Books like Words to Make a Friend
By Donna Jo Napoli
For the kid who's ever felt shy about talking to someone new, this shows that a wave, a smile, and a shared pile of snow can say plenty. Cozy, wintry, and warmhearted, with a quiet sense of discovery.
A friendly zookeeper who's always on time oversleeps and misses his bus, putting a surprise he planned for his animal friends in jeopardy — so they set out to help him.
An old mailman bikes through the forest every day delivering letters that mend friendships and spark invitations among the animals — though he alone never receives any mail, until one special letter finally arrives.
A young Quaker boy on old Nantucket is trailed everywhere by a seagull he finds annoying — until the bird disappears on a cold winter day and Obadiah discovers he actually misses it.
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.
A boy who wants a dog sets out to count every dog in the neighborhood, going door to door to prove to his Grandma there aren't already enough.
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 boy's tiny pet elephant gets turned away from the neighborhood Pet Club because he's too unusual — so the boy sets out to build a club where every strange, wonderful pet belongs.
A veterinarian heading off to serve in World War I rescues a baby bear at a train station, names her Winnie after his hometown, and brings her along to war — a true story that leads all the way to a boy named Christopher Robin.
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.
The most beautiful fish in the ocean has shimmering silver scales but no friends, until he learns to share what makes him special.
A fisherman's son who spends his days alone with six cats finds a baby whale washed up after a storm and secretly brings it home to care for it — until it needs the sea again.
A girl spends her best friend's last day in the neighborhood playing among moving boxes, watching the truck swallow up furniture and memories before saying a hard goodbye.
