Friendships are an important part of childhood. They teach our children about kindness, cooperation, empathy, sharing, and more. But friendships don’t come easily for every child. That’s when books can help. Here are some of my favorite friendship books for kids. These stories help children learn how to be a good friend, how to include others, and how to see things from another person’s perspective.
You can click on any of the titles below to learn more about each book. Or click the buttons to shop for these books on Amazon and Bookshop.
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CHILDREN’S BOOKS ABOUT FRIENDSHIP
Do you know a child who struggles with making and keeping friends? Maybe you’re thinking of someone who’s having trouble navigating a friendship trio. Or you might know two kids who can’t see past their differences to find common ground. Books can help. Keep reading to find the right friendship book to share.
Enemy Pie
It was the perfect summer. That is, until Jeremy Ross moved into the house down the street and became neighborhood enemy number one. Luckily Dad had a surefire way to get rid of enemies: Enemy Pie. But part of the secret recipe is spending an entire day playing with the enemy!
You can find resources to pair with this book here.
Stick and Stone
When Stick rescues Stone from a prickly situation with a Pinecone, the pair becomes fast friends. But when Stick gets stuck, can Stone return the favor?
That Neighbor Kid
There’s a new boy in the neighborhood, and he’s up to something very curious. His next door neighbor, a girl his age with two long braids, peeps around corners and watches as he scavenges wood from the fence between their houses, drags around a hammer and a bucket of nails, and reads a book about living in trees. When she finally works up the courage to say “hi,” she finds herself invited to help build the private getaway every child has dreamed of: a tree house. She also finds herself with a new best friend.
Big Friends
Birt and Etho are best friends. Together they play outside in big cardboard boxes. Sometimes they’re kings, soldiers, astronauts. Sometimes they’re pirates sailing wild seas and skies. But always, always they’re Big friends. Then one day a new boy arrives, and he wants to join them. Can two become three?
Pink Tiara Cookies for Three
Sami’s perfect life falls apart when the new girl moves in next door. Sami doesn’t need another friend… she has her best friend Stella! She thinks two is the perfect pair and three’s a crowd! Jasmine just wants to be included and play with her new neighbor friends. But three is a tricky number when it comes to friendships. Most of the time, someone gets left out.
The Sandwich Swap
Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what’s that between friends? It turns out, a lot. Before they know it, a food fight breaks out. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences? Or will a sandwich come between them?
You can find resources to pair with this book here.
A Day So Gray
Once you start to notice, colors and reasons for gratitude are everywhere, and that changes everything! Celebrate the hues and comforts of a cozy winter day as a discontented girl at first notices only dull grays and browns in a snowy landscape but is coaxed by her friend to look more closely. Soon she finds orange berries, blue water, purple shadows, and more. Warm friendship and a fresh way of seeing things transform a snow-covered landscape from bleak to beautiful!
Be a Friend
Dennis is an ordinary boy who expresses himself in extraordinary ways. Some children do show-and-tell. Dennis mimes his. Some children climb trees. Dennis is happy to BE a tree. But, being a mime can be lonely. It isn’t until Dennis meets a girl named Joy that he discovers the power of friendship–and how special he truly is!
Each Kindness
Chloe and her friends won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her friends, they reject her. Eventually Maya stops coming to school. When Chloe’s teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she’d shown a little kindness toward Maya.
The Invisible Boy
Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody in class ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party . . . until, that is, a new kid comes to class. When Justin, the new boy, arrives, Brian is the first to make him feel welcome. And when Brian and Justin team up to work on a class project together, Brian finds a way to shine.
You can find resources to pair with this book here.
Strictly No Elephants
Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn’t understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend.
You Will Be My Friend
Today is the day the exuberant Lucy is going to make a new friend! But she finds it’s harder than she had thought–she accidentally ruins the giraffe’s breakfast and is much too big for the frogs’ pond. Just when she’s about to give up, an unexpected friend finds her, and loves her just the way she is.
Nerdy Birdy
Nerdy Birdy likes reading, video games, and reading about video games, which immediately disqualifies him for membership in the cool crowd. One thing is clear: being a nerdy birdy is a lonely lifestyle. When he’s at his lowest point, Nerdy Birdy meets a flock just like him. He has friends and discovers that there are far more nerdy birdies than cool birdies in the sky.
