From psychologist and children’s friendships expert Eileen Kennedy-Moore and parenting and health writer Christine McLaughlin comes a social development primer that gives kids the answers they need to make and keep friends.

Friendships aren’t always easy for kids. Almost every child struggles socially at some time, in some way. Having an argument with a friend, getting teased, or even trying to find a buddy in a new classroom…although these are typical problems, they can be tough. Children want to fit in, but sometimes getting along with friends is complicated. Psychologist and children’s friendship expert Eileen Kennedy-Moore and parenting and health writer Christine McLaughlin give kids the answers they need to make and keep friends using five essential skills:

-Reaching Out to Make Friends
-Stepping Back to Keep Friends
-Blending In to Join Friends
-Speaking Up to Share With Friends
-Letting Go to Accept Friends

With research-based, practical solutions and plenty of true-to-life-examples of social skills in practice—presented in lighthearted humorous cartoons—Growing Friendships is a toolkit for both boys and girls as they make sense of the social environment around them. They will learn how to be open to friendship, choose kind friends, and most important, be a good friend.

"“Growing Friendships is the secret playbook you’ll wish you’d had when you were growing up. It’s packed with clever strategies that help kids handle the awkward, upsetting, and confusing social situations that happen to everyone. The fun cartoons make the advice light-hearted and easy to swallow.”" - Parents magazine

"Written for kids (specifically 6 -9 year olds) this is a book that parents will want to read as well. It offers some terrific advice for helping young people navigate the complicated waters of social interaction. These authors return to the basics to explain social and face-to-face communication skills to children who are living in a mostly virtual world. What appears to be silly dialogue between a cartoon cat and dog, actually contains some powerful lessons about how to approach and interact with other children. The fact that it makes these encounters humorous allows children to feel more comfortable about risking personal contact with other children. Making friends and keeping them, joining the fun, how to share, when to say NO, dealing with bullying, joining a group, and moving past conflict are all topics which are discussed in kid-friendly terms with real-world applications. In our fast-paced and disruptive world, we’re losing sight of the kitchen-table wisdom that children used to take refuge in. This book puts kids and their parents back in touch with basic, tried and true, social skills, and the ways in which those skills can be used.
 " - Retailing Insight

"Kennedy-Moore and McLaughlin highlight five skills—reaching out, stepping back, blending in, speaking up, and letting go—to help readers make and maintain friendships. Each chapter introduces a dilemma relating to one of 15 fictional kids: Aiden tries too hard to be funny, Susan assumes that others are being mean behind her back, and Mackenzie has trouble joining a group. Mingus’s cartoon spot illustrations and comics sequences add humor and help illustrate various points (such as the “power difference” involved in bullying, versus other social conflicts). Multiple-choice quizzes and reader-directed questions (“Do you have a habit of apologizing when you didn’t do anything wrong?”) invite children to apply these ideas to their own developing relationships." - May 15, 2017

"A how-to book for making friends, is clear and entertaining as well as informative, could be a very useful tool. Many kids struggle with the myriad aspects of navigating the day-to-day complexity of interpersonal relationships. Combining real-life examples, attractive cartoon illustrations, and humorous commentary from a snarky cat and a friendly dog, this upbeat effort provides ample useful advice. Making friends and keeping them, dealing with bullying and distinguishing it from simple teasing, speaking up for oneself and others, being a good sport, figuring out how to join in a group activity (including choosing the right activity to join), and matching the tone of a conversation are just a few of the topics covered. The presentation is clear, reasonable, and specific enough to be practical, and it begins with very basic skills such as greeting others. Practice situations, including a couple where friends won't take no for an answer, provide opportunities to try new skills in low-stress situations. This handbook is highly recommended for high-functioning autistic children as well as anyone who suffers from social awkwardness. The cover depicts both a white and a black child. The simple chapter format makes it possible to just practice certain skills without having to read through the entire work. A fun handbook for any child who has ever wanted another friend but been uncertain how to accomplish that. (Nonfiction. 8-12) " - 5/1/17

"For children and preteens, perhaps no other aspect of life is as stressful as making and maintaining friendships. The author team of Kennedy-Moore and McLaughlin offers sound advice from the perspectives of psychologist, parent, blogger, and therapist. Using fun cartoons, relatable stories, metaphors, and bulleted summaries, this provides basic skills training for kids looking to widen their social circles. From reaching out to make initial contact with potential friends, through navigating tricky situations and mitigating arguments, myriad issues are described. Readers are encouraged not to just follow prescribed advice but to consider the feelings of others and to use their own judgment in choosing a course of action. Many of these skills are important lifelong lessons that will benefit readers long after their adolescence. While skills like saying no and compromising may be intuitive to some, for many others, particularly those in their awkward preteens, the advice in the book will be invaluable. This is an authoritative and appealing resource for children working on fitting in and finding a tribe. — Erin Anderson" - June 2017

"This guide to friendships is simply illustrated and full of useful information. Written by a child psychologist and a professional parenting writer, this book goes over basic information explaining how body language and verbal signals can help signal the progression of a friendship. It provides basic coping skills for anxiety so that readers can attract more friends. There is also a section on bullying and learning to say no. The information is a lot to digest for a younger crowd, while the conflicts presented are too young for a middle grade audience. Recurring dog and cat mascots are supposed to provide a bit of levity but just end up being diverting. The section on blending in may put off more independent and individualistic types, and the section on anxiety isn’t always clear about the feelings it’s trying to help children cope with. Overall, though, the information is accurate and helpful. VERDICT A decent guide for younger middle grade collections, even adults could learn something from this book." - August 2017