15 Children's Books About Friendship

Henry is on the lookout for a friend in his classroom at school, but is repeatedly discouraged by misunderstandings. This story follows a child with autism as he works to find a just-right friend.

When Stick rescues Stone from a bully pinecone, a friendship is born. With fun rhymes and clever puns, this book shows the love between friends.

When other children show and tell in class, Dennis mimes instead, and when other children climb trees, Dennis pretends to be a tree. Eventually Dennis’s unique way of communicating leads him to feel invisible and lonely — until he meets Joy.

Clover and Annie live on either side of a fence — a fence that is meant to divide them because of race. At first the girls watch each other from afar, but then they decide that a fence like that is meant for sitting on — together.

Hector and Louie are “best friends in the universe forever and ever,” but sometimes even best friends make mistakes and have arguments.

When a girl sees a classmate getting bullied, she wonders what she can do to help. This wordless picture book shows the power of a simple act of kindness.

Katje, a Dutch girl living with post-World War II deprivations, receives a package from Rosie, a girl in Indiana. Based on a true story, this book follows the young girls’ friendship through letters to each other.

A retelling of the Aesop fable told through illustrations, this wordless picture book tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a lion and a mouse.

A playdate doesn’t go as planned when a girl and boy cannot agree on what to play. Despite some gender stereotypes, this book is relatable and entertaining.

Rabbit and Mouse plant a garden and are thrilled to enjoy their crop, but when some birds arrive, Rabbit and Mouse are less thrilled with the idea of sharing. Will they plant seeds of selfishness or seeds of kindness?

In this early chapter book, best friends Katie, Pedro, and JoJo spend the day at the beach, but Katie eats all the french fries, takes the only empty swing, and grabs the shell Pedro saw first. Finally, Pedro and JoJo decide to confront Katie about her unkindness.

Lulu and Sam want to play together at the playground, but they have opposite ideas of what sounds like fun — until an invented game of Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy brings them together.

Told in both Spanish and English, this bilingual story follows two young girls who become friends at a playground despite speaking different languages.

Birt and Etho play together in their cardboard boxes every day, but one day Shu shows up with a box and wants to join their game. Can a friendship of two become a friendship of three?

Salma and Lily are best friends at school until they have a big lunchtime disagreement: peanut butter and jelly sandwich vs. hummus and pita sandwich.