Do you want children’s books that will encourage friendship in your elementary classroom? Try these 9 picture books that will inspire your students to become friends!
Back to school is the perfect time to help your students bond with each other. These 9 books can spark great discussions and lead to a more accepting, inclusive classroom.
Friendship Building Books
Friendship Book 1
What If We Were All the Same! by C.M. Harris is a fun rhyming book that explains why there are so many great reasons for being different. This colorful book helps students see why being the same would be boring and no fun!
Book 2
There is room for everyone! The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates is all about inclusion and welcoming others.
This a great book to read at the beginning of the school year as you build an inclusive classroom where everyone feels welcome.
Book 3
A Little Spot of Belonging: A Story About Being True to Yourself and Making Friends by Diane Alber is another great book that shows the importance of including others and being kind. This book can also help your students make friends.
Book 4
A Friend Like You by Frank Murphy and Charnaie Gordon celebrates friendship! Friends who are alike and friends who are different are all important in this charming book. Students will enjoy hearing about friendship.
Book 5
A Friend for Henry by Jenn Bailey will help students see from the perspective of a boy on the autism spectrum. This beautiful, heart-warming book is all about the joy of friendship and the desire to make friends.
Book 6
Can two completely different individuals be friends? Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry is all about helping others and having a best friend. Students will love the simple rhyming text and teachers will love the message of kindness and compassion.
Book 7
Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship by Edward Hemingway is about the unlikely friendship between an apple and a worm. This book is also a great way to bring up the topic of bullies. Mac, the apple, is ridiculed and bullied because of his friendship with Will, the worm. At first he doesn’t know what to do. In the end, he decides he wants to continue his friendship with Will.
Book 8
Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel is a beloved classic. This book shows that even unlikely pairs can be best friends. Students will love hearing this as a read-aloud but will also enjoy reading this one on their own.
Book 9
Teamwork to the rescue! How the Crayons Saved the Rainbow by Monica Sweeney is about a huge fight between friends and the kind intervention of a caring group.
Sun and Clouds are best friends. They do everything together, including warming the world, growing gardens, and creating rainbows. When they have a huge fight, they refuse to work together any longer.
No more rainbows! Without rainbows, all the colors in the world start to disappear, until all color is gone. All colors, except one forgotten box of crayons in a school desk.
These little crayons work together to save the day!
This children’s book is a great way to encourage friendships and teamwork in your classroom.
Conclusion
All nine of these children’s books will encourage friendship. These great books can help you build an accepting, inclusive classroom where everyone feels welcome.