Books like Jamaica and Brianna: A Gentle Story of Envy, Teasing, and Winter Friendship for Kids
By Juanita Havill
For the kid who's ever felt embarrassed by hand-me-downs, this puts real jealousy and hurt feelings right on the page — and shows friendship surviving both. quiet, wintry, tender, true-to-life
An elderly man living alone decides what he needs is a cat to keep him company, and finds one in an old, comfortable companion named Tabby.
A zookeeper spends every day visiting his animal friends — racing the tortoise, sitting with the shy penguin, reading to the owl — until he wakes up too sick to come, and they decide to visit him instead.
A gorilla with nearly everything he could want is still missing one thing — a friend — so his keepers try pairing him with a tiny kitten to see what happens.
A lion wanders into the library one day, and since there aren't any rules against lions, he stays — quiet-footed, story-hour pillow, rule-follower — until an emergency forces him to break the one rule that matters.
A group of farm animals each want their dog friend Rhubarb all to themselves, until their tug-of-war love for her starts to wear her out completely.
A big sister and little brother, stung by name-calling, retreat into rival hideouts — until loneliness quietly does what arguing never could.
A little troll wakes up thrilled for his birthday, but when he goes looking for his friends in Moominvalley, every single one of them seems too busy to notice.
Two children in the segregated South spot a sign for a 'colored water' fountain and imagine something magical and rainbow-bright — only to discover a far harder truth about the world around them.
When James gets a cocker spaniel puppy named Barkis, family peace is tested because Barkis and Nell Jean's tabby kitten simply won't get along.
Three children and their pets meet up, becoming fast friends who play, squabble, laugh, and make up again, the way real friendships actually go.
A young polar bear's fishing trip with Grampa Bear is interrupted by pesky otters, sparking a gentle conversation about why we're called to love others — even when they're hard to love.
In a Dutch town still recovering after World War II, a girl receives a surprise care package from an American stranger — and a simple thank-you letter grows into an exchange of boxes that keeps getting bigger.
