Honesty can be hard to come by these days. We need to raise the next generation of honest people in the world. The best way to do that is to teach them young. This list of books will be a fun and easy way to teach your children the importance of being honest. These stories will also show that even a tiny lie can hurt someone or cause a lot of harm. These books can be something you read at night before they go to bed. This list of books will help you start a conversation with your children about integrity and how to tell the truth. These are the 15 Best Books about Honesty.
The criteria that we used to choose these books are:
- Sales
- Reviews
- Popularity
David Gets in Trouble is by David Shannon. This book is all about not making excuses when you do something wrong. David is a little boy who says “Its not my fault” or “It was an accident.” During the course of this book David finds out that he always feels sad when he lies and that he will feel better if he is honest. Any children that love David will absolutely love this book and it will leave them laughing while they learn an important lesson at the same time.
Pinky Promise: A Book About Telling the Truth is by Vanita Braver. This book is about Madison a young girl that accidentally broke her mother’s camera. She did not want to get in trouble so she told a lie when her mom asked her about the broken camera. This book will teach your children that it is better to tell the truth when they accidentally break something.
13. Liar, Liar
Liar, Liar is by Gary Paulsen. This is a book about a boy that lies all the time. He lies to make life better for those around him. His lies start to catch up to him and his parents, friends and teachers find out that he lies all the time and they are not very happy about it. He learns that it is finally time to start telling the truth because that will make his life ever better than when he lies.
Telling the Truth: Learning about Honesty, Integrity, and Trustworthiness was created to help teach children how to be more positive, honest people. This book will help teach your children about character building as well. This book comes with a CD that goes along with the book that includes a narrator and songs that go along with the story. Get this book to teach your children about the importance of character building so that they will grow into honest adults.
The Stories Julian Tells is by Ann Cameron and Ann Strugnell. Julian is a great storyteller. He is always making up stories to entertain other people even if that means he has to tell a lie. He has the ability to make his little brother believe anything he says. Will Julian stop telling his brother lies that keep getting them both into trouble? Read this book with your children to find out.
The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot is by Scott Magoon. The pictures in this book are very fun and beautiful. Your children will love this hilarious twist on the Boy Who Cried Wolf. There are many unexpected twists and turns as this book quickly unfolds. Your children will learn the importance of telling the truth when they read this book. They will also learn to be careful when they tell a lie because it just might come true.
Molly the Great Tell the Truth is by Shelley Marshall and Ben Mahan. This book shows children that it is important to tell the truth even if they are a superhero. The main characters are Ben and Molly and when they try on the courageous cape and the clever crown they become Super Ben and Molly the Great. Your kids should check out this book so they can follow Molly and Ben though their big adventure about telling the truth.
The Honest-to-Goodness Truth is by Patricia C. McKissack. This book will teach your children that it is important to tell the truth but they need to be careful not to hurt someone’s feelings by being brutally honest with them. The main character is Libby and ever since she started telling the truth everyone seems to be mad at her all the time. She quickly learns that telling the truth is not always the right thing to do. Sometimes it is better to be quiet.
The Empty Pot is by Demi. This book takes place in China. The main character is Ping and he loves to plant flowers and he is really good at it. The emperor of China also loved flowers and he was going to pick the heir based on who could plant the best flower and bring it to him. Ping tends to his flowers everyday hoping that he can produce the best flower. When spring comes Ping does not have any flowers so all he has to show the King is an empty pot. Read this book with your children to see how Ping is able to be rewarded for his honesty.
Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie is by Laura Rankin. This book is about a little girl named Ruthie. One day while she was at recess she finds a camera on the playground. She really wants to keep it even though she knows that it’s not hers. Ruthie tells her friends and her teachers that she got this camera for her birthday so she can keep the camera. This lie wears on her all day and she finds out that telling the truth is more rewarding than telling a lie. This book will teach your children that telling the truth will keep them out of trouble and help clear their conscience.
The Big Fat Enormous Lie is by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and David McPhail. This is a very creative story that will show your children what can happen when they lie. This book follows a little boy that keeps telling lies until they grow into this huge monster that he has to find out how to get rid of. He quickly finds out that the only way to get rid of this huge monster that he has created is to finally tell the truth.
The Berenstain Bears and the Truth is by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Brother and Sister Bear lie after they broke their mothers favorite lamp. This little lie grows and grows until it gets out of control. They finally realize that the only way to make things right again is to tell the truth. They learn that none of this would have happened if they would have told the truth from the beginning. This book teaches your children the importance of telling the truth as soon as something happens so that they do not make the situation worse.
Let’s Be Honest is by P.K. Hallinan. This is book is full of colorful and beautiful illustrations. This book will show your children is ok to make a mistake as long as they own up to it and tell the truth. The main message of this book is that the truth will set you free. This book will teach this important lesson in a way that your little one will enjoy and remember.
Victory Vault is by Jake Maddox. This book is about a gymnast named Kayla. Kayla is a very good gymnast and she finds herself facing a very important vault at her gymnastics meet. She ends up missing the vault and the only one that noticed was her best friend. Kayla now has to decide if she wants to keep her best friend or the trophy she won for a vault that she did not even do. Read this book to find out if Kayla tells the truth or if she keeps the trophy.
Eli’s Lie-O-Meter: A Story about Telling the Truth is by Sandra Levins. This book is all about learning the value of being an honest person. Eli has a bad habit about telling lies. Most of these lies are little fibs but sometimes Eli finds himself telling a big lie. There is an event in Eli’s life that finally helps him decide to finally tell the truth. Read this book with your children to find out what that event was and why Eli finally decided to tell the truth.