Social Skills Book List

Compiled for grades K-3 by Laura Perkins,
Social Worker, The Franklin School

Click on column headings to sort

Category	Title	Author	Grades	Description
Chal. Sit.	I Don't Want To!	Grindley, Sally	K	A child is able to change his negative feelings about trying new things, when he finds out he is actually enjoying school.
Conscience	Jamaica's Find	Havill, Juanita	K-3	A girl has to make the choice between what she wants for herself and what, she knows in her heart is the right thing to do. A conscience story.
Conflict	Jamaica's Blue Marker	Havill, Juanita	K-3	A Conflict arises from a judgmental remark made by one child about another child's work. Great for discussing respect for other people's work, and assumptions, as a number of them are made in the story. Also deals with the feelings children have when they are moving away. The conflict is resolved when the children have a little more understanding of one another. Good conflict story.
Gender	Oliver Button Is A Sissy	De Paola, Tomie	K-3	A boy is teased by other boys because he takes dance classes, and doesn't participate in boyish activities. His classmates change their attitudes about him when they see what a good dancer he is. Great for discussions about gender issues, assumptions, and changing one's feelings about someone.
Friendship	Lizzy and Harold	Winthrop, Elizabeth	K-2	In the struggle to find a "best friend," a girl overlooks the fact that she already has one.
Friendship	The Best Friend's Club	Winthrop, Elizabeth	K-3	When clubs are exclusive, feelings are hurt and, in this case, nobody wins until Lizzie is able to change her ideas about club rules. Great for discussion about clubs, leaving people out, jealousy, exclusiveness, discrimination. Can lead to important larger issues.
Friendship	Fat Fat Rose Marie	Passen, Lisa	K-3	A story about kids ganging up against someone, and about an individual being courageous enough to stand up for a friend. Great for discussions. Memorable.
Friendship	Bailey the Big Bully	Boyd, Lizi	1-2	A boy stands up to a bully, and then includes the bully in games with friends, setting clear limits regarding behavior that will not be tolerated. Good for discussing ways of making friends, handling bullies, helping others change behavior, being inclusive.
Chal. Sit.	Don't Fidget a Feather	Silverman, Erica	1-3 or older	Kids seem to be fascinated by this! A duck and a goose have a contest which becomes dangerous. Great for discussing games like "Truth or Dare," and dares, competition, games that go too far, and putting oneself in dangerous situations.
Family	Asha's Mums	Elwin, Rosamund and Pulse, Michele	K-3	A girl with lesbian mothers is told by her teacher and a classmate that "You can't have two mums." Great for leading into discussion of fairness, respect, and the importance of understanding differences.
Chal. Sit.	The Wimp	Caple, Kathy	1-3	About a boy (pig) getting bullied, but ending up victorious. I paused while reading it and asked the class what they thought he should do, or what he could have done to prevent the situation from getting worse. Kids seem to like this book; they can identify.
Conflict	Matthew and Tilly	Jones, Rebecca	K-2	About a small, typical conflict between best friends. Good for demonstrating the "Conflict Escalator."
Conscience	Too Many Tamales	Soto, Gary	Age 3 to 3rd	A girl loses something that belongs to someone else, and finally realizes she needs to go to the owner and tell what happened. Takes place at Christmas. A great story about telling the truth, admitting a mistake, and doing the right thing. Kids like it a lot.
Cult. Diff.	Angel Child, Dragon Child	Surat, Michele Marie	2-4	A child is ostracized because of language and cultural differences. She has a conflict with a boy, but the conflict is resolved when the two of them spend some time together and learn more about each other. Deals with themes of misunderstanding because of differences, conflict, caring about other people's feelings.
Cult. Diff.	Yoshiko and the Foreigner	Little, Mimi Otey	2-4	A Japanese woman falls in love with a US officer. Children love the struggles the officer has with the Japanese language. Great for discussing the difficulty of being in a country without knowing the language. A wonderful story about assumptions, being suspicious of people from different countries, respect for other people's cultures, accepting differences. Based on a true story.
Cult. Diff.	How My Parents Learned To Eat	Friedman, Ina R.	Age 3 to 3rd	Kids seem to love it! Another Japanese-American romance, in which each of the two characters struggle to learn the others' proper manners of eating. A story about assumptions, respect for another culture.
Cult. Diff.	Billy The Great	Rosa Guy	2-4	There is some hesitation and suspicion on the part of a professional-class African American mother with high hopes for her son when a white, working-class family moves next door with an active, older boy. She is able to change her thinking when she sees how much the two boys genuinely enjoy one another. An unusual book because it deals with class issues.
