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Here are three books about finding friends and fitting in:
The Gingerbread Man Loose in School, written by Laura Murray, illustrated by Mike Lowery, $16.99, Putnam, ages 4-8, 32 pages. A gingerbread man hops off his cooling pan and races after the class that baked him in this bouncy tale about the importance of belonging. When the teacher calls, "Recess," no one grabs the gingerbread man, so he runs as fast as he can to catch up with the kids, only to get stuck to a ball, lose a toe and land inside a lunch bag. Will this zippy little cookie ever find his class and feel like one of the gang? After one read aloud, students will be clamoring to bake up their own class pet and fit him with Starlight Mint hat. Slipped into the back cover, a folded poster for your own smart cookie. This is a book that shows readers that feeling left and being left out aren't always the same. Sometimes you just have to catch up to classmates to realize they like you.
I'm Here, by Peter H. Reynolds, Atheneum, $15.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages. A boy sits alone on a playground far from other children and feels like no one knows he's there. His sense of isolation is palpable, as if he were set apart and made invisible. "They are there. I am here," he says with a longing look their way. The children's playful voices are "splashes upon splashes of sound," but all the boy can hear is "Boom. Boom." He tries to assure himself that at least he knows he's there, even if the other children don't seem to. Then a gentle breeze pats his head, a tumbling leaf lands for a visit and piece of paper glides to him on a lazy stream of air, rocking this way and that, slowly down, before landing at his knee. "How did you find me?" the boy asks the paper, his eyes glistening. He knows a playground is not where a paper wants to be, so he folds it into an airplane and launches it into the air. Maybe now, the paper will get to where it wants to be -- and maybe, if he climbs aboard it, the boy will get there to. This sweet, touching book shows that when a child feels alone, making a little step forward can change everything.
