8 Picture Books About Friendship To Warm Your Heart

Rabbit is really excited about going fishing with Bear but he just doesn’t feel like it. He is sad and doesn’t understand why. Rabbit tries to do a lot of things to cheer up her friend. They try to meditate, eat healthy, learn a new hobby. But nothing seems to fix it — until they just sit in each other’s company and let each other be. That always helps! This is a sweet, tender picture book about how to help a friend who’s sad by sometimes not trying to help at all.

We watch two trios of kids on the playground, one English-speaking and another Spanish-speaking. They’re curious about each other and want to play with each other but don’t understand how to. One group invites the other for a game of jumping rope. They find a rhythm in each other’s songs even if they don’t understand the words. They also realise they laugh alike and feel like friends at the end of the game. This is a bilingual picture book that teaches us how curiosity and effort help us find common ground and friendship.

Chopsticks are the best of friends. You always see them together. But when one of them gets injured, they have to get separated. They go on their own paths and learn new things. They meet and have so much to share. This is an adorable and important story about friends who are strong together, but also strong when they are apart!

Daniela and Evelyn are best friends. They live in twin apartments across the street from each other. Their lives are different yet so similar, and they spend so much time together. But Evelyn is moving away. They say goodbye surrounded by packing boxes. They promise to stay in touch. When Evelyn leaves, Daniela thinks about how this is a friendship she will always hold dear. This soft book captures the bittersweet feeling of your friend moving away while you hold on to the joy you’ve shared.

Pointy is sad, and T. Rex wants to hug him. But T. Rex has really tiny arms and is worried he can’t. He asks everyone for advice and practices a lot of hugging. He learns to do this for his friend and goes to hug him. This picture book shows us how we sometimes do things that feel impossible to us only hoping that they’ll help our friends. The illustrations are adorable and the story warmed my heart.

Henry is looking to make a new friend in class. It can’t be the pet fish Gilly because she can’t play on the swings. It can’t be the kid who plays with worms or the ones that break rules. It can’t be the one who thinks his carpet square is a magic carpet. He finds himself watching Gilly in her bowl. Katie is watching, too. They settle into a comfortable silence, speak about Gilly, and play with blocks. Henry makes a new friend after all! This is a wholesome book about a kid with autism making a friend without anyone being wrong or anyone being right.

This picture book set in Peshawar is as heart-warming as it is heart-wrenching. Relief workers bring clothing to a refugee camp, and Lina finds a sandal that fits her perfectly. She looks for the other one and Feroza is holding the matching one. They decide to take turns wearing it as a pair. They pick alternate days for their four feet and two sandals. They share their stories and offer each other some comfort in their hard lives. When they get separated, they keep one sandal each as a reminder of their friendship.

This book is about being scared and alone. It talks about feeling different from others and finding it hard to connect. It asks you to be brave. When you share your story, somebody will see themselves in it, even if it’s in a small way. So be brave and talk about your life and experiences. It’s the day we begin to do this that we find friends.