The Care and Keeping of Friends

by Sally Seamans

How do you plant the seed of friendship and make sure it grows? Here's advice for making friends and being a friend, with crafts, quizzes, and creative ways to celebrate all your special friendships.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1562474820
• ISBN13: 9781562474829
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: American Girl Publishing Inc
• Length: 94 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 7.1" x 7.9"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Great book for kids

I got this book for my daughter for two reasons; one to help her inmpove her reading with something that interests her, and to make accesible to her readings that could help her develop better skills in order for her to become a well adjusted adult when she grows up. This book just satisfied both of my expectations. As soon as she received it, she went into her room and devoured it page by page. She's shared with me some of the ideas and concepts she grasped after reading it and I can only say that I am a satisfied purchaser of many of the books sold by this company.

Teaches girls to nurture friendships

I love the American Girl library and wish I could buy every title in it for my quickly-maturing 10 year old daughter, the oldest girl in a family of six kids. Unlike her mother, Erin is outgoing and precocious, but she inherited my impatience with people in spades. This book helped Erin make peace with some alienated friends, draw firm-but-kind boundaries with pesky friends, spend more time creatively with her two best friends (one is sleeping over Thursday), and reach out to new acquaintances via letters and phone calls. She is figuring out what she likes and doesn't like in girlfriends, and this book, via suggestions for activities and negotiating the ups and downs of friendships, helps Erin learn to determine who she is compatible with, girlfriend-wise. I think she has already made a firm habit of blowing off steam with girlfriends and looking to them for fun and support, which will pay huge dividends in the future. I am still close to the ladies I befriended at her age and drawing strength and encouragement from them, so I know these are very precious skills that Erin is learning. As a Mom, I recommend the American Girl titles about personal safety, body changes, and friendships starting at 10-11 and saving the ones about boys for a bit later. When you're young, boys may come and boys may go, but girlfriends are forever.

Perfect for the pre-teen girl

My 8 year old daughter is at the perfect stage for this book. I think this book would be ideal for girls in the elementary school grades. Older girls will find it too simplistic. The book is filled with positive messages and encouragement to be an accepting and caring friend. It also helps girls realize that sometimes friendships don't work out even in the best of circumstances. I think this is an important message for a young girl to learn. The book is filled with oodles of ideas on how to make the most of existing and new friendships. There are even crafts and games to do together. The illustrations are fun and lively and the tone of the book is cute and friendly. I read this book out loud to my daughter and we talked about each section as we read it. She shared a lot of information with me about her friends. I also had fun telling her some of my experiences. Great "girl time" experience!

An Absolutely Fantastic Book!

This is the ultimate book for friendships. Are you a