Book picks similar to
Just Kidding by Trudy Ludwig


bullying
picture-books
friendship
picture-book

Curious George Visits the Zoo


Margret Rey - 1985
    A hungry Curious George snatches a pail of bananas from the zoo keeper. Though he shouldn't have taken the bananas, George soon changes the zookeeper's shouts to praise with his clever, helpful ways.

How to Be a Friend: A Guide to Making Friends and Keeping Them


Laurie Krasny Brown - 1998
    Fun dinosaur characters teach young children all about friendship—the value of friends, how to make friends, and how to be a good friend.With playful full-color illustrations, Laurie Krasny Brown and Marc Brown help kids cope with everyday social situations and learn:★ Who can be your friend.★ How to show someone you would like to be friends.★ How to handle bosses and bullies.★ The best ways to be a friend and ways not to be a friend.★ Ways to settle an argument with a friend.

I Am Enough


Grace Byers - 2018
    Bobo.This is the perfect gift for mothers and daughters, baby showers, and graduation.We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.

I Like Myself!


Karen Beaumont - 2004
    Messy hair? Beaver breath? So what! Here's a little girl who knows what really matters.At once silly and serious, Karen Beaumont's joyous rhyming text and David Catrow's wild illustrations unite in a book that is sassy, soulful--and straight from the heart.About the Author:KAREN BEAUMONT's picture books include Being Friends, illustrated by Joy Allen, and Louella Mae, She's Run Away!, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger. She lives in Capitola, California.DAVID CATROW is a political cartoonist and the illustrator of many popular books for children, including the Book Sense 76 Top Ten selection Don't Take Your Snake for a Stroll by Karin Ireland. He lives in Springfield, Ohio.

Most People


Michael Leannah - 2017
    Jennifer Morris’s emotive, diverting characters provide the perfect complement to Leannah’s words, leading us through the crowded streets of an urban day in the company of two pairs of siblings (one of color). We see what they see: the hulking dude with tattoos and chains assisting an elderly lady onto the bus; the Goth teenager with piercings and purple Mohawk returning a lost wallet to its owner; and the myriad interactions of daily existence, most of them well intended. Most People is a courageous, constructive response to the dystopian world of the news media.Fountas Pinnell Level M

The Kissing Hand


Audrey Penn - 1993
    To help ease Chester's fears, Mrs. Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to give him the reassurance of her love any time his world feels a little scary. Since its first publication in 1993, this heartwarming book has become a children's classic that has touched the lives of millions of children and their parents, especially at times of separation, whether starting school, entering daycare, or going to camp. It is widely used by kindergarten teachers on the first day of school. Stickers at the back will help children and their parents keep their Kissing Hand alive.

I Am Every Good Thing


Derrick Barnes - 2020
    A difference maker. A leader.The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. He's got big plans, and no doubt he'll see them through--as he's creative, adventurous, smart, funny, and a good friend. Sometimes he falls, but he always gets back up. And other times he's afraid, because he's so often misunderstood and called what he is not. So slow down and really look and listen, when somebody tells you--and shows you--who they are. There are superheroes in our midst!

Daisy


Jessixa Bagley - 2021
    She knows they're special - and soon she meets a friend who knows it too.Daisies seem so simple on the surface, but when you look closely you see their hidden beauty.That's what Daisy the warthog's mom always says, and it's the reason she got her name. But when Daisy goes to school, she doesn't feel like her name. The other kids, Rose, Violet, and Petunia, make fun of her and call her Thistle.Daisy spends a lot of time with her head down, but she doesn't need her classmates to have fun. When she looks at the forest floor, she starts to find all sorts of treasures, beautiful things that were once special and have since been forgotten. The other kids might make fun of her pastime, but it turns out she's not the only one who appreciates the hidden beauty of forgotten things when she meets a like-minded new friend.With vibrant, sun-dappled art, this is a book for any kid who has trouble fitting in and marches to the beat of their own drum, from the acclaimed author and creator of Boats for Papa, Laundry Day, and Henry and Bea.A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story


Kelly Bennett - 2005
    He wanted a different kind of pet — one that could run and catch, or chase string and climb trees, a soft furry pet to sleep on his bed at night. Definitely not Norman. But when he tries to trade Norman for a "good pet," things don’t go as he planned. Could it be that Norman is a better pet than he thought? With wry humor and lighthearted affection, author Kelly Bennett and illustrator Noah Z. Jones tell an unexpected — and positively fishy — tale about finding the good in something you didn’t knowyou wanted.

The Most Magnificent Thing


Ashley Spires - 2013
    She is going to make the most MAGNIFICENT thing! She knows just how it will look. She knows just how it will work. All she has to do is make it, and she makes things all the time. Easy-peasy!? But making her magnificent thing is anything but easy, and the girl tries and fails, repeatedly. Eventually, the girl gets really, really mad. She is so mad, in fact, that she quits. But after her dog convinces her to take a walk, she comes back to her project with renewed enthusiasm and manages to get it just right.

Giggle, Giggle, Quack


Doreen Cronin - 2002
    'But keep an eye on Duck. He's trouble.' Bob follows the instructions in Farmer Brown's notes exactly to the letter. He orders pizza with anchovies for the hens, bathes the pigs with bubble bath, and lets the cows chose a movie. Is that giggling he hears? The duck, the cows, the hens and the pigs are back in top form in this hilarious follow-up to 'Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type'.

The Night Before First Grade


Natasha Wing - 2005
    Penny is excited to startthe year with her best friend right beside her in the same classroom. This humorous take on Clement C. Moore's classic tale has a perfect twist ending that will surprise readers—as well as the “heroine” of the story—and help all about-to-be first-graders through their own backto- school jitters.

Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You


Sonia Sotomayor - 2019
    But in the same way that different types of plants and flowers make a garden more beautiful and enjoyable, different types of people make our world more vibrant and wonderful.In Just Ask, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor celebrates the different abilities kids (and people of all ages) have. Using her own experience as a child who was diagnosed with diabetes, Justice Sotomayor writes about children with all sorts of challenges—and looks at the special powers those kids have as well. As the kids work together to build a community garden, asking questions of each other along the way, this book encourages readers to do the same: When we come across someone who is different from us but we're not sure why, all we have to do is Just Ask.

If You Give a Moose a Muffin


Laura Joffe Numeroff - 1991
    If you give him a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. When he's eaten all your muffins, he'll want to go to the store to get some more muffin mix. In this hilarious sequel to If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, the young host is again run ragged by a surprise guest. Young readers will delight in the comic complications that follow when a little boy entertains a gregarious moose. Children's Choices for 1992 (IRA/CBC)

It's Mine!


Leo Lionni - 1986
    All day long they bicker: It’s mine! It’s mine! It’s mine! But a bad storm and a big brown toad help them realize that sharing is much more fun. With characteristic clarity, simplicity and exuberance, Leo Lionni makes it possible for kids to see themselves through the antics of others who share our world.