Friendship Books for Kids
372 books in friendship. Every book rated for reading level and content intensity.
Friendship books for kids span a wider readiness range than parents usually expect. The same genre category contains gentle picture books and high-intensity middle-grade novels — Lexile and grade-level scores measure text complexity, not what's actually in the story. A friendship title appropriate for a confident 8-year-old reader could still cover themes a sensitive 12-year-old isn't ready for.
Across HootRated's 372 friendship titles, books span picture books through Grade 8. About 94% are rated Gentle or Mild — safe picks for sensitive readers and kids reading ahead of their emotional readiness. 1% sit at the Intense or Very Intense end. Average content intensity is 1.4/5.
Use the intensity badges (green → red, low → high) to filter by emotional readiness rather than just age. For deeper detail on how we rate, see our rating methodology.
Just a new neighbor
Gina Mayer
Just a new neighbor
Gina Mayer
Karen's Island Adventure
Ann M. Martin
Karen's Island Adventure
Ann M. Martin
Mary Anne vs. Logan (The Baby-Sitters Club #41)
Ann M. Martin
Mary Anne vs. Logan (The Baby-Sitters Club #41)
Ann M. Martin
Karen's good-bye
Ann M. Martin
Karen's good-bye
Ann M. Martin
Karen's secret
Ann M. Martin
Karen's secret
Ann M. Martin
Karen's Kite
Ann M. Martin
Karen's Kite
Ann M. Martin
Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel
Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel
Halloween Hideout
Megan E. Bryant
Halloween Hideout
Megan E. Bryant
Lost and found
Lana. NAR needed Jacobs
Lost and found
Lana. NAR needed Jacobs
Snow day for Mouse
Judy Cox
Snow day for Mouse
Judy Cox
Moondial
Helen Cresswell
Moondial
Helen Cresswell
Gobo and the river
Joseph Killorin Brennan
Gobo and the river
Joseph Killorin Brennan
Six dogs, twenty-three cats, forty-five mice, and one hundred sixteen spiders
Mary Chalmers
Six dogs, twenty-three cats, forty-five mice, and one hundred sixteen spiders
Mary Chalmers
Cooder Cutlas
Elizabeth Bales Frank
Cooder Cutlas
Elizabeth Bales Frank
My life in the 7th grade
Mark Geller
My life in the 7th grade
Mark Geller
The Jenny summer
Carol Greene
The Jenny summer
Carol Greene
Cheer up, pig!
Nancy Jewell
Cheer up, pig!
Nancy Jewell
When the leaves begin to fall
Ulf Malmgren
When the leaves begin to fall
Ulf Malmgren
Molly Patch and her animal friends
Ben Shecter
Molly Patch and her animal friends
Ben Shecter
Just be gorgeous
Barbara Wersba
Just be gorgeous
Barbara Wersba
Little Wolf, Big Wolf
Matt Novak
Little Wolf, Big Wolf
Matt Novak
Will you be my friend?
Iwasaki, Chihiro
Will you be my friend?
Iwasaki, Chihiro
Eve's little friends
Inge Sauer
Eve's little friends
Inge Sauer
My friend Andrew
Pat Lowery Collins
My friend Andrew
Pat Lowery Collins
Dear Emily
Maureen Stewart
Dear Emily
Maureen Stewart
The moons of Madeleine
Joan Clark
The moons of Madeleine
Joan Clark
Last was Lloyd
Doris Buchanan Smith
Last was Lloyd
Doris Buchanan Smith
Jerry on the line
Brenda Seabrooke
Jerry on the line
Brenda Seabrooke
Live a little
Colin Neenan
Live a little
Colin Neenan
Marc Brown's Full house.
Marc Brown
Marc Brown's Full house.
Marc Brown
The sea serpent of Horse.
Susan Trott
The sea serpent of Horse.
Susan Trott
Above and beyond
Susan Bonners
Above and beyond
Susan Bonners
"Oh, simple!"
Jane Breskin Zalben
"Oh, simple!"
Jane Breskin Zalben
Ghosts, gadgets, and great ideas
Mary C. Ryan
Ghosts, gadgets, and great ideas
Mary C. Ryan
End of summer
Bernice Grohskopf
End of summer
Bernice Grohskopf
How to be a helper
Elsa Marston
How to be a helper
Elsa Marston
The watchers.
Barbara Rinkoff
The watchers.
Barbara Rinkoff
Petunia's treasure
Roger Duvoisin
Petunia's treasure
Roger Duvoisin
When do you snuzzle a wuzzle?
