Books About Friendship & Social Skills
Page 1 of 44 · sorted by reading level
Stories about making friends, navigating conflict, and learning to get along.
4,384 books
This collection of 4,384 books about friendship & social skills spans picture books through Grade 10. Reading level alone doesn't tell parents whether a book is right for a child — text difficulty and emotional weight grow at different rates, especially for strong, twice-exceptional, or sensitive readers. HootRated rates every book on this list for both, so you can match to your child's actual readiness on both axes.
Across this list, 89% of the titles are rated Gentle or Mild — appropriate for sensitive readers or kids reading ahead of their emotional comfort zone. 1% are rated Intense or Very Intense, with heavier thematic territory for readers ready to tackle weighty subjects. Average content intensity for the list is 1.6/5.
Use the intensity badges (color-coded green → red) to filter by emotional readiness rather than just age. For more on what each intensity level means, see our rating methodology.
Animal Sounds
Claudette C. Mitchell, Patricia Tefft Cousin, Gracie R. Porter
A Bad, Bad Day
Kirsten Hall
At the Park
Peter Sloan, Sheryl Sloan, Sundance/Newbridge LLC Staff
Where is Max?
Mary Pearson
Mat in the hat
Penny Hansen Findlay
New At The Zoo (New Reader Series)
Frank B. Edwards, Mickey Edwards
At the playground
Patricia Tefft Cousin
Ella Sarah gets dressed
Margaret Chodos-Irvine
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's dairy
Lynley Dodd
My little brother Ben
Karen Cogan
National Geographic Readers
Susan B. Neuman
Pocket for Corduroy
Don Freeman
Snowy Day
Ezra Jack Keats
Splendid Friend, Indeed
Suzanne Bloom
Stellaluna
Janell Cannon
The Little Runaway (Modern Curriculum Press Beginning to Read Series)
Margaret Hillert
The hat
Penny Hansen Findlay
Where's My Teddy?
Jez Alborough
A fox
Alice K. Flanagan
City Train
Adria F. Klein
Cooking with the Cat
Bonnie Worth
Little Critter's the Picnic (Mercer Mayer's Little Critter)
Mercer Mayer
Oxford Reading Tree: Level 3: Stories: A Cat in the Tree
Roderick Hunt
The Three Little Pigs (Modern Curriculum Press Beginning to Read Series)
Margaret Hillert
The bad men
Penny Hansen Findlay
The men
Penny Hansen Findlay
We Love You, Little Critter!
Mercer Mayer
Who is coming?
Patricia McKissack
Andy & Sandy's anything adventure
Tomie dePaola
Big Train Takes a Trip
Adria F. Klein
Biscuit and the Little Pup
Alyssa Satin Capucilli
City Train in trouble
Adria F. Klein
Cleo on the move
Stella Blackstone
Little Lizard's family fun
Melinda Melton Crow
Little Lizard's new friend
Melinda Melton Crow
Playground Games
Tracy Nelson Maurer
Sam
Alice K. Flanagan
Who is Little
Agatha Brown
A House for Little Red (Modern Curriculum Press Beginning to Read Series)
Margaret Hillert
Alexander ant cools off
Bloksberg Robin
Andy & Sandy and the first snow
Tomie dePaola
Big Dog and Little Dog
Dav Pilkey
Carl and the puppies
Alexandra Day
Case of the Mixed Socks
Cecilia Minden
Case of the Stuck Truck
Cecilia Minden
I love Easter!
Hans Wilhelm
Little Lizard's big party
Melinda Melton Crow
Meet the Little Engine that could
Watty Piper
Put It Back
Roderick Hunt
Sam's Cap
Dominie Elementary
Turn it off!
David F. Marx
Wait, skates!
Mildred D. Johnson
Whose Hat Is It? (My First I Can Read)
Valeri Gorbachev
3, 2, 1, go!
Emily Arnold McCully
Bad Kitty does not like snow
Nick Bruel
Big Dog and Little Dog Getting in Trouble (Reader)
Dav Pilkey
Brave Mary
Larry Dane Brimner
Dear dragon's colors 1, 2, 3
Margaret Hillert
Dogs
Lisa J. Amstutz
Full Freight Train
Adria F. Klein
Honeybees
Lisa J. Amstutz
Little Critter's staying overnight
Mercer Mayer
Little Lizard's New Shoes
Melinda Melton Crow
Little Lizard's first day
Melinda Melton Crow
MY LITTLE MOUSE
Pauline Cartwright
Math with wheels
Rory McDonnell
Please write back!