Cult. Diff.	Fishing Sunday	Johnston, Tony	1+	A beautiful book about feelings of embarrassment regarding a family member, and being able to transcend those feelings. Another story about being able to change one's feelings or thinking.
Family	The Wedding of Don Octavio	Zelver, Patricia	K-3	Loved-ones (animals) become worried when their owner and friend falls in love and plans to marry. The animals fear that the wife, whom they have not yet met, will not accept them or want them. Another good assumption book; good for discussing fear of change, especially major changes in a family. Can be a lead into discussing jealousy.
Conflict	Six Crows	Lionni, Leo	K-4	A very simple conflict resolution story with not-so-simple ideas. This involves a compromise, and a changing of ideas about what is most important. Helps stress the point that a solution doesn't have to be just the way you wanted it in order to be good.
Conflict	Rosie and the Yellow Ribbon	DePaolo, Paula	2-3	A girl is missing something, and wrongly concludes that her friend must have stolen it. The two friends stay apart until the accuser realizes she made a mistake. Another story about making an assumption, acknowledging a mistake, and being a friend.
Manners	What Do You Say Dear?	Sesyle, Joslin	K-2	A book about courtesy and manners.
Cult. Diff.	Chicken Sunday	Polacco, Patricia	2-4	A great story about children being wrongly accused of a hostile and hurtful deed. Despite misgivings, the children make a peace offering to show that they have not done it, and a friendship begins. There are a number of themes and sub-themes in the story. Among them are conflict resolution, friendship, altruism, assumptions, picking on others, minorities, persecution, discrimination, friendship across races, ages and nationalities. Great book.
Conscience	The Gold Coin	Ada, Alma Flor	3-5	About a thief who runs across a person who epitomizes goodness, and because of her example he chooses to change his ways.
Conscience	Pedrito's Day	Gray, Luis	1-3	A story about a boy taking responsibility for a mistake he has made. Also a story of maturing, dealing with delayed gratification and poverty.
Family	Boundless Grace	Hoffman, Mary	2-5	Grace has to deal with conflicting feelings which include jealousy and split loyalties when she visits her father and step-mother and step-brother and -sister in Africa. She rethinks her ideas of family, and questions her idea that her single-parent family is deficient, concluding that families are what you make them. Great for discussing different kinds of families. Can bring up some sad feelings in children whose parents are divorced, but seemed to be extremely confirming and positive for others. Led to a discussion of absent fathers, about how much children long for their fathers, even when the father lives with them, if he works long hours.
Conflict	Zinnia and Dot	Ernst, Lisa Campbell	K-2	A conflict resolution story about two battling hens, who initially have a lot of trouble sharing, but end up raising a chick together. A two-mom story.
Family	Families are Different	Pelligrini, Nina	K-2	A girl of Korean descent who is adopted by white American parents looks at many different kinds of families. Does not include gay or lesbian families, and the omission is a good vehicle for discussion.
Cult. Diff.	Chinese Eyes	Waybill, Marjorie Ann	2-3	About a Korean girl adopted by a white American family getting teased about having "Chinese eyes" The girl's mother handles the situation in an upbeat manner, without dwelling on the child's sad feelings.
Family	The Mommy Exchange	Hest, Amy	1	About two children who decide to try switching families. First Graders love it!
Friendship	Jealousy	Erikson, Eva	K-1	About the difficulty in adding a 3rd person to a pair of best friends. The first graders really related to this.
Chal. Sit.	Silent Lotus	Lee, Joanne M.	K-2	About a girl who is deaf and can't speak, who becomes an accomplished dancer.
History	Follow the Drinking Gourd	Winter, Jeanette	1-5	About the Underground Railroad. Great because it shows people risking their lives for their own freedom, and free people, white and black, risking their lives to help others escape to freedom and safety. Important history.
Conscience	The Hummingbird's Gift	Czernecki, Stephan and Rhodes, Timothy	1-2	A story that takes place in Mexico, about a family who shows kindness to nature (the hummingbirds), even when their own resources are depleted, and help is given to them in return.
Conscience	The Market Lady and the Mango Tree	Watson, Pete and Mary	3	About a woman whose greed leads her to trouble and despair, which bring about a change in her behavior. Takes place in Africa.
Friendship	Titch and Daisy	Hutchins, Pat	Age 3 +	About two best friends afraid to join in at a birthday party until they have found each other.
Joy	Honey I Love	Greenfield, Eloise	Age 3 to K	A poetic book of a Black girl's happy and loving impressions of life.
Cult. Diff.	Less than Half, More than Whole	Lacapa, Kathleen and Michael	3-4	About being biracial; about a boy with one parent who is Native American and one who is Anglo.
