Learning how to start conversations, invite friends to play and apologize when we make mistakes is hard. Even for adults. You can give your child a jumpstart on becoming a super star friend by brainstorming how to behave before he starts a play date, setting up play dates so that he has plenty of opportunity to practice and, of course, reading books on friendship. Here are my favorites:
Making Friends
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Swimmy by Leo Lionni
How To Be A Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them by Marc Brown
American Girl: Friends Making Them and Keeping Them by Patti Kelley
Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
Amelia Bedelia Makes a Friend by Herman Parish
Having Diverse Friends
Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabela Matkoff
My Friend Has Autism by Amanda Doering Tourville
Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis
In Jesse’s Shoes by Beverly Lewis
Whoever You Are by Mem Fox
The Family Book by Todd Parr
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis
Being a Steadfast Friend
Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni
Frederick by Leo Lionni
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun by Maria Dismondy
A Rainbow of Friends by P.K. Hallinan
The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Help! A Story of Friendship by Holly Keller
It’s Mine by Leo Lionni
Working Through Conflict
The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends by Jan and Stan Berenstain
The Berenstain Bears: The Forgiving Tree by Jan and Mike Berenstain
The Juice Box Bully by Bob Sornson
The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Being True to Yourself
A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell
It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr
The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler
I Like Myself! By Karen Beaumont
American Girl: Stand Up For Yourself and Your Friends by Patti Kelley Criswell
Parent Resources
The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help Your Child Make Friends by Natalie Madorsky Elman and Eileen Kennedy Moore
How To Make and Keep Friends: Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Social Challenges by Nadine Briggs
Raise Your Child’s Social IQ by Cathi Cohen, LCSW
Pin It!
Join the Conversation
What are your family’s favorite friendship books?
4 Comments
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- A Homemade Friendship Book - Playdough To Plato | Playdough To Plato - [...] You can find a list of 38 other friendship books about making friends, having diverse friends and solving problems ...
Leave a Reply
We Love Our Sponsors
Grab Our Button
Great list ! We love Enemy Pie & Little Blue and Little Yellow. Some of the books on this list, I have never heard of. I’ll have to check them out on our next library visit. Thanks for the ideas.
Thanks for the post Sharon! I’m happy to hear that you found a few new books to add to your library bag.
Time for a trip to the library! Thanks for the great list!
Hi Jill! Glad that you enjoyed the list.