11 Books on Friendship for Preschool Children You’ll Absolutely Love

Teaching friendship in the preschool setting is so important and adding books on friendship into your lessons is a must! With preschool friendship books, you can discuss so many different ideas, like kindness, boundaries, empathy, social skills, what makes a good friend and so much more!

It is always a great idea to include picture books on friendship in your lesson plans to help little ones see how different situations play out in terms of friendship. There are so many books that help teach young learners about friendship. 

You’ll want to include books that allow students to put themselves in the situation of the characters. Picture books that bring up good conversations around the idea of friendship and exactly how to handle the ups and downs of forming friendships. Here are some awesome books on friendship for preschool that will get your preschoolers thinking and talking about what it means to be a good friend.

The Best Preschool Books about Friendship

Here are some of my favorite preschool friendship books, which help teach friendship and allow for great discussions around the topic! 

1. Enemy Pie

It was the perfect summer. However, that all changes when a new kid moves in down the street and becomes the neighborhood enemy. Hopefully, some enemy pie will help solve the problem!  This funny and endearing story will help all of your preschoolers realize a new friend may not be who they thought they’d be! 

2. Stick And Stone

Stick helps Stone get out of a sticky situation with a pinecone, but when Stick gets stuck, Stone wonders if he’ll be able to help his friend and return the favor. This book allows students to see how helping others and showing kindness can help them look for new friends. 

3. Strictly No Elephants

The pet club is not very inclusive. They allow rabbits, dogs, cats, and more into their club. But, sadly, no elephants are allowed. They do not realize pets come in different sizes, shapes, and colors, just like new friends. One tiny boy and his elephant are determined to change the club’s mind and show them what a true friend is made of. 

4. Nothing Rhymes with Orange

Nothing rhymes with orange, and that makes orange feel pretty left out. The fruit parade gets together to sing a song about how wonderful they are. The problem is, the song rhymes, and orange feels like he’ll never fit in. But maybe one of the fruits just happens to notice how orange is feeling. It is a great book that helps support children who may feel like they do not fit in with their peers and how others can help include them! 

5. My Mouth Is A Volcano

Sometimes kids can not control their voice, and Louis interrupts constantly! He has to share his thoughts, but he doesn’t realize how sometimes you need to take turns. When friends start to interrupt Louis, he learns to be more respectful with his voice.

6. The Rainbow Fish

Making friends should be easy for such a beautiful fish. Unfortunately, Rainbow Fish thinks he is a little more beautiful and better than the other fish in the sea, and he quickly realizes that being beautiful will not help him find playmates. 

7. How To Lose All Your Friends

This book shines a light on some unwanted behavior students often show in school and helps open the discussion about the correct behavior students should show in the classroom.

8. Peanut Butter & Cupcake

Peanut Butter feels lonely and wants to find a new friend, but that can be tricky! Everyone around him is busy. Hamburger has to walk his hotdogs, and Cupcake is building castles in her sprinkle box. Will peanut butter find the one he is looking for? Readers will follow peanut butter on his friendship journey. 

9. Duck & Goose

Duck and Goose are two birds who mistake a ball for an egg and have to cooperate and share to take care of it. But, they learn friendship is not always easy. Children will be able to recognize themselves in this story and learn from the story of Duck and Goose. 

10. Friends

Oscar has moved to a new place, and like a lot of other kids in his position, he wanted to make some new friends. However, he is just not sure he wants to play with any of them when they do not want to go swimming. Will Oscar find the perfect friend?

11. My Friend is Sad

Gerald, the elephant, is not feeling very happy, and Piggie is determined to find a way to cheer him up. He dresses up as a cowboy, clown, and robot. But does any of it work? This book will bring a smile to even the most pessimistic reader. 

Preschool Friendship Books

Finding friendship books for preschool is no easy task. You want to make sure they are relatable and your students are able to easily understand the topic they are trying to teach them about. Plus, the best preschool books about friendship are filled with pictures to keep your students engaged and wanting to read more. Your little learners are going to love these friendship books and you will too! 

💖 Final Note:

If you are pressed for time and need some friendship classroom resources to complement your unit on friendships, check out these lessons and activities in my: Activities on Friendship BUNDLE. Check out the preview video below for more details👇🏼

If you enjoyed reading about books on friendship for preschool, check out some of my other blog posts about friendships below: 👇🏼

1. 7 Fun and Engaging Activities about Friendship for Preschool Classrooms
2. 3 Main Areas to Focus on When Teaching Friendship Skills to Preschoolers
3. 5 Ways to Easily Fit Preschool Friendship Activities into Your Day