The Not-So-Friendly Friend: How To Set Boundaries for Healthy Friendships (Capable Kiddos)

I love this book! It covers setting boundaries in a good way without making it complicated. I also like how it lets children know that friends don’t make us feel small. My daughter isn’t even having issues with this at school, but I think it’s still a good message for her to keep in mind for when these things may happen in the future.

I bought this for my 5 year old for us to read together. We have family friends who have a child the same age as our daughter and that friend is not-so-friendly. This is the perfect book for my daughter to realize that not everyone can be a good friend and what to do in cases where someone is not-so-friendly. I love how the book is written and the illustrations with different scenarios really held my 5 yr old's attention. We discussed all the pictures on each page as we read the book together. I love how the book shows how it makes you feel when someone is not-so-friendly and provides the tools to know what a boundary is, when to set a boundary and how to set & hold a healthy boundary. Excellent book!

I bought this book for my 3 year old who had a mean girl bullying her at daycare. I wasnt sure how she'd respond to the book or if it would help. She responded really enthusiastically and I think enjoyed having a story to relate to. The book gives very simple lessons and tips for how to respond to kids who are being mean. She would ask to read it every night for a while. Highly recommend

Great book for my 7yr old who has encountered some not-so-friendly friends lately! We enjoyed the book and the discussion points at the back!

Wonderful info for any kid to know.

My two year old was hit in the face at the park and became afraid of all kids for a while. I turned to this book (and a few others on bravery) to start dialogue with him to help him understand that some kids are not nice but that doesn’t mean ALL kids are that way and sometimes you have to set boundaries with people who are not nice. He goes around the park and says “hi nice friend” to all the kids now (we haven’t encountered that one bully again), he requests reading this book as “nice friends book” and declares he wants to go to the park to see nice friends. My sweet boy is back to his playful loving self and no longer running away screaming from everyone like he was after the incident. Love the diversity shown in the book and it’s an easy book for littles to digest. I’ll check out if this author has any others.

Such a great way to explain to little ones how they should and should not be treated by friends or school mates.

I read this book Every night to my 6 year old before our chapter book! Love everything down to the last period!

Great for our innocent children who believe everyone is a friend, and don’t differentiate between true friends and children who hurt them. If your young child has regular interactions with another child, in daycare or kindy, that consistently chooses hurtful behaviours or words, this book is an empathetic social story that your child will understand. It’s about a girl who starts school, plays kind with everyone, uses her words and not her body during conflict. There’s one child who almost always behaves unkind towards her. At first she tries harder to be friends, but every interaction leaves her feeling really small and upset. She comes to understand this friend is actually NOT a friend, bc friends don’t make you feel that way. She decides to set clear boundaries and this is where we see the author teach the reader some empathy towards the aggressing child. The main character’s clear boundaries are: 1. She tells the other child, when they want to play with kindness, she will happily play with them. 2. But when the child chooses to behave unkind, she will tell them to go somewhere else and why. 3. When they are ready to treat her with kindness again, they are invited to join. 4. She will not tolerate them treating others unkind either and will step in. 5. If using her words doesn’t stop their behaviour, she will get help with a safe adult, like a teacher. 6. She will stick to playing with true friends who make her feel good. This book is helping my child realize the boy in class who hurts him daily, is actually not a friend, despite my child still trying to play with him every day. It’s helpful the books is a school setting, but I have found my son is now recognizing cousin’s, just like classmates, are not automatically his friend. If anyone is hurting you on purpose, via throwing things at you, punching you, head butting you, then lying to adults about their behaviour, thus making you feel sad, frustrated and small after interacting with them, they are NOT a friend.

Good advice for young kids. Understood well by a five year old Very nice pictures

I have a 4 years old little girl and she has a friend. As i have only 1 child i dont have so much experience what to do with bully little kids. And what should i tell them to teach the right way. But when families involve it’s difficult to teach how to behave someone s kids. I was looking for option what should i teach my child to protect herself being bullied. This book sort of gave me an idea what should i tell my child. Its a good book.

Es un libro genial que contribuye a enseñar a un niño a poner límites y no permitir que lo acosen o lo traten mal.

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