Friendships are an important part of life. They can be incredibly fulfilling and wonderful. Everyone seeks after them in one form or another and I feel that they are a social need we just inherently have. I still remember my best childhood friends and am still in contact with several of them. They are relationships that I truly treasure and carry some of the greatest memories of my childhood. I want this so dearly for my children.
However, they also bear their own set of complications and forming, as well as keeping, friendships can be very daunting and intimidating to many, especially children. I feel that children can really benefit by being taught different strategies and social skills to help them in making and keeping friends. I also feel that books can be a wonderful aid for this. These some picture books about friendship that you may or may not have heard about yet that are wonderful for discussing friendship with small children. Each one highlights a different aspect or two of friendships that I mention below.
*this post contains affiliate links
“Pen Pals” by Alexandra Pichard- Ant and Octopus are pen pal friends that have a wonderful time sharing bits of their lives through the mail and learning what they have in common. A great book to teach that friendships come in all forms and that you don’t have to be the same to be friends.
“Piggy” by Trevor Lai- Piggy is a little pig with a great big heart who wants a friend desperately. He tries and tries until he finally discovers how to get the attention of a nearby cat and the two become fast friends. This is a great book for opening discussion on how to create friendships and how to find similarities in others to build off of.
“My Kite is Stuck and other Stories” by Salina Yoon- This is another adorable Duck, Duck, Porcupine book from Salina goon that features a fun group of friends. It is an early reader where the first chapter deals with solving a problem as friends, the second deals with making friends, and the third deals with teamwork.
“Mighty, Mighty Construction Site” by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichten- This is the highly anticipated sequel to “Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site” and this time loader and all his construction friends are back to work together to get a big job done. This is one of the best books on teamwork that I have seen in a while. Love it! (This book is out Feb. 14th and is available for pre-order)
“Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World” by James Sturm- Ape and Armadillo are best friends, however Armadillo’s pride and bossiness is starting to get in the way. This book is a great one for opening discussion on how to deal with disagreements and arguments with friends.
To save this list for later pin the image below:
Leave a Reply