Peggy Kahn
When do you snuzzle a wuzzle?
Peggy Kahn
Seeds
George W. B. Shannon
Seeds
George W. B. Shannon
My own worst enemy
Margot McDonnell
My own worst enemy
Margot McDonnell
Molly gets mad
Suzy Kline
Molly gets mad
Suzy Kline
What if a lion eats me and I fall into a hippopotamus' mud hole?
Emily Hanlon
What if a lion eats me and I fall into a hippopotamus' mud hole?
Emily Hanlon
Lily Boop
Ellen Eichenwald Switzer
Lily Boop
Ellen Eichenwald Switzer
Castaway from Rhodes.
Jacqueline Cervon
Castaway from Rhodes.
Jacqueline Cervon
My friend from outer space
Caroline Arnold
My friend from outer space
Caroline Arnold
The closed circle
Corinne Gerson
The closed circle
Corinne Gerson
2 Sweet 2 B 4-gotten
Deirdre Corey
2 Sweet 2 B 4-gotten
Deirdre Corey
The last great summer
Stanley, Carol
The last great summer
Stanley, Carol
A horse for Matthew Allen.
Virginia Kester Smiley
A horse for Matthew Allen.
Virginia Kester Smiley
The rains of Eridan
H. M. (Helen Mary) Hoover
The rains of Eridan
H. M. (Helen Mary) Hoover
Wilkin's ghost
Robert Burch
Wilkin's ghost
Robert Burch
Meet Winslow whale
B. G. Hennessy
Meet Winslow whale
B. G. Hennessy
Paddy Pig's poems
Donald Charles
Paddy Pig's poems
Donald Charles
I hate my hero
Jacqueline Shannon
I hate my hero
Jacqueline Shannon
Shots on goal
Rich Wallace
Shots on goal
Rich Wallace
Gertrude Kloppenberg (private)
Ruth Hooker
Gertrude Kloppenberg (private)
Ruth Hooker
No friends
James Stevenson
No friends
James Stevenson
The frog and the beanpole
Charles Kaufman
The frog and the beanpole
Charles Kaufman
Bullfrog builds a house
Rosamond Dauer
Bullfrog builds a house
Rosamond Dauer
Browse all 372 friendship books
- Leo and Emily
- Rising damp
- The tin heart
- Sycamore Street
- The magic toy box
- Friend for Little Bear, A
- Just another name for lonely
- Ring! Yo?
- Amanda Pig and her best friend Lollipop
- Lee Henry's best friend
- The tale of the yellow triangle.
- Norman Rockwell's Boys and Girls at Play
- Nicole's chance
- A letter goes to sea.
- Good-bye, Kitchen
- Friends
- Will you be my brussels sprout?
- By the light of the captured moon
- The hermit of Fog Hollow Station
- Socks for supper
- The girl in the opposite bed.
- A story to tell
- Enemies
- My robot book.
- Mr. Happy at the seaside.
- Terry on the fence
- Timothy and Gramps
- Interpersonal skills for creative living
- There's an enemy sub in Potter's Pond
- Friends Forever (Brookville C.C., #5)
- The devoted friend
- Quality concealed
- Meggie Moon
- Grown-ups have more fun?
- It's Tigger time!
- A friend in need.
- Toy trouble
- Ping and Pong
- Walter and the no-need-to-worry suit
- In Another Time
- Will I Have a Friend
- Will I Have a Friend?
- Jake and Jill
- Boys and Girls, Girls and Boys
- It's Mine
- Crystal is the new girl
- Punch's secret
- Dunkard
- Tess and Ali, Going on Fifteen (Friends, No 4)
- Maggie Marmelstein for President
- Stonewords
- Sheltering Rebecca
- My Best Fiend
- The Tree Witches
- Bewitched (The Chickabees)
- Peekaboo Friends
- Horrible Harry's Secret
- CORK & FUZZ (easy to read level 3)
- Herman and Rosie
- Angelina & Alice
- What's the Time, Rory Wolf?
- Jem
- How Trollusk Got His Hat
- Ernie's Big Mess/Storybk
- Pokemon Adventure Series Box
- The Magic Friend Maker
- Cybil War
- The princess and Froggie
- Rinehart Lifts
- Meet my friends!
