Valentine’s Day SEL Books for Kids: Teaching Empathy, Feelings, and Kindness by Grade Level
- Paloma Ruiz Olmo
- Jan 26
- 4 min read
Valentine’s Day social-emotional learning books for kids offer a powerful way to teach empathy, emotional awareness, kindness, and inclusion during February and beyond. While Valentine’s Day is often associated with cards and candy, it also brings big feelings and social challenges for children—making it an ideal time to intentionally focus on SEL and character education at home and in the classroom. Two standout children’s books, In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig, help children understand emotions and practice empathy in developmentally appropriate ways.
Why Valentine’s Day Is the Perfect Time to Teach Social-Emotional Skills
February often heightens emotions for children. Excitement, anticipation, disappointment, jealousy, and joy can all surface around Valentine’s Day activities. For some children, this season highlights feelings of connection and friendship. For others, it may amplify feelings of exclusion or insecurity.
Using intentional SEL books during this time helps children:
Build emotional vocabulary
Practice empathy and kindness
Learn how actions impact others
Strengthen classroom and family communities
Rather than focusing only on Valentine’s Day as a celebration, educators and parents can use it as a learning moment—one that reinforces emotional growth and character development.
Understanding Developmental Differences in Social-Emotional Learning
Before selecting a book, it’s important to consider how children develop social-emotional skills at different ages.
Early Childhood (Ages 3–6 | VPK–Kindergarten)
Children in this stage:
Experience emotions physically before verbally
Need concrete language and visuals
Rely heavily on adult co-regulation
Are building foundational emotional awareness
Elementary Years (Ages 6–11 | Grades 1–5)
Children in this stage:
Are more aware of peer relationships
Can reflect on intent versus impact
Experience social belonging deeply
Begin practicing independent empathy
This developmental lens explains why In My Heart and The Invisible Boy serve different but equally important roles.
By Jo Witek
Best for: VPK – Kindergarten (early 1st grade with support)
What This Book Teaches
In My Heart introduces children to a wide range of emotions using heart-shaped imagery and rhythmic language. It validates feelings such as happiness, sadness, anger, calm, bravery, and fear—helping children understand that all emotions belong.
Key skills supported:
Emotional awareness
Emotional vocabulary
Acceptance of feelings
Early emotional regulation
Why This Book Works for Young Children
Young children often express feelings through behavior rather than words. This book helps bridge that gap by:
Giving children language for internal experiences
Making emotions concrete and visible
Creating a safe framework for discussing big feelings
This is especially beneficial for:
Children new to SEL
English language learners
Neurodivergent learners
Valentine’s Day Connection
This book reframes Valentine’s Day as a time to understand what’s happening inside our own hearts, not just how we show love outwardly. It reinforces that self-awareness is the first step to empathy.
Simple Activity: “My Heart Today”
Materials: Paper hearts or blank paper, crayons
How to Do It:
Ask children to draw or color how their heart feels today. Encourage sharing using sentence starters such as:
“My heart feels…”
“When I feel this way, I can…”
Why It Works:
This activity builds emotional vocabulary, encourages expression, and supports calm discussion at home or in the classroom.
About the Author: Jo Witek
Jo Witek is a children’s book author known for creating emotionally rich stories that help young readers explore feelings, identity, and inner experiences through poetic language and strong visual storytelling.
By Trudy Ludwig
Best for: 1st – 5th Grade
What This Book Teaches
The Invisible Boy tells the story of a child who feels unseen by peers. Through subtle storytelling, it explores how exclusion—even when unintentional—can deeply affect a child’s emotional well-being.
Key skills supported:
Empathy and compassion
Perspective-taking
Inclusion and belonging
Social responsibility
Why This Book Is Powerful for Elementary Students
As peer relationships grow more complex, children need guidance in recognizing social dynamics. This book:
Encourages reflection rather than blame
Helps children understand emotional impact
Empowers them to take inclusive action
Valentine’s Day Connection
Valentine’s Day activities can unintentionally highlight who is included and who is left out. This book reframes love as noticing others and choosing kindness.
Simple Activity: “Notice and Include” Challenge
Materials: Sticky notes or index cards
How to Do It:
Create a list of ways to help someone feel included. Challenge children to practice one action during the week and reflect on how it felt.
Why It Works:
This activity turns empathy into action and strengthens classroom and family community.
About the Author: Trudy Ludwig
Trudy Ludwig is an award-winning children’s book author and educator whose work focuses on empathy, kindness, and positive peer relationships. Her books are widely used in schools to support social-emotional learning and character education.
Choosing the Right Book by Grade Level
Goal | Book |
Emotional awareness | In My Heart |
Early SEL foundations | In My Heart |
Empathy and inclusion | The Invisible Boy |
Character education | The Invisible Boy |
Why These Books Matter Beyond Valentine’s Day
Although highlighted in February, these books support skills children use daily:
Emotional regulation
Healthy relationships
Compassion and kindness
Community-building
When used intentionally, they become lasting SEL tools rather than one-time reads.
Final Thoughts
Teaching love is not about perfection—it’s about helping children understand emotions, practice empathy, and feel seen. Whether you choose In My Heart or The Invisible Boy, you are supporting emotional growth that lasts well beyond Valentine’s Day.
Some of the links included in this post may be affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase through one of these links, Inspire, Guide & Nurture may earn a small commission—at no additional cost to you. We only recommend books that align with our mission of supporting social-emotional learning, character education, and meaningful connections between home and school.
If you enjoyed this comparison, we invite you to explore more thoughtfully curated content in our Book Review Series, where we highlight children’s books that support emotional awareness, empathy, kindness, and community-building across different ages and developmental stages.
You can also visit our Shop to find SEL tools created to complement these conversations—such as Ema’s Emotion Toolkit (also available in Spanish), designed to help children identify, name, and express feelings in a fun, developmentally appropriate way at home or in the classroom.
Together, stories and hands-on tools can help children move from understanding emotions to confidently using the skills they learn every day.
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