Families who loved Want to Play? Kids Talk about Friendliness by Pamela Hill Nettleton often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when your child comes home feeling wounded by a playground snub or when they are struggling to navigate the unspoken rules of making new friends. It serves as a practical manual for the messy, everyday social friction that occurs in elementary school hallways and parks. By framing social advice through the lens of a middle school advice column, it provides kids with a sense of mentorship and peer-level wisdom rather than a lecture from adults. The book addresses the anxiety of being the 'new kid' and the delicate art of apologizing when a game goes wrong. It focuses on empathy and kindness as active skills that can be practiced. For children aged 6 to 9, this format is particularly effective because it validates their social concerns as important enough to be 'written about' while offering concrete, actionable steps to turn a lonely afternoon into an inclusive playdate. It is a gentle, supportive choice for building a child's social confidence.
