Friendship Stories
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-- School Library Journal, 3/26/2008 2:48:00 PM
There is nothing more comforting than knowing that, no matter what, your best friend will always be there for you. Characters from the titles below demonstrate some of the most important aspects of a good friendship, such as compassion, loyalty, and humor. Differences between these friends are in many cases what drew them together in the first place, highlighting the importance of being open to new people and experiences.
CHOLDENKO, Gennifer. How to Make Friends with a Giant. illus. by Amy Walrod. Putnam. 2007. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-399-23779-9.
K-Gr 2–When the class “shrimp” befriends the new kid, who happens to be a “giant,” Jake and Jacomo learn to accentuate the positive in their relative statures and work around the difficulties presented by their differences. In scenes that will be familiar to young ones, both Jake and Jacomo endure the sting of being the last kid picked for the soccer team, being teased for their size, and just plain not fitting in. A good tool for teaching about bullying, too.
HARPER, Charise Mericle. Still Just Grace. illus. by author. Houghton. 2007. Tr $15. ISBN 978-0-618-64643-2.
Gr 2-4–New and emerging readers with the best friend blues will appreciate the story of third-grader Grace (called Just Grace to differentiate her from Grace W., Gracie, and Grace F.), who worries when a new boy moves in next door and throws her social order out of whack. Grace’s doodles are scattered through the text, which truly capture the brainwave action of girls in this age group. A great read-aloud, especially for expressive readers!
HUGHES, Susan. Earth to Audrey. illus. by Stephane Poulin. Kids Can. 2005. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-55337-843-3.
Gr 1-4–Audrey’s wild red pigtails only hint at her eccentricities–and Ray can’t resist trying to find out what his summer neighbor is up to! Convinced she is an alien, and worth investigating, Ray soon befriends Audrey and they become inseparable. Through her eyes, he sees the world around him in a whole different way and discovers he is proud to call her his friend.
ROHMANN, Eric. My Friend Rabbit. illus. by author. Millbrook/Roaring Brook. 2002. Tr $17.95. ISBN 978-0-7613-1535-3; pap. $5.95. ISBN 978-1-59643-080-8.
PreS-Gr 1–This nearly wordless book shows the strength of friendship on many levels. Rabbit and Mouse are friends despite Rabbit’s penchant for trouble. When Rabbit gets Mouse into yet another pickle, he focuses on remedying the situation, which is what friends do for each other, after all.
SCIESZKA, Jon. Cowboy & Octopus. illus. by Lane Smith. Viking. 2007. RTE $16.99. ISBN 978-0-670-91058-8.
Gr 1-4–Cowboy thinks Octopus is the bomb after he “fixes” the seesaw. They bond quickly over many handshakes, and begin learning about each while sharing stories about beans, Halloween costumes, and knock-knock jokes. Smith’s cut-out Western hero and creature of the deep break out of their wooden poses against colorful collage backgrounds, adding to the humor in this delightful tale of an unlikely friendship.
WILLEMS, Mo. My Friend Is Sad. illus. by author. Hyperion. 2007. Tr $8.99. ISBN 978-1-4231-0297-7.
PreS-Gr 4–When Elephant appears to be inconsolable, Pig pulls out all the stops to cheer him up–dressing like a cowboy, doing clown tricks, and acting like a robot. But when nearsighted Elephant confesses that he just wants to be with Pig, the two friends find that the solution was right there in front of Elephant the whole time.
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