Kids’ Books About Honesty for Preschoolers

Little white lies. Teeny tiny lie. Little fib. In this day and age, our society doesn’t have a very high value of honesty. With phrases like these, we’re implying little lies are ok just as long as we’re not telling BIG fibs.  Using the Bible as our authority, we find that is….well….a LIE!

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Honesty is an important character trait that your child needs to be taught. Reading picture books, about honesty, together with your child is a are a great way to do that.

Kids’ Books About Honesty for Preschoolers

This book list of kid’s books about honesty is made up of picture books that will help serve as a great resource for opening up conversations that can help in teaching your preschooler valuable lessons in honesty.

A Children’s Book About Lying (Help Me Be Good book series) by Joy Berry

A Children’s Book About Lying is my favorite nonfiction book about honesty. It does a thorough job of explaining lying in terms a preschooler can understand. It covers things like the consequences of lying, the different ways a person can lie besides just what they say, and what to do if you do tell a lie.

Ruthie and the Not So Teeny Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin

This is an entertaining story about a little fox named Ruthie. Ruthie loves teeny tiny things. One day, she finds a teeny tiny camera out on the playground. When the owner tries to claim it, Ruthie wants the teeny tiny camera so bad she ends up telling a lie. This is a great book for young readers because they can see the consequences of how bad it makes Ruthie feel when she tells a lie (without them having to experience firsthand) At the end of the book Ruthie finally realizes the best way to fix things is to tell the whole truth. Amazingly she feels so much better after doing the right thing.

The Empty Pot by Demi

The Empty Pot by Demi is another favorite book!  It’s a beautiful story of  Ping, a young Chinese boy, and the life-changing lesson he learns about the value of honesty. In Ping’s village, the Chinese emperor has decided to step down and find a new emperor to take his place.  Since the emperor loves flowers, he decides to have a contest to “let the flowers decide” by having a contest. Each child is given a seed to plant. The child who can grow the most beautiful flowers in a year will be the new Chinese emperor. Ping thinks that’s a good idea and is very excited about the contest because growing the most beautiful flowers is his specialty! The little boy spends the whole year doing his very best, trying different things to get his seed to grow but nothing works.  At the end of the year, all the other children have the most beautiful flowers to present to the emperor. Ping’s father encourages him to take his empty pot since it represents his best efforts. You have to read the story yourself to see what the emperor thought of Ping’s empty pot.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Jenny Giles

Many versions with this title are a far cry (pun intended- lol) from the intent Aesop had in mind in his original fable. Like all his fables filled with valuable lessons, The Boy Who Cried Wolf was intended to teach the importance of honesty. This version adheres to that goal. In this story, the young boy’s poor choice of lying causes the villagers to not believe him when a wolf really does come. Heads up – the wolf does end up getting to the sheep in this version but the sheep are just shown lying on the ground. 

It’s True by Mercer Mayer

This is from Thomas Nelson’s Inspired Kids book series. Little Critter tells his friends and family a number of half-truths. One day, he realizes that by twisting his words, he is actually lying. Afraid to face his friends, Little Critter decides to run away, but Grandpa comes along and teaches Little Critter the important lesson of telling the whole truth.

Teach Your Dragon to Stop Lying by Steve Herman

This is a cute book with rhyming text. It’s the story of a little boy named Drew who tries to teach his pet dragon why lying is bad. This is a fun book that is a big hit with preschoolers.

What Should Danny Do? by Adir Levy

This is a book that lets the child make choices for Danny as the story is being told. The ending of the story depends on the choices your child makes. In addition to honesty, this book addresses several other character traits preschoolers can relate to.

What Should Darla Do? by Adir Levy

This is done in the same style as What Should Danny Do? In this book, your child will make choices for a girl named Darla. Again, this book addresses other character traits in addition to honesty.

Llama Llama’s Little Lie by Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama and his friends accidentally break Mama’s favorite picture frame. Llama Llama tells a few really big lies, but Mama’s guidance helps Llama Llama learn that it’s important to tell the truth, even when it’s hard.

Junior Comes Clean (VeggieTales) by Karen Poth

Bob and Larry and investigating messes that are occurring at Junior’s house. Junior claims bad guts are causing all the trouble – his messy room, toys under his rug, and spilled milk in the kitchen. When Junior’s dad comes home, he explains to Junior about being honest. In the end, Junior comes clean and asks for forgiveness.

Download Your Free Book List

Download your free printable Kids’ Books About Honesty. The download is found in our Free Printable Resource Library.

Looking for more great preschool books? Check these out!

• 15 Picture Books to Teach Problem Solving To Kids
• Great Books for Kids Learning to Read
• Preschool Books About Families