Books like Edwina, the Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct
By Mo Willems
For the kid who argues facts to the bitter end, here's a story that asks whether being right is the same as being kind. Playful, deadpan, quietly thought-provoking
Same warm neighborhood welcome for the odd newcomer, but We Are Definitely Human by X. Fang lets the whole town play along with the joke.
Edwina never doubts she belongs. Please Don't Tell Cooper He's a Dog by Michelle Lander Feinberg takes that same confidence and hands it to a dog who insists he's basically a person.
The Christmas Crocodile by Bonny Becker has that same big-loved-outsider heart, dialed up with a houseful of relatives arguing about what to do with him.
Same one-dinosaur-against-everyone setup, but Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson rhymes its way through the standing out instead of arguing it away.
Reginald's the skeptic here; in Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester the doubter is a bully, and getting proven wrong feels even sweeter.
A young bunny tired of cooked carrots and his big ears decides to leave home and try life as a bear, a bird, or a pig instead — searching for where he really belongs.
A shelter dog named Latke joins a family on the first night of Hanukkah and stumbles his way through the holiday, causing mishap after mishap while somehow staying one lucky pup.
Instead of one skeptic to win over, The Princess and the Pony by Kate Beaton gives you a princess who has to accept the pony she never wanted.
Edwina's cookies win the whole neighborhood over. In The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, one mother cooks around every kid's stubborn taste until the chaos becomes a birthday.
Where Edwina's story turns on one stubborn holdout, Good News, Bad News by Jeff Mack runs the whole thing on two friends who see everything totally differently.
Reginald needs proof before he'll accept Edwina. Enemy Pie by Derek Munson skips the arguing and just makes the holdout spend a day playing with his enemy.
Making a friend takes careful planning here too, though Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend by Mélanie Watt spends its energy worrying before the friendship instead of after.
