Your child comes home saying they have no one to play with — the new one, the shy one, the one who tries so hard it comes out wrong. This is a shelf of six books, each a different corner of that ache. Pick the one that fits your child. If you only want one and you're not sure where to start, the funny early reader at the top is the softest way in. Each book takes a different shape of the same hard thing — being left out, being the new child, being different, not knowing how — and none of them pretend it's easy.
This is a shelf, and you pick by which corner of 'friendship is hard' your child is standing in right now. My New Friend Is So Fun! is the softest and the funniest, the easiest to read alone, for the child afraid a friend will replace them. Enemy Pie is for the child who's sure someone is their enemy, and shows the fastest way to lose one. Frog and Toad Are Friends is the warm, low-stakes picture of what an easy friendship simply feels like, a good breather. Chester's Way is for the careful child who thinks friends have to match, and for the different one being kept outside. The Name Jar is for the new child, new to the school or the country, who's been teased for being unfamiliar. And Making Friends Is an Art! is the plain how-to for the child who wants friends and truly doesn't know the steps. Hand your child the one that fits, and leave the rest on the shelf for another week.