STORIES ABOUT BEING FRIENDS FOR CHILDREN

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Stories About Being Friends and Getting Along

The following titles can be found in the picture books, (J Picture):

• Ada, Alma Flor. FRIEND FROG
  A field mouse and frog learn to be friends by sharing their talents and knowledge with each other.
• Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta. THE MINE-O-SAUR
  A group of dinosaurs is playing in the schoolyard when the Mine-o-saur arrives. He snatches all the toys, grabs all the snacks, and hoards the blocks. Soon enough, no one wants to play with him.
• Blos, Joan W. OLD HENRY
  Different kinds of people learn to get along in this story of Henry, the man who comes to live in the house that had been empty for years.
• Burningham, John. MR. GUMPY'S OUTING
  When Mr. Gumpy takes some children and enthusiastic animals for a boat ride, they all learn about the importance of getting along.
• Choldenko, Gennifer. HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH A GIANT
  The other kids make fun of the new boy because he is so tall, but his short classmate Jake helps him fit in.
• Perry Heide, Florence. THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR
  The tale of an elephant, his well-meaning friends, and an opossum that reminds them all what being a real friend means.
• Jahn-Clough, Lisa. MY FRIEND AND I
  A young girl makes friends with the new boy next door. One day, the boy does not share a new toy and they fight, only to discover that fighting is no fun.
• Jones, Rebecca C. MATTHEW AND TILLY
  Best friends Matthew and Tilly find the busy city to be lonely when they get in a fight with each other.
• Lester, Helen. A PORCUPINE NAMED FLUFFY
  A porcupine named Fluffy and a rhinoceros named Hippo become best of friends.
• Marshall, James. GEORGE AND MARTHA
  George, the hippopotamus, tries hard not to hurt the feelings of his friend, Martha.
• McDonnell, Patrick. SOUTH
  Mooch the cat helps a lonely bird find its flock, which has flown south for the winter.
• Michelin, Linda. ZUZU'S WISHING CAKE
  What Zuzu wants, Zuzu makes. But making a friend of the boy next door turns out to be harder than she thought.
• O'Neill, Alexis. THE WORST BEST FRIEND
  When a new boy named Victor arrives at school, Conrad temporarily forgets about his best friend Mike.
• Raschka, Chris. YO, YES
  Using very few words, two boys decide to become friends.
• Robbins, Jacqui. THE NEW GIRL - AND ME
  Ms. Becky tells her class to make Shakeeta, the new girl at school, feel at home.
• Rohmann, Eric. MY FRIEND RABBIT
  When Mouse lets his best friend, Rabbit, play with his brand-new airplane, trouble isn't far behind.
• Vaccaro Seeger, Laura. DOG AND BEAR: TWO FRIENDS, THREE STORIES
  Three sweet, funny stories about a stuffed bear and a frisky dachshund that happen to be best friends.
• Segal, John. THE LONELY MOOSE
  Moose likes spending his quiet days alone, but when he rescues a bird that cannot fly, an unlikely friendship is born.
• Seuss, Dr. HORTON HEARS A WHO
  Horton, the elephant, protects a city of tiny creatures called Whos from total destruction.
• Simmons, Jane. TOGETHER
  Mousse and Nut love walking together, playing together, and laughing together. Everything is wonderful-- until they start to notice there are some things they just can't do together.
• Smallman, Steve. THE LAMB WHO CAME TO DINNER
  Wolf is really hungry for his favorite meal--lamb stew! A cold, shivering lamb knocks on his door looking for shelter from the winter storm outside. So begins a funny tale of friendship.
• Thayer, Jane. THE POPCORN DRAGON
  When the young dragon Dexter shows off his ability to make smoke clouds, he loses his friends. However, he discovers how to win them back by using his talent in a new way.
• Ziefert, Harriet. 39 USES FOR A FRIEND
  Brief text describes the little things friends do for each other, like being an alarm clock, back scratcher, comedian, worm handler, listener, and more.

The following titles can be found in Easy Readers (JE):

• Lobel, Arnold. FROG AND TOAD ARE FRIENDS
  Five tales recounting the adventures of two best friends - Frog and Toad.
• Willems, Mo. I WILL SURPRISE MY FRIEND!
  Best friends Elephant and Piggie decide that they will try to surprise each other, with unexpected results.

The following titles can be found in Picture Plus (JP+):

• Larson, Kirby. TWO BOBBIES: A TRUE STORY OF HURRICANE KATRINA, FRIENDSHIP AND SURVIVAL
  Bobbi (the dog) and Bob Cat are the best of friends. When their hometown of New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina, Bobbi and Bob Cat only survived by staying together. This is the story of their remarkable friendship.
• Michelson, Richard. ACROSS THE ALLEY
  Abe's grandfather wants him to be a violinist while Wille's father plans for him to be a great baseball pitcher, but it turns out that the two boys are more talented when they switch hobbies.
• Lynn Williams, Karen. FOUR FEET, TWO SANDALS
  Two young Afghani girls living in a refugee camp in Pakistan share a precious pair of sandals brought by relief workers.

The following titles can be found in Non-Fiction:

• Grimes, Nikki. MY MAN BLUE: POEMS
  A collection of poems describes a young boy's life with his working mother as he establishes his own identity and develops a close relationship with his mother's friend, Blue. (J 811.5 G)
• Katz, Bobbi. COULD WE BE FRIENDS? POEMS FOR PALS
  A collection of poems describing different kinds of friendships including those with other children, siblings, pets, grandparents, and neighbors. (J 811.5 K)
• Greenfield, Eloise. THE FRIENDLY FOUR
  Through individual poems, friends Drum, Dorene, Louis, and Rae spend the summer together exploring their friendship, family, and community. (J 811.54 G)

In Poetry, (J 808.81 B):

• Chorao, Kay. THE BOOK OF GIVING: POEMS OF THANKS, PRAISE AND CELEBRATION
  The poems in this illustrated collection encourage children to think about many aspects of giving.