- Skating shoes
- More Witch, Goblin, and Ghost stories
- Friend or Frog
- Applebaum's garage
- That toad is mine
- Flea Circus Summer
- A little bit of winter
- Friendship How to Make, Keep, and Grow Your Friendships (Stories, Poems, Interviews, Advice, gifts to make and give your friends)
- The three friends go to school
- Revenge of the Snob Squad
- Friend Frog (Scholastic Audio)
- Friends to the End? The Ultimate Friendship Test
- Hello Kitty's Guide to Friends, Fun, and the Fabulous Me! (Hello Kitty)
- We Gather Together...Now Please Get Lost!
- Iggy Pig's silly day
- Marvin Redpost
- Saving Dove
- Grind
- Too many pumpkins
- Almost home
- No Time to Cry (Dawn Rochelle, Book Four)
- The girl with 500 middle names
- P'tite nouvelle La
- Workin' for peanuts
- NIGHT NOISES & OTHER MOLE & TROLL STORIE
- Wild violets
- The winning of Miss Lynn Ryan
- KISS AND MAKE UP (Seniors No 13)
- Berry best friends journal
- A promise is for keeping
- Double Trouble
- Horrible Hannah
- Maudie's Umbrella
- Captain Snap and the Children of Vinegar Lane
- After school
- Allie Finkle Blast From the Past
- Robyn (Making A Splash)
- Roscoe and the Pony Parade
- Friends
- The friendship matchmaker
- Meet the friends
- Million Ways Home
- You make me smile
- Be fair and share!
- Amigos
- Your Former Friend
- War zone
- PRINCE, THE (18 Pine St)
- ANYTHING FOR A FRIEND (Skylark)
- Broken horse
- Horse Talk
- Roosters
- The hog, the shrew and the Hullabaloo
- The Secret of the Attic
- Keep Secrets (Sweet valley twins and friends, vol 12)
- The 329th Friend
- Class Ring
- Two of a Kind
- The sleepy owl
- Patti's luck
- The Summer of the Sky-Blue Bikini
- Why the Whales Came
- Kate the boss
- Lauren's New Address
- Fear of Falling (The Gymnasts, No 16)
- The Roommate (Dear Diary #5)
- The Foxman
- Valentine Friends
- Hello, Wrong Number
- Playing Games (Totally Hot, No 6)
- Bunny Runs Away (School Friends Series)
- Best Wishes, Whoever You Are (Friends 4-Ever, No. 11)
- Hang on, Hopper!
- Veronica Meets Her Match
- Karen's twin
- Sparky & Eddie
- Best Friends (A Trumpet Club Special Edition)
- Green Angels
- Three Friends
- The Secret Summer of L.E.B.
- Billy the Great (Dell Picture Yearling)
- Anne of Green Gables (Bullseye Step Into Classics)
- Mole and Shrew Are Two (Mole & Shrew
- Money to Burn
- How Do You Spell Geek?
- Poppleton in Fall (Poppleton)
- Horrible Harry and the Purple People
- Magic or Not (Odyssey/Harcourt Young Classic)
- The High King's Daughter (Circle of Magic)
- Promise
- Rainbow Fish
- Exposed
- Pooh's Graduation (Step Into Reading: A Step 2 Book)
- Don't forget to take your umbrella
- The good greenwood
- C/o Arnold's Corners
- Fairing Weather
- Anything for a Friend
- ANYTHING FOR KELLY
- Grady the Great
- Oscar (Furry Face)
- Sticks and stones and skeleton bones
- The great mosquito, bull, and coffin caper
- The Snowchild
- I'll Meet You at the Cucumbers
- The new friend
- Little Chicken & Little Duck
- Disney Tuck-in Tales
- Little Polar Bear And The Whales
- What Newt Could Do for Turtle
- Simon and the Witch
- Just Like You
- My Friends and Me (MYBees)
- Chicken Soup for Little Souls Reader
- Do you want to play
- Tales from Martha B. Rabbit
- The Final Countdown (Triple Play: Cyberkids 3)
- Pip and Posy
- Addie Meets Max (I Can Read Book, An: Level 2)
- Crossroads
- The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
- Spongebob Squarepants
- The Best Friends' Handbook
- Little Bunny's Cool Tool Set (Concept Books (Albert Whitman))
- The Valentine Star (Kids of the Polk Street School)
- Little Gorilla
- Max and Maggie in summer
- That's What a Friend Is
- A Rainbow of Friends
- Dear God, Do You Really See Everything? (Dear God Kids Series)
- Dear God, Thank You for Friends (Dear God Kids Series)
- Don't Be My Valentine
- The Man Without a Face
- Zella, Zack and Zodiac
- Just Friends
- The Boy in the Moon
- Madagascar 3
- Burnish Me Bright
- Blaze Shows the Way
- Broken Beaks
- Elizabeth's tower
- After the Goat Man
- Burger, Fries & a Friend to Go
- The jewel of friendship
- Getting Started (Brookville C.C., No 1)
- Devori's Day (Brookville C.C., No 2)
- Anastasia Morningstar and the Crystal Butterfly
- Ernie's Nursery Rhymes (Sesame Street Musical Storybook/#xa1002)
- Knick Knack Paddy Whack
- One Good Friend
- The Friend Factory
- Maddie
- Kizzi's special Friends
- Hana And The Honu
- Rosetta stones
- The Baby Unicorn
- Friendshape
- The Breakaways
- Too much Pinky Ponk juice!