Chal. Sit.	Peppe the Lamplighter	Bartone, Elisa	3-6	An immigrant father overcomes his shame about having his son do the lowly work of a street lamp lighter when he is able to see the value in the work. About being able to change one's attitudes, and about the challenges of being poor in a new country. About caring, responsibility, and family love.
Conflict	Luka's Quilt	Guback, Georgia	1-3	About how what one thinks one wants may not be as important as the bigger picture. About being gracious when given a gift. About thinking about other people's feelings (adults have feelings too), and about resolving a conflict.
Conflict	The Prince Who Wrote a Letter	Love, Anne	K-3	About a rumor starting and getting blown way out of proportion. Humorous.
Family	A Chair For My Mother	Williams, Vera	K-3	A story of family caring.
Conscience	Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters	Steptoe, John	2-5	A beautifully illustrated African tale on the Cinderella-theme, about goodness.
Conscience	The Rough Faced Girl	Martin, Rafe	1-5	Another Cinderella theme; about being able to recognize the goodness in someone; this time in an Algonquin Indian setting. Striking illustrations; thought provoking.
Conscience	Teammates	Golenbeck, Peter	3-5	The story of Jackie Robinson. Deals with racial discrimination, and standing up for a friend.
Conflict	The Owl and The Woodpecker	Wildsmith, Brian	K-2	Conflict resolution story.
Friendship	Swimmy	Lionni, Leo	K-2	About the importance of sharing.
Friendship	It's Mine!	Lionni, Leo	K-1	The importance of sharing.
Conflict	The Pig War	Baker, Betty	n/a	A conflict resolution story.
History	The Bracelet	Uchida, Yoshiko	3-5	A story of a Japanese girl who is sent away to an internment camp with her family during the war, and separated from her best friend, who is white.
Chal. Sit.	The Streets are Free	Karusa	2-4	Children in a barrio in Venezuela have no place to play when their neighborhood becomes more densely populated and urban. The children organize and demonstrate at City Hall to demand space for a playground. Their requests are turned down but neighbors pull together and build their own playground. Based on a true story.
History	John Brown, One Man Against Slavery	Everett, Gwen	4+	Paintings by Jacob Lawrence. One of the few books about a white man fighting to end enslavement, but John Brown's approach was so violent that it also raises important questions.
History	Journey to Freedom: The Story of the Underground Railroad	Wright, Courtni. C.	2-5	About a family's journey from Kentucky to Canada to escape enslavement, guided by Harriet Tubman. Excellent.
History	Rose Blanche	Gallaz, Christopher and Innocenti, Roberto	4-5	An ephemeral book that shows an experience of World War II from a child's point of view. Changes from 1st person to 3rd person midway, and the child dies in the end. Shows the child acting out of compassion daily; moved by the suffering she sees.
History	Passage to Freedom, The Sugihara Story	Mochizuki, Ken	4+	Wonderful. The story of a Japanese consul to Lithuania who saves the lives of thousands of Jewish refugees trying to escape the Nazi's. Inspiring story written from a child's point of view.
Cult. Diff.	Building a Bridge	Begaye, Lisa Shook	1	About a Native American girl and an Anglo girl becoming friends on the first day of school.
Family	Knots on a Counting Rope	Archambault, John and Bill Martin Jr.	3-4	A grandfather retells the story of his blind grandson's birth and development at the child's request. A story of love, and of transcendence of a serious disability. This book is controversial in the American Indian community, however.
History	Our People	Madearis, Angela Shelf	1-2	An African American girl reflects on what her father has told her about the accomplishments of Black people throughout history.
History	Daily Life on a Southern Plantation 1853	Erickson, Paul	4+	A factual book with photographs and drawings explaining the many aspects of the Southern Plantation. Includes a Time-line from 1792-1984.
History	Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters	McKissack, Patricia C. and Fredrick L.	n/a	With wonderful illustrations and fine text, the book shows the ways in which Christmas is prepared for and celebrated by plantation owners and their families and by the enslaved men, women and children who worked the plantations and lived in the quarters Shows striking contrasts as well as commonalties.
History	Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt	Hopkinson, Deborah	3-4	Great. A story about an enslaved girl who makes a "map" quilt, which indicates the way to follow the Underground Railroad, to guide herself and others to freedom. About slavery and resistance.
Family	Saturday is Pattyday	Newman, Leslie	n/a	About a child adjusting to the breakup of his lesbian parents.
Cult. Diff., History	Cheyenne Again	Bunting, Eve	2-5	About a Cheyenne boy taken from his tribe by white people, and placed in a boarding school where he is not allowed to use his own language and is forced to adopt Anglo ways. He attempts to run away, but is caught and brought back to the school. This is a story of persecution and resistance.
History	White Socks Only	Coleman, Evelyn	1-3	A story about a black girl in Mississippi encountering discrimination and persecution, and finds a community of African-American men and women who gather in her support.
Conflict	Feathers and Fools	Fox, Mem	K-5	Destruction ensues when two flocks of birds fear each other and attack. Great for discussing fear of differences.
History	Amazing Grace, The Story of the Hymn	Granfield, Linda	Age 3 to K	After surviving a terrible storm at sea, John Newton, the captain of a ship carrying captured African men and women to be sold into enslavement, wrote the famous hymn and became active in working to abolish slavery. Especially interesting, perhaps, is the fact that Newton was capable of carrying men and women to slavery after he himself had once been enslaved.
Joy	I Want to Be	Moss, Thylas	K-1	An exuberant feel-good book about a black girl's dreams of what she wants to be in her future: everything!
Gender, History	Zora Hurston and the Chinaberry Tree	Miller, William	2-4	A girl looses her mother but refuses to loose her dreams or to be restricted by other peoples' expectations. Themes included are the oral tradition in African American life. A good book about gender issues as well as about coping with loss, and the importance of a mother-daughter relationship.
History	Jonkonnu, A story from the sketchbook of Winslow Homer	Littlesugar, Amy	3+	From a child's eyes, watching Winslow Homer go into a black community to sketch and eventually paint Jonkonnu, the freedom holiday, and seeing the response in the white community. Some sophisticated themes, about freedom, fear of differences, discrimination, enslavement, risk-taking, and the importance of art. Interesting.
History	Richard Wright and the Library Card	Miller, William	3+	Based on a scene from Black Boy, this book tells the story of how Richard Wright gained access to the public library, where black people were not allowed in the earlier part of the 2Oth century, through the help of a co-worker. Again, a story of discrimination and resistance and alliance.
Family	Back Home	Pinkney, Gloria Jean	4-5	An evocative book, beautifully illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, about a girl's visit to her uncle and aunt's home in the country. About the importance of family, of memories, of roots, and of love. Also about adjusting to new situations, about how words can hurt, and relationships can change, given time.
Chal. Sit.	Starting School	Kopper, Lisa and Petty, Kate	Age 3 +	Just what it sounds like.
Family	Daddy's Roommate	Willhoite, Michael	K-3	Good! Fun and upbeat, a boy tells about his gay fathers' relationship.
Family, Cult. Diff.	My Two Uncles	Vigna, Judith	3-4	A girl tells about her gay uncle and his partner. The story includes family tensions because the grandparents have a hard time accepting the relationship but at the end of the story are closer to accepting it than they were in the beginning.
Cult. Diff., History	Gloria Goes to Gay Pride	Newman, Leslea	3-4	It is a celebratory day, but not without awareness of prejudice. Good for discussing fear of differences, and groups that have been discriminated against and persecuted.
History	Now Let Me Fly, The Story of a Slave Family	Johnson, Delores	2+	Excellent and important. Tells of the horrors of enslavement, from being captured in Africa, the middle passage, to loosing family members when they are sold to different owners.
History	Journey to Freedom, A Story of the Underground Railroad	Wright, Courtni C.	2+	Excellent and important. The story of a family's escape from enslavement, and the perilous journey from Kentucky to Canada led by Harriet Tubman.
History	A Picture Book of Harriet Tubman	Adler, David	2+	An extraordinary life; a person of courage and resistance and continued activism. Important.
History	Barefoot	Edwards, Pamela Duncan	2+	Nature helped guide and protect people running from enslavement in their journey North on the Underground Railroad. Another story of courage, resistance, and alliance.
Family, Cult.Diff.	How Would You Feel if Your Dad Was Gay?	Heron, Ann and Maran, Meredith	3+	Good book addressing the issues of children whose parents are gay, and what the children have to face in school from peers and teachers.
Family	Who's in a Family?	Skutch, Robert	K-1	About different kinds of families, and it does include gay families.
Conflict	You're Not My Best Friend Anymore	Pomerantz, Charlotte	1-3	About a conflict between two good friends, a boy and a girl, one black and one white. The conflict has nothing to do with gender or race. Great for discussing the "conflict escalator".
Friendship, Chal. Sit.	I Miss Franklin P. Shuckles	Franson, Leanne and Shihura, Ulana	1-3	A girl turns against her friend when she sees that her classmates make fun of him. A good book for discussing ways of dealing with popularity conflicts, having the courage to not join the crowd, and sticking with a friend in hard times.
History	The Red Comb	Pico, Fernando	n/a	A girl and an older woman help a woman who has run away from enslavement. Takes place in Puerto Rico.