J. E. Morris
Santa's little engine
Tom LaPadula
Shy Little Kitten
Kristen L. Depken
The Case of the Lost Hen
Cecilia Minden
The Case of the Lost Pup
Cecilia Minden
The Little Bear Book
Anthony Browne
The Magic Nutcracker (Follett Just Beginning-to-Read Book)
Margaret Hillert
Troubles with Bubbles
Frank B. Edwards
What's in the pond, dear dragon?
Margaret Hillert
A Bad Day
Elaine Simpson, Joy Cowley
A big guy took my ball! sike
Mo Willems
Andy & Sandy and the big talent show
Tomie dePaola
Biscuit Wins a Prize (My First I Can Read)
Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Case of the Lost Frog
Cecilia Minden
Clara and Clem under the Sea
Ethan Long
Dogs
Alice K. Flanagan
Duck and Goose Give A Party
Wendi Silvano
Fancy Nancy
Jane O'Connor
I Really Like Slop!
Mo Willems
I am caring
Sarah L. Schuette
I will take a nap!
Mo Willems
I'll wait, Mr. Panda
Steve Antony
I'm a Unicorn
Mallory Loehr
Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill
Martha Weston
Kitty Cat And The Paint
Rigby
Legends of Zita the spacegirl
Ben Hatke
Little Critter sleeps over
Mercer Mayer
Little Duck and Little Goose
Wendy Silvano
Little Fish and Big Fish
Lou Treleaven
Max goes on the bus
Adria F. Klein
Max goes to school
Adria F. Klein
Mice on ice
Rebecca Emberley
On Vacation
Peter Sloan & Sheryl Sloan
Piper and Emma
Cecilia Minden
For teens (ages 13+)
745 more books on this list are written for readers 13 and up. A few of them:
I date dead people
Ann Kerns
I date dead people
Ann Kerns
I love him to pieces
Evonne Tsang
I love him to pieces
Evonne Tsang
Bully #1
Greg Pak
Bully #1
Greg Pak
The Dark Side Of Magic
Peter Lancett
The Dark Side Of Magic
Peter Lancett
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Asterix the Gaul (Asterix)
René Goscinny
Asterix the Gaul (Asterix)
René Goscinny
One of us is lying
Karen M. McManus
One of us is lying
Karen M. McManus
Zombie Boys #1
Greg Pak
Zombie Boys #1
Greg Pak
Nightschool
Svetlana Chmakova
Nightschool
Svetlana Chmakova
Dont Get Caught
Eleanor Robins
Dont Get Caught
Eleanor Robins
Made for each other
Paul D. Storrie
Made for each other
Paul D. Storrie
Pay Back
Eleanor Robins
Pay Back
Eleanor Robins
Straight Out of Brooklyn #6
Saladin Ahmed
Straight Out of Brooklyn #6
Saladin Ahmed
Double-Cross
Eleanor Robins
Double-Cross
Eleanor Robins
Every You, Every Me
David Levithan
Every You, Every Me
David Levithan
Heartstopper
Alice Oseman
Heartstopper
Alice Oseman
Last night I sang to the monster
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Last night I sang to the monster
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Mighty Jack and the Goblin King
Ben Hatke
Mighty Jack and the Goblin King
Ben Hatke
The end or something like that
Ann Dee Ellis
The end or something like that
Ann Dee Ellis
The inexplicable logic of my life
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
The inexplicable logic of my life
Benjamin Alire Sáenz
You've Found Oliver
Dustin Thao
You've Found Oliver
Dustin Thao
Friend Or Foe
Eleanor Robins
Friend Or Foe
Eleanor Robins
Pearl
Sherri L Smith
Pearl
Sherri L Smith
No Exceptions
Eleanor Robins
No Exceptions
Eleanor Robins
Questions parents ask about this list
- What's on this books about friendship & social skills list?
- Books About Friendship & Social Skills contains 4,384 books spanning picture books through Grade 10. Stories about making friends, navigating conflict, and learning to get along. Every book on the list is rated for reading level and content intensity so you can pick what matches your child.
- What age range is appropriate for this list?
- Books on this list span picture books through Grade 10. 3,898 (89%) are rated Gentle or Mild; 55 (1%) are rated Intense or Very Intense. Average intensity is 1.6/5. Match the intensity badge to your child's emotional readiness.
- How is this list curated?
- HootRated rates every book on this list for both reading level (text difficulty) and content intensity (emotional weight) — the two axes parents need to choose books. See our methodology for how books make a curated list.