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Short answer: for ages 3–5, start with Strictly No Elephants, a gentle story about being the friend who lets others in. Other lovely picks are Should I Share My Ice Cream?, Sharing Silver (a kindness and sharing story with a friendship thread), The Rainbow Fish, Have You Filled a Bucket Today? and Enemy Pie.

1. Strictly No Elephants — by Lisa Mantchev

A boy and his tiny pet elephant are turned away from the local pet club, so they start their own — one where everyone is welcome. It is a gentle, beautifully drawn story about inclusion and being the friend who lets others in, and the repeated line "that's what friends do" is perfect for a preschooler to hold on to. View Strictly No Elephants on Amazon →

2. Should I Share My Ice Cream? — by Mo Willems

Gerald the elephant has an ice cream and a big decision: should he share it with his best friend, Piggie? Funny, short and full of feeling, it captures exactly the tug-of-war a young child feels about sharing — and lands a warm lesson about friendship without a hint of a lecture. A brilliant early-reader too. View Should I Share My Ice Cream? on Amazon →

3. The Rainbow Fish — by Marcus Pfister

The shimmering Rainbow Fish is the prettiest fish in the sea, but he is lonely — until he learns that sharing his sparkling scales is what wins him friends. A modern classic with a clear, preschool-friendly message that giving and friendship go hand in hand. View The Rainbow Fish on Amazon →

4. Sharing Silver — for the kindness and sharing side of friendship

Friendship is a by-product in this one rather than the plot. In Sharing Silver, Silver the Super Pup shows a greedy little dog named Bandit how kindness and sharing come back around, through Olivia's forest choir, Benny's waterwheel and Greedy Gus, who won't share his cookies and ends up alone. Friends come into it through two lines: "If you are friendly, you will have friends" and "the kindest animals have the most friends."

There are no two friends at the centre of it, so it won't show a preschooler what a friendship looks like from the inside; Should I Share My Ice Cream? does that better. What it does well is one clear idea a child can copy the next day. When your preschooler shares a snack or hands over a turn, you can point back to the story and say "that's what Silver does."

Sharing Silver picture book cover

“The kindest animals have the most friends, and those who help the most have helpers everywhere.”

Sharing Silver — a superhero training story about sharing and giving, for ages 3–7. A kindness and sharing story with a friendship thread, rather than a friendship story.

View Sharing Silver on Amazon

You can read a sample of Sharing Silver first, or if friendships are feeling hard right now, see our guide on what to do when your child has no friends.

5. Have You Filled a Bucket Today? — by Carol McCloud

This one gives children a picture they can carry everywhere: everyone has an invisible bucket, and kind words and deeds "fill" it while unkind ones "dip" into it. It is a simple, memorable way to help a preschooler notice that being a good friend feels good for everyone — including themselves. View Have You Filled a Bucket Today? on Amazon →

6. Enemy Pie — by Derek Munson

A boy is sure the new kid down the street is an enemy, until his dad's secret "enemy pie" recipe requires spending a whole day playing together first. Best for the oldest of the preschool set and into the early school years, it is a lovely story about giving someone a chance and discovering a friend. Once your child starts school, the stories that help move on to whole-class problems, and those are on the kindergarten friendship list. Younger sibling coming up behind? The toddler friendship round-up covers ages 1–3. View Enemy Pie on Amazon →

How to choose, and how to read it

For this age, pick a short book with one clear, friend-making idea — share first, include someone, say sorry — and a character your child likes, then read it more than once so the move becomes familiar. Preschoolers learn friendship by watching and copying, so the magic happens when you name it in real life: "that was a kind, friend-making thing to do." Pair the story with one small, doable step, like inviting a single child to play. For more, see raising a kind, sharing friend and playdate ideas that build friendship skills.