You can find resources to pair with this book here.
A Friend Like You
There’s nothing in the world like a wonderful friend. Friends are there to laugh with you and ready with a hug when you need one. There are forever friends and brand new friends. Friends for adventures and friends for cozy days indoors. Friends who are just like you and friends who are nothing like you at all. In this book, celebrate ALL the marvelous ways to be a friend!
How to Be a Friend
With playful full-color illustrations, Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown help kids cope with everyday social situations and learn:
- Who can be your friend.
- How to show someone you would like to be friends.
- How to handle bosses and bullies.
- The best ways to be a friend and ways not to be a friend.
- Ways to settle an argument with a friend.
Making Friends is an Art
This book follows a coloring pencil named Brown. Multi-talented Brown is the luckiest pencil in the box! Brown must find a way to share his many talents with others. At first, that seems hard, but soon Brown realizes that to be a good friend, all he has to do is be himself! And to share all his special talents, like listening to others, being trustworthy, honest, and kind, and to have fun.
Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend
Scaredy Squirrel sets out to make The Perfect Friend. And once he’s spotted a perfectly safe candidate (with no teeth), Scaredy’s ready. Armed with a name tag, mittens, a mirror and a lemon, he’s prepared to make The Perfect First Impression. But just when every detail is under control, Scaredy’s Action Plan takes a surprising turn. Will he survive this ordeal? Can he find his kindred spirit? Will he discover the true meaning of friendship?
Toot and Puddle
Toot and Puddle are the best of friends. But when Toot leaves Woodcock Pocket to travel and see the world, Puddle chooses to stay at home. Just when Puddle begins to miss his old friend, he embarks on some of his own adventures-right at home. Finally, after Toot returns from his year-long trip, the two discover that true friendship knows no boundaries.
Bad Apple
When Mac, an apple, meets Will, a worm, they become fast friends, teaching each other games and even finishing each other’s sentences. But apples aren’t supposed to like worms, and Mac gets called “rotten” and “bad apple.” At first, Mac doesn’t know what to do—it’s never easy standing up to bullies–but after a lonely day without Will, Mac decides he’d rather be a bad apple with Will than a sad apple without.
You can find resources to pair with this book here.
A Friend for Princess Ada
Princess Ada is lonely and needs a friend. She decrees that the kingdom search far and wide to find her a perfect playmate. As the villagers bring creature after creature in to please her, none will do. A seal is too slippery, an elephant too big, and a sloth too lazy. However, at long last, the perfect companion is found, one that combines the best attributes each animal presented has to offer!
When Charley Met Emma
When Charley goes to the playground and sees Emma, a girl with limb differences who gets around in a wheelchair, he doesn’t know how to react at first. But after he and Emma start talking, he learns that different isn’t bad, sad, or strange–different is just different, and different is great!
A Friend for Henry
In Classroom Six, second left down the hall, Henry has been on the lookout for a friend. A friend who shares. A friend who listens. Maybe even a friend who likes things to stay the same and all in order, as Henry does. But on a day full of too close and too loud, when nothing seems to go right, will Henry ever find a friend—or will a friend find him?
The Friend Ship
Little Hedgehog is very lonely. But then she overhears passersby talking about something that gives her hope-something called a Friend Ship! Hedgehog imagines a ship filled with friends of all kinds, and soon she’s ready to hit the open seas in a boat of her own to track it down. Along the way, she meets other lonely animals eager to join her quest. They search north, south, and east. But Hedgehog and her new friends can’t find the Ship anywhere! Until she realizes she knows just where the Friend Ship is. . .
Together, Always
Goat and Pig are best friends who do everything together in their little orchard. But one day, Goat wants to venture out in the world . . . while Pig wants to stay home. And for the first time, they’re physically apart. But the friends discover that no matter where you are, when you love each other you’re always together in your thoughts and your heart.
Rulers of the Playground
One morning, Jonah decided to become ruler of the playground. Everyone agreed to obey his rules to play in King Jonah’s kingdom . . . Everyone except for Lennox . . . because she wanted to rule the playground, too.
