The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends

Author:Stan and Jan Berenstain
Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: making and keeping friends
Year of Publication: 1987
Publisher & Location:Random House New York
ISBN#: 0394873394

Target Age Level: 4-8
# of Pages:32 pages
Quality of Illustrations: it's beartastic
Brief Summary: The new cub in the neighborhood, Lizzy Bruin, is the same age as Sister Bear--and she's also just as bossy. After a fight threatens their budding friendship, both cubs learn that you can't always have your own way if you want to have friends.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:
This is a great kids book that helps kids look outside their own need.

Activity: Talk about what you look for in a friend, and then write a list of ways you can be a friend like you want.

The berenstain bears and the In-crowd

Author:Stan and Jan Berenstain

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Group differences, peer pressure

Year of Publication: 1989

Publisher & Location:Random House New York

ISBN#: 0-394-83013x

Target Age Level: 4-8

# of Pages:32 pages

Quality of Illustrations: Good as B and B can Be

Brief Summary: Queenie McBear, the bossy new she-cub in town, tries to take over by putting other cubs down. But she's in for a lesson when Sister Bear decides not to give in to Queenie's peer pressure tactics.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

This is very kid friendly and has some good problem solving skills.

Activity: Talk about what it feels like to be left out, and then draw pictures of ways you can help others feel included.

The Girl with 500 Middle Names

Author/authors: Margaret Peterson Haddix  (Janet Hamlin)

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: Family financial difficulties

Year of publication: 2001

Book title: The Girl with 500 Middle Names

ISBN#: 978-0689841361

Age level: Upper Elementary

# of pages: 96

Quality of illustrations: Black and white pencil; fair

Brief summary: After Janie’s father has a back injury and is unable to work, Janie’s mother knits personalized sweaters to make some extra money.  Janie and her parents move into the suburbs where everyone dresses better than Janie.  When the storeowner returns the sweaters, Janie decides to wear them to school, telling everyone they are her middle names.

Activity: Have a class discussion about what Janie did to make her family’s financial situation better.  Have students share what they’ve done in their own lives to make the best of a hard situation.  The class could also make a list of how to befriend someone new to moves in to school.

The Berenstain Bears and the Bully

Author: Jan and Stan Berenstain

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Bullying

Year of Publication: 1993

Publisher & Location: Random House Books for Young Readers

ISBN#:978-0679848059

Target Age Level: preschool, early elementary

# of Pages: 32 pages

Quality of Illustrations: Good as all BB books are

Brief Summary: When Sister Bear gets beaten up by Tuffy, the new cub in town, Brother huffs off to set this bully straight. But he's in for a surprise--Tuffy's a little girl, and Brother just can't bring himself to fight her.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

It uses Violence as a solution to bullying but also talks about reasons why children bully, putting the victim in the bullys shoes. It does end with a visit to the school psychologist which is realistic.

Activity: This would be a good book to start a discussion about what bullies are thinking and why they act the way they do.

Our Gracie Aunt

Author/authors: Jacqueline Woodson (Jon J. Muth)

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: Neglect

Year of publication: 2002

Publisher: Hyperion Books

ISBN#: 978-0786806201

Age level: Lower Elementary

# of pages: 32

Quality of illustrations: Excellent

Brief summary: Beebee and her little brother Johnson are abandoned by their mother, sometimes for days at a time. A social worker comes to their house to check up on them and takes them to live with their aunt Gracie. Aunt Gracie is very welcoming and Beebee and Johnson come to love her.  They later visit their mother in the hospital, who says Gracie will care for them until she can.

Activity: Have students draw pictures of Beebee and Johnson’s life home alone and then with their aunt.  Compare the two pictures and talk with students about what was hard for the children and what good came from living with their aunt.

Dicey's Song

Author/authors: Cynthia Voigt

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: Parent Mental Illness

Year of publication: 2003

Publisher: Aladdin

ISBN#:978-0689863622

Target age level: Junior High

# of pages: 380

Quality of illustrations: N/A

Brief summary: In this sequel to Homecoming, Dicey, age 13, and her younger siblings finally reach their grandmother’s home after traveling many months.  Adjusting to living with their unconventional grandmother in a rural Maryland town is difficult, but Dicey and her siblings face additional challenges: Their mother, who is mentally ill, has been institutionalized and their grandmother wants to adopt them; James wants to fit in with his peers; Sammy is getting into fights at school; Maybeth isn’t reading on grade level; and Dicey has to learn to let go and reach out to others.

Activity: Have students discuss what Gram meant when she said that the tree was like a family.  Next have students draw a family tree with their family members' names on the branches.  At the bottom of the tree have them write or draw pictures of what holds their family together during hard times.

How To Lose All Your Friends

Author: Nancy Carlson

Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: Friendship

Year of Publication: 1997

Publisher and Location: Puffin

ISBN#  978-0140558623

Target Age Level: Lower Elementary

# of Pages: 32


Quality of Illustrations: Colorful, but a little bit amateur


Brief Summary: This book contains ways to lose your friends, such as not sharing, not smiling, cutting in line, and tattling.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: The reverse examples are a fun way to look at friendship and are common situations children experience.

Activity: As a class, write a book with the students’ own ideas about how to lose all their friends.  Each student can write an example and illustrate a page for the book.