Childrens Books on Sharing - Helping Kids Make and Keep Friends

Childrens books on sharing offer parents the opportunity to help their kids learn a valuable life lesson, i.e., that of sharing with others.

Sharing takes many forms, shapes and sizes, just like people.

Kids will learn they can share tangible things like

• toys,
• books,
• food,
• clothes,
• pens and pencils, crayons and chalk,
• dolls,
• computer and video games,
• bikes, and
• letting someone sit in her favorite chair, to name a few.

Then there are the non tangible things such as

• spending time together doing fun things,
• spending time together sharing sad, scary things,
• playing sports together, and most importantly
• friendship.

When I was growing up, I spent a lot of time with friends

• playing hide and seek,
• exploring, swimming and fishing in the Hog River,
• playing basketball and baseball,
• joining clubs together, and
• other activities.

Time spent with friends made life really enjoyable. But I never remember reading any childrens books on sharing.

Maybe because I grew up in a project setting and there were lots of kids around all the time. Plus mom was busy working and had little energy or time to read to us.

In any case, I was blessed to easily make friends and I learned how to keep my friends.

But things have changed a lot since I was a kid growing up in the late 1940's and 1950s. Parents are much more involved in children's education, and there is much more fear present in people's lives. Times were generally safer back then.

But what hasn't changed is the importance of friendship, which has at its core sharing.

Childrens books on sharing guide kids to see the many possibilities that exist to share.

Here is a list of childrens books on sharing compiled by the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library Youth Services Department.

I really enjoyed the following Amazon book review about It's Mine by Leo Lionni, one of what appears to be the great childrens book on sharing available.

"Three frogs (symbolizing humanity--three being a biblical number of completeness) live in constant disharmony with each other. "The air is mine", "the earth is mine", "the water is mine": their quarrels are so absurd, pointing to pride as the source of their sin, as clearly the air, earth, and water can belong to no one but God.

"And then One "appears"--the Toad-- who teaches, just as Christ taught during His ministry. He tells them that they must learn to share and live in peace. But they do not listen to Him or follow his teachings.

"So, it happens that one day they seem to pay for their sin, clinging to separate rocks as flood waters swell and consume their island.

"It is only when they join together on the single remaining rock that they feel better, "sharing the same fears and hopes". Here, on the rock of the Church, they are saved.

"When the flood waters subside and recede, they realize: "The large rock that had saved them was no rock at all.

'You saved us!' shouted the frogs when they recognized the toad." They had been sitting on the back of the Toad--who miraculously remains strong through the greatest storm (pointing to His divinity).

"But it is only when the toad RISES from the waters (i.e. from the dead), that the church/disciples(the frogs) understand the source of salvation---through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ (the toad). And it is through passing through the flood waters (the waters of Baptism) that salvation is attained."

Now obviously kids won't grasp all of this but the reviewer makes this sound like one of the more fascinating childrens books on sharing.

The more kids learn about the importance of sharing, the easier it is for kids to become adults who can work cooperatively with others.

Kids books that are spiritual in nature introduce kids to sharing from another perspective, such as sharing the environment with the rest of the planet.

Learning how to make and keep friends is one of the most important character education lessons a child learns. For tips and ideas, check it out.

My own book, Bingo and Bonner, A Read-Me, Draw-Me Book with accompanying Unit Study on Friendship, has received rave reviews about how it deals sensitively with the issue of sharing between friends.

Here are sample pages from the book, and samples of exercises and activities from the friendship unit study.

For more info or to purchase, visit Bingo and Bonner .

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Treat us as you would treat family and friends. Gratefully, Harvey