Books like Stick and Stone: Best Friends Forever!
By Beth Ferry
For the kid who counts best friends as family, this is a gentle reminder that showing up matters more than showing where you're from. Tender, a little wistful, warmed by friendship.
A baby owl tumbles from his nest and, with help from a new friend named Squirrel, searches the forest for anyone who matches his description of Mommy — big, pointy-eared, or otherwise.
A little girl heads to a crowded Tehran bazaar with her grandmother and worries about getting lost, imagining silly ways to hide under her grandmother's chador instead.
A big friendly bear heads to the swimming hole and notices someone shy rustling in the trees and scampering through the brush — who could this mysterious new creature be?
A bulldog puppy raised among poodle sisters works hard to sip, yip, and walk with grace — until a park meeting with a bulldog family reveals a baby mix-up, and everyone must decide what makes a family.
A friendly monster arrives from Planet Tickle with one mission: to tickle whichever child is following along, turning the grown-up reading aloud into the monster's own tickling hands.
A toy bear waits on a department store shelf night after night, hoping someone will love him despite his missing button — until a little girl named Lisa decides he's exactly the bear she wants.
As night falls and the woods grow cold, a big bear loses his way on a crooked trail — so his friends take to the sky and ground until they find him and bring him safely home.
A independent dog named Crispin's Crispian, who belongs to himself and answers to no one, runs bang into a little boy who also belongs to himself — and the two decide to share a home.
A young girl moves from Hong Kong to America knowing only a handful of English words, and finds a piece of home waiting inside her lunchbox every day.
A man and his dog set out in a rowboat with lunch for three, only to get launched airborne when a playful whale surfaces right beneath them.
An earthworm named Carl loves tunneling through the soil until a field mouse asks him why he does it — sending Carl on a search through the forest to discover his true purpose.
Dragons love tacos more than anything, so a party planner throws them a giant taco party — but forgets that spicy salsa turns dragons into fire-breathing disasters.
