We need to slow down and think about friendship for a little bit. Things are out of control! Are you exactly like your friends? Do your beliefs line up exactly with theirs? If you answered yes, I think you’re in the minority of people. I’ve got friends that are all sorts of different from me. It’s important to teach your kids that their friends can like different things than they like, so when they grow up, they’ll remember that lesson. These two books on friendship are ideal for helping your kids understand how friendship works.
Thanks to the sponsors, I am giving these two books away as part of the Star-Spangled Giveaway Hop.
Thanks to our host, MamaTheFox.
Books about Friendship
An unlikely duo star in a charming story about being different, finding courage, and the importance of friendship in the first book in a new series from an award-winning animation director.
Kat and Juju
I received this book free to review; however, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no cost to you.
Kat and Juju
by Kataneh Vahdani
Age Range: 3 – 7 years
Grade Level: Preschool – 2
Series: Kat and Juju
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Two Lions (July 1, 2020)
Kat likes doing things her very own way, but sometimes she doubts herself. So when a bird named Juju arrives, Kat hopes he’ll be the best friend she’s always wanted. He’s outgoing and silly and doesn’t worry about what others think—the opposite of who she is. Bit by bit, with Juju’s help, Kat discovers her strength, and how to have a friend and be one—while still being true to herself.
“This debut gently encourages personal growth while reinforcing the value of being different.” —Kirkus Reviews
My review of Kat and Juju
Kat and Juju is such a sweet book, and the illustrations will warm your heart. I think most kids (and adults) can relate to how Kat feels when she’s around others. She likes what she likes, but sometimes she thinks people might think she’s odd since she might not like what they like. That little voice inside makes her unsure of herself. Don’t we all feel that way sometimes?
Sometimes it takes someone who is very different than we are to show us that they like us even though we’re not the same. Things would be pretty boring if we all were the same! This short little book is a great way to show your children that their differences are a good thing. I think they’ll really love Kat and Juju!
About author & illustrator Kataneh Vadani
Kataneh Vahdani is a children’s book author and illustrator. Kat and Juju is her first picture book series. She is currently directing her original feature animation movie. Kataneh has been a professor for over seventeen years and she also saves fallen baby birds and rescues them. Together with her students, they have raised over 13 fallen injured baby birds and set them free once they were ready to fly away. Sometimes in her classes, birds fly from the head of one student to the other.
A bilingual guided journal all about friendship!
My Friendship Journal/Mi Diario de Amistad
- Notebook Doodles(R) artist Jess Volinski provides fun illustrations and designs that kids love
- ESL learning opportunity for middle school kids while they have fun thinking and writing creatively
- Fun activities from creating secret codes to naming the qualities you love about your friends and reflecting on your favorite memories together
- Boosts confidence and creativity with both English and Spanish instructions and prompts to practice narrative, descriptive, and compare/contrast writing
- Beautiful hardcover with bright, colorful art makes a fantastic gift for kids to fill in together with their closest friends
My Friendship Journal/Mi Diario de Amistad
by Jess Volinski
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Quiet Fox Designs; First edition (June 23, 2020)
From the wildly popular Notebook Doodles (R) coloring book artist Jess Volinski comes a special guided journal that helps young kids boost their confidence and creativity—with an exciting bilingual feature!
Intentionally designed to build self-esteem in young girls, Notebook Doodles (R) Mi Diario de Amistad (My Friendship Journal) is a bilingual guided journal filled with fun activities and inspiring prompts. Each charming, middle-school-friendly activity features directions and questions in both English and Spanish, from completing sentence prompts, creating secret codes, and reflecting on what kids like best about their friends, to describing memories, designing fashion, and associating pictures with their personalities.
Kids will have a blast with their friends completing fun prompts like:
- “What characteristics make you a ‘great’ friend? Do you look for the same qualities in your friends?” / “¿Qué características te hacen una ‘gran’ amiga? ¿Tratas de encontrar esas cualidades en tus amigas?”
- “Design superhero outfits for you and your best friend.” / “Diseña un traje de superhéroe para ti y para tu mejor amiga.”
- “Sometimes opposites attract! Write about a time you made friends with someone who seemed different than you at first, and what you have in common now.” / “¡Algunas veces los opuestos se atraen! Escribe de alguna vez que te hayas hecho amiga de alguien que al principio se veía muy diferente a ti, y que cosas tienen en común ahora.”
- “What is the nicest thing a friend has ever done for you? How did it make you feel?” / “¿Qué ha sido lo más lindo que una amiga ha hecho por ti? ¿Cómo te hizo sentir?”
The perfect way to practice English as a second language, as well as develop narrative, descriptive, and compare/contrast writing skills, this one-of-a-kind guided journal is an excellent ESL learning opportunity for young girls. My Friendship Journal / Mi Diario de Amistad makes a beautiful gift that friends can enjoy together!
About author and illustrator Jess Volinski
Jess Volinski is the best-selling author/illustrator of the Notebook Doodles(R) coloring book series designed to encourage creativity and build self-confidence in tweens and young adults. She also creates stickers, cards, and other fun products designed to make people smile. Jess lives in New Jersey with her husband Erik, who is also an illustrator, and their two very creative children.
Enter the giveaway ENDED
Prize: Two books above
This giveaway is open to the US only to ages 18+. This giveaway is void where prohibited. By entering this giveaway, you’re agreeing to the privacy policies of this blog. Entrants need a profile picture on their social media accounts from which they’re entering, or entry will be void. One entry per household. The winners have 48 hrs. to claim the prize or another winner will be chosen.
MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.
My best friend as a child was my sister, she is 2 years older than I am. We lived in the country on a farm so there wasn’t much to do but to play with each other.
My cousin and I were the best of friends. We did everything together!
My best friends name when I was growing up was Lucy . Lucy lived 2 doors away from me and we attended the same school but not in the same grade. Unfortumately as years went by we found a circle of new friends Wish I could contact her now
I did not have any BFF’s growing up.
My best friend was a girl in my grade. Our grade school was very small so we were in the same grade classoom every year from kindergarten thru sixth grade. I remember her name was Becky…but when we went to junior high school, we got in to other classrooms and kind of lost touch.
My best friend was Dick my neighbor, he was a couple years older than me but he would always invite me to play basketball and baseball whenever they would get a neighborhood game going.
I was a very quiet, shy girl when I was little. And in 1st grade I befriended a wonderful happy girl named Sue…and her family would have me over there often and we had such a lot of fun! Then her family moved out of state. We caught up again on facebook about a decade ago…she’s still awesome!
My best friends were my animals; as I had a strict upbringing by my grandparents & did not have friends over or go to friends houses. It was a lonely childhood. Except for church.
Yes, my best friend and I played with Barbies and Ken together, dressing them up and pretending they were going on dates.
My dog was my best friend when I was little. We played together every day.
MY BEST FRIENDS WAS PAULINE AND NORA…..WE GREW UP IN EASTERN KY….MANY, MANY YEARS AGO.
My best childhood friend died of Cancer a few years ago so very sad. We always were together swimming in her pool or going to the beach. We had a great time together.
I’m so sorry! Those are such good memories. It’s always hard losing a friend.