Eight picture books for a classroom unit on friendship, kindness, and working out conflict, chosen so a mixed room can meet the same lesson at different levels. Pick each one by the exact lesson you need that day. An elephant who dithers too long over sharing, a boy who cooks up a plan to get rid of an enemy, a stick and a stone who stand up for each other, a rabbit who just sits and listens when everything falls apart, a gentle old zookeeper whose animals nurse him back to health, two best friends who make room for a very different third, a boy turned away for his pet elephant who builds a club where all belong, and a girl who learns too late what her unkindness cost. Together they give a class the words for making friends, mending a falling-out, and choosing kindness before the chance is gone.
This is a classroom text set, so different children can read different books at the same time and still be in the same lesson. Pick each one by the exact skill you're teaching. Some are the gentlest possible entry, an elephant learning to share, a stick and a stone becoming friends, and some carry real weight, a girl who realizes too late that she was never kind to the new girl. Reach for Should I Share My Ice Cream? or Chester's Way for making and keeping friends, Enemy Pie or Stick and Stone for turning a rival into a friend, The Rabbit Listened for comforting a friend who's hurting, A Sick Day for Amos McGee for what friends do when one of them is down, Strictly No Elephants for including the child left out, and Each Kindness when your class is ready to face what unkindness really costs. What holds them together isn't difficulty, it's one question asked eight ways: how do we treat each other well? Hand each child the book that fits their level, and keep the whole room pointed at the same conversation.