Books like May I Bring a Friend?
By Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
For the kid who wants to bring every stuffed animal, pet, and imaginary creature along to any grown-up occasion, this book takes that impulse straight to the palace. Regal, playful, and full of gentle repetition, like a royal invitation with a wink in it.
A tiny snail longing to see the world hitches a ride on a humpback whale's tail, and together they sail to icebergs and volcanoes — until the whale gets stranded and needs the smallest friend to save her.
A baby clown bounces off the circus train and lands in a lonely farmer's empty field, and the two unlikely companions spend a day together before the clown must find his way home.
A boy strolls down Market Street from A to Z, buying a gift from each shopkeeper — who are dressed head-to-toe in exactly what they sell, from gloves to oranges to wigs.
When the Primm family moves into their new apartment on East 88th Street, they find a crocodile named Lyle living in the bathtub — and slowly, surprisingly, come to love him.
An aging donkey, dog, cat, and rooster, each cast off by masters who no longer want them, set out together for Bremen-Town to become street musicians and find a robbers' cabin standing in their way.
A fish and his best friend, a tadpole, grow up together in a pond until the tadpole becomes a frog and hops off to explore dry land, leaving the fish desperate to follow.
Two scarecrows, Betty O'Barley and Harry O'Hay, fall in love and plan a wedding in the fields, gathering the farm's animals and birds to help them celebrate.
A friendly ghost named Leo loves drawing and making snacks, but when a new family misunderstands his attempts to help, he leaves home to find where he truly belongs.
A little girl waits eagerly for a new hat from her favorite aunt, but when it arrives plain and ordinary, she sets out to make it beautiful herself.
A dragon-like creature called the Funny Thing has a habit of eating children's dolls, until a kindly old man named Bobo invents a strange new treat to change its appetite for good.
A lonely woman welcomes a traveling salesman's pets into her home one by one, but draws the line firmly at one thing: no elephants, thank you very much.
When every girl at the Paris boarding school falls sick on Christmas Eve, the smallest and bravest one stays well enough to take charge — and finds unexpected help from a magical rug-selling merchant.