- Relationships
- Those Shoes
- Cassies Crush
- Equestria Girls
- Now you see me
- Mickey's new friend
- That's Not Funny, Bunny!
- Moon rabbit
- King of Nothing
- Handsprings and Homework
- Not so fast, Bash and Dash!
- Alexis and the perfect recipe
- The Romeo Catchers
- Minecraft
- Show Your Love! (Shimmer and Shine) (Big Golden Book)
- Seaponies Make a Splash! (My Little Pony: the Movie)
- Unfamiliar Volume 2
- Maker Girl and Professor Smarts
- Worst Friends Forever
- Trolls Holiday
- Shadowplay
- Luca
- To the Rescue
- How to Start Kindergarten
- The Marvellous Mongolian
- My Rainbow Friends
- Share with a Friend Love Above All
- Hobee Scrogneenee ("Hobee Scrogneenee" Series)
- SAT Vocabulary-Building Novel
- Young White Thunder
- Young Peggy Porcupine (Young Animal Pride Series)
- Friendship
- Running away (The B.Y. Times kid sisters)
- Teacher's pet (The B.Y. Times kid sisters)
- The New B. Y. Times No. 18
- Black Beauty (Dalmatian Press Adapted Classic)
- Little Puddle 7" Plush
- The First Starry Night
- Firecracker
- Friendship
- Helping Sophia (Main Street School) (Main Street School)
- Staged life
- Project friendship
- Make up or Break Up
- The B.Y. Times kid sisters
- My Little Pony
- My Little Pony Friends Forever
- Cold Moon
- Dragon in the Castle?
- Friendship Bridge
- Soft and Sticky
- Shark Wants a Friend, Level 3
- Whoops (Toddler Books)
- The six bad boys
- Someone I Like
- Making Friends (Growing Up)
- Go Away! (Good Friends)
- Boy Proof
- Gruff the Grump
- Alfie Kitten makes a friend
- I wish I'd been born a unicorn
- Emily and Alice
- Emily and Alice again
- Home Run
- Fluffy and Sparky
- Secret gardens
- A little in love
- Finding Freia Lockhart
- Pookie and Tushka find a little piano
- Four good friends and a boat
- Freestyle with Avery (Beacon Street Girls) (Beacon Street Girls)
- The giving me
- My pal, Victor
- Off the wall
- Little Dead Riding Hood
- Little Dead Riding Hood
- Tilly the Troll's Shopping Spree
- Pits Neue Freunde
- Magnus the Viking (The Adventures of Magnus the Viking)
- Going on Twelve
- Hamamelis, Miosotis Y El Senor Sorpresa/Hamamelis Miosotis and Mr Surprise
- Third Grade Is Terrible
- Ernie's Nursery Rhymes (Sesame Street Musical Storybook)/#Gnl154
Questions parents ask about friendship books
- What are the best friendship books for kids?
- HootRated catalogs 372 friendship children's books spanning picture books through Grade 8. Each is rated on reading level and content intensity. The picks above are sorted by quality signals — hook factor, discussion potential, and content appropriateness.
- Are friendship books appropriate for sensitive readers?
- 351 books (94%) are rated Gentle or Mild — safe for sensitive readers. 2 (1%) are rated Intense or Very Intense. Average intensity is 1.4/5. Filter by intensity badge to match your child's emotional readiness.
- What reading level are friendship books?
- Friendship books in our catalog span picture books through Grade 8. The typical reading level lands around Grade 3. Reading level measures text difficulty — separate from content intensity, which measures emotional weight. The two often don't track together for gifted readers — the Gifted Kid Paradox.