First Experiences: Making Friends

Date: 1996
Author: Fred Rogers
Photographs: Jim Judkis
Publisher: Putnam & Gossett Group (PaperStar)
Series: First Experiences
ISBN: 0698114094
Purchase: Amazon (Paperback)

Text and photographs © 1987 by Family Communications, Inc.
Originally published in 1987 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

Date: 1987
Author: Fred Rogers
Photographs: Jim Judkis
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Series: First Experiences
ISBN: 0399213856
Purchase: Amazon (Paperback)

Text and photographs copyright © 1987 by Family Communications, Inc.

Summary

Making Friends is a publication from the Mister Rogers' Neighborhood First Experiences series (originally published in 1987). In this book, real life photos are used to help young people feel more comfortable with interacting with other children and making new friends.

A Note From Fred Rogers

One of life's greatest joys is the comfortable give-and-take of a good friendship. It is a wonderful feeling not only to have a good friend but to know how to be a good friend yourself.

Learning about friendship begins at an early age when children "graduate" from playing side by side to playing with each other. There is so much to learn about sharing toys and sharing loved ones as children begin to share themselves with others.

It can be disheartening for a parent to watch a toddler fighting over a toy or jostling for a first place in line. Nonetheless, learning to share and learning to compromise are enormous challenges for the young child whose view of the world is still largely self-centered. Our adult patience and realistic expectations can be as helpful to the child as knowing when we ought to step in and mediate a dispute.

A good friend of mine once remarked that "character is caught, not taught." I think that is also true of empathy and tolerance and the other things that have to do with being a good friend...they're all caught, not taught.

We can provide our children with opportunities for play with their peers. We can offer them suggestions for compromise, and we can intervene when necessary. But our greatest gift may be the examples we set in our own friendships. It is from us, I believe, that our children are likely to learn best.