The Invisible Boy

Brian is an invisible boy. Not literally, of course. But he sure feels invisible at school. His teacher has other kids to worry about, and Brian doesn’t even get noticed. On the playground, the cool kids get picked first, and then the friends of the cool kids, and Brian doesn’t even get picked at all. At lunch, Brian sits alone. You get the idea. Brian, like many kids we know, just sort of slips through the cracks.

It’s not until a new kid joins the class that Brian is able to become visible. Brian is the first to reach out to make the new kid feel welcome. And when they work together on a class project, Brian’s talents are finally given the chance to shine.

“Invisible” kids are all around us. They’re in our schools and homes and therapy offices. They’re eating alone, or being teased on the playground, or feeling left out when kids are talking about that super fun birthday party that they didn’t even get invited to.

This is a great book to read with all kids. It even has discussion questions at the end, such as “Have you ever tried to join a group, game, or activity and other kids wouldn’t let you? If yes, how did that make you feel?” This question is followed by, “Have you ever intentionally excluded other kids from joining your group, game, or activity? If yes, why?” The book helps kids think about both sides of the story – how does it feel to be excluded, and how are the things we do making others feel excluded?

Brian has a happy ending to his story. We hope that by reading this book and opening kids’ eyes to the power of kindness, many more kids will have a similar happy ending.