Swashby and the Sea
Captain Swashby loves the sea, his oldest friend. And he loves his life by the sea just as it is: salty and sandy and serene. One day, much to Swashby’s chagrin, a young girl and her granny commandeer the empty house next door. All Swashby wants is for his new neighbors to GO AWAY and take their ruckus with them. When Swashby begins to leave notes in the sand for his noisy neighbors, however, the beach interferes with the messages that are getting across. Could it be that the captain’s oldest friend, the sea, knows what Swashby needs even better than he knows himself?
Turtle and Tortoise are NOT Friends
Ever since they were little hatchlings, Turtle and Tortoise decided that they’d forever be separated due to their different shells. As years and years go by, the two reptiles stay on opposites side of the pen and embark on their own adventures, while holding an everlasting grudge. Until one day, Turtle and Tortoise get into a bit of pickle and need each other’s help!
The Buddy Bench
Having seen what being left out is like, children become agents of change, convincing their teacher to let them build a buddy bench. This cast of kids brings a playground to raucous life, with imaginary planes to fly, dragons to tame, and elephants to ride. And these kids match their imaginations with empathy, identifying and swooping up the lonely among them.
Meesha Makes Friends
Meesha doesn’t know quite what to do, what to say, or when to say it, and she struggles reading and responding to social cues. But one day, she discovers that she has a special talent that will help her navigate challenging social situations and make friends.
Melia and Jo
Melia is scientific and loves to create things in her backyard laboratory, but something is missing. Her inventions just aren’t quite right. Enter Jo, her new friend with an artistic spirit. When you add the arts to sciences, something magical happens!
The Someone New
Jitterbug the chipmunk likes it when things stay the same. So when one day Pudding the snail comes into her woods, Jitterbug worries that everything will be different. What if Pudding spoils everything? What if there’s no more room for Jitterbug? With the help of her friends, can Jitterbug welcome the newcomer and learn that kindness is stronger than fear?
The Other Side
Clover’s mom says it isn’t safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups’ rules by sitting on top of the fence together.
Lubna and Pebble
Lubna’s best friend is a pebble. Pebble always listens to her stories. Pebble always smiles when she feels scared. But when a lost little boy arrives in the World of Tents, Lubna realizes that he needs Pebble even more than she does.
Finding François
Alice, a little piglet, loves life with her grandmother, making lists and crème brûlée, organizing buttons, and taking walks. Still, Alice wishes she had a sister–or even a brother. So, she does the sensible thing: She writes a note (“Hello! I am Alice.”), tucks it into a bottle, and tosses it into the river, where it drifts out to sea, is captured by an octopus, picked up by a seagull, and arrives at a faraway lighthouse. There, François, a little dog, lives with his dad. François is everything Alice could wish for in a friend, and soon the seas are busy with their bottled correspondence. But when a big change comes, and Alice can’t bring herself to write François more letters, will the simple comforts of time, love, and friendship restore the light to Alice’s life?
We Are Going to Be Pals!
In a not-so-simple symbiotic friendship between two pals, Egret does his best to teach Rhino about how to be a friend. Friends eat together, have fun together, and help each other out, right? But they also respect boundaries, recognize their differences, and compromise (sometimes).
When Egret ends up in a sticky situation, it’s Rhino to the rescue as this unlikely pair realizes that communication and kindness are the key to any friendship.
A Best Friend for Bear
A heart-warming picture book about a charming bear duo on an adventure to find a best friend.
Black Bear is feeling lonely, so he decides to look for a friend. Luckily, he meets Brown Bear, who is in the same situation! The bears decide to search for a friend together. They search everywhere, but their elusive friend is nowhere to be found. Or have they been right there all along?
Frog and Toad Series
From writing letters to going swimming, telling stories to finding lost buttons, Frog and Toad are always there for each other—just as best friends should be.
Elephant and Piggie Series
Gerald is careful, but Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling, but Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
Do you have a friendship book that didn’t make the list? Let me know so I can check it out!
Need a book on another topic? Check out all of my book lists here.
Happy Reading, Friends!
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