Do You Want To Be My Friend?

Author: Eric Carle

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Making Friends

Year of Publication: 1988

Publisher & Location: Scholastic (in cooperation with Harper Collins Publishers), New York, NY

ISBN#:

• ISBN13: 9780399215988
• ISBN: 0399215980
• BINC: 338420

Target Age Level: Pre-K & Lower Elementary

# of Pages: 28

Quality of Illustrations: Classic Eric Carle

Brief Summary: A little mouse goes from animal to animal, trying to find a friend, until he at last finds one. Aside from "Do you want to be my friend?" at the beginning and "yes" at the end, this story contains no words. Rather, it is left up to the reader to interpret the story based on the pictures.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: The wordless format makes this book ideal for bibliotherapy. As the therapist and child progress through the pages, the child will be able to reveal his/her thoughts/feelings by commenting on the actions, thoughts, and feelings of the mouse and the animals he/she encounters.

Activity: "Reading" this book can be an activity in and of itself, as the content of the story can change every time you read it. As you go through the book, consider the child you are working with and ask questions accordingly, such as "what does _______ tell the mouse?" or "how does that make the mouse feel?" or "what does the mouse think of that?" or "what does the mouse say to _______?" Also, if you have more than one child that you are working with, you can act out the story with costumes and/or puppets.