama into bed and he decides to put on some “llama drama” because he wants her back right away. He screams and hollers when she doesn’t come cater to his every need. I know I can related to this “llama drama.”
* Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus – This cute story is perfect for parents and kids who seem to be developing slower than other kids. They might not grasp things right away and then one day they just get it.
Kids develop at different stages, and this is a great reminder for everyone to be patient as our kids bloom.
Sometimes I just want my kids to grow up and function like normal human beings. What a great reminder to be patient – diligent in teaching and awareness of the help that might be needed – but patient.
* Harriet, You’ll Drive me Wild! by Mem Fox – I’m not sure if this is a story that is for the kids or for the adults. Really, I think it was intended for me.
Harriet is a kid who is into everything. She may not being intentionally bad (or maybe she is), but her actions drive her mom wild.
Can you relate? Her mom is able to find the humor in the end and continues to work on patience throughout the story.
* Sammy’s Gadget Galaxy by Michael P. Waite – Waite has a “Building Christian Character” series that I love, and this book is a part of that series. With fun pictures and a nice cadence in rhyming, it paints a delightful picture that teaches kids about the destructive nature of being impatient.
* A Children’s Book About Interrupting by Joy Berry – I believe interrupting comes from a lack of patience (and a self-centered nature). Joy Berry has a great “Help Me Be Good” series that clearly defines the behavior, shows the negative results from the behavior and gives tools for overcoming the behavior.
* Betty Bunny Loves Chocolate Cake by Michael B. Kaplan – Betty Bunny has never tried chocolate cake before. After trying it, it is all she can think about.
She tells everyone about how she wants it and shows a lot of impatience as she goes throughout her day. She won’t eat her dinner at night and things keep escalating, which brings both humor and negative results to this impatient bunny. I think you will enjoy this tale.
* Jonathan James says, “I Can Hardly Wait!” by Crystal Bowman – This book is a good book for early leaders and is part of a “Biblical Values for Kids” series. It has three stories in it about the bunny, Jonathan James.
In the first story, this bunny gets roller blades in the middle of winter. He has a hard time waiting until he can use them in spring. This is his journey to learn to be patient.
The next story is about how Jonathan James wants to order a watch. He has to work to earn the money, and this takes time and patience. Once he has diligently put in his efforts, he has to be patient as he waits for his watch to arrive.
The third story is about the bunny’s excitement and anticipation of Thanksgiving. Everyday he has to learn patience as he hopes for the arrival of his favorite holiday.
* MOVIE: Abe and the Amazing Promise by VeggieTales Values to Grow By – We LOVE VeggieTales around here. One of the things that is great about VeggieTales is that the character lesson is written big and bold on the front of the movie or book so you can pick out a movie for the trait you are focusing on with your child.
This movie teaches about Abraham and Sarah’s wait for a promised son. It reminds us that whether we are “waiting on a promise from God or cookies from mom…being patient is never easy, but the reward is always worth the wait.”
Other Kids Books On Patience
I haven’t read these so I can’t review easily or verify, but here are others that readers or research adds/
- Bob and Larry in the Case of the Missing Patience – Karen Poth
- Out of Patience – Brian Meehl
- Owl Moon – Jane Yolen
- Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse – Kevin Henkes
- Play with Me – Marie Hall Ets
- Wait ‘Til the Moon is Full – Margaret Wise Brown
- McElligot’s Pool – Dr. Seuss
- Geraldine’s Big Snow – Holly Keller
- When will it be Spring? – Catherine Walters
- “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth – Eric Carle
- Waiting for Wings – Louis Ehler
- The Odd Egg – Emily Gravett
- Grow Flower, Grow – Lisa Bruce
Note: This post was originally written in 2012. It was updated in 2020 with better formatting, more pictures and Amazon affiliate links for your convenience.
Want More Lessons on Patience?
This is a great list! I am pinning it!
Thanks for pinning, Sara! I’ll be adding a lot of literature to my character development this year so stay tuned!
I love this idea! Pinned 🙂 I have a background in school psychology and I LOVED using books to teach my students different character traits. I can’t wait to do this when our little one gets older. Thanks for sharing this list.
You are welcome and thanks for commenting. I will be adding more literature to all of the 52 traits we are working on in our character development series, so stay tuned.
SO helpful! Thank you!
You are welcome. I’m so glad it was helpful.