When you’re a child, friendship can feel like a cloud. If you’re not paying attention, it may pass you by. So you want to learn to notice it, give a name to its unique shape, and bask under its shade. In other words, you want to find friends, learn about each other, and settle into shared comfort.
These social skills can only be learned with time and observation. Since we cannot have all possible experiences, some of those lessons about friendship can be learned through thoughtful picture books and insightful stories.
Here’s a list of stories that have stayed with me that will help kids of all ages navigate friendships.
 How to Two by David SomanThis picture book has minimal words and the most vibrant illustrations. It teaches us how to one by showing a kid on a slide and how to two by showing two children on a see-saw. This quickly turns into ten kids playing together. This book shows kids how to build friendship and community with simple activities. It also teaches counting and reverse counting! |
 The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Kelly DiPucchio, & Tricia TusaThis heart-warming picture book teaches us how to be curious and appreciative of our differences. Lily and Salma are best friends who do everything together. But when one of them gets a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the other gets a hummus sandwich, it feels as though they are too different. A fight breaks out. Eventually, they learn the importance of friendship and respecting each other’s cultures. |
 Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamilloRaymie decides to take things into her own hands. She has to win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire, and if she does, maybe her dad will come back home. But she has to beat Louisiana Elefante and Beverly Tapinski to do so. In the middle of a competitive environment, an unlikely friendship emerges between the three girls. Like all Kate DiCamillo books, this one will tug at your heart. |
 Harbor Me by Jacqueline WoodsonThis is Woodson’s first middle grade novel, and her work always strikes a chord. In Harbor Me, we enter the world of six eleven- and twelve-year-olds. They all struggle a bit academically. Their experimental classroom teacher leaves them in an empty room to speak among themselves. The kids call it ARTT: a room to talk. If that isn’t wholesome enough already, the kids open up to each other and unfold their stories. Someone has a dad who is in prison, and someone else is adjusting to changes in their family’s finances. This book is filled with friendship, community, and conversation while navigating difficult times. |
For more recs, check out 8 Picture Books About Friendship To Warm Your Heart, Middle Grade Books About Friendships Between Boys and our friendship books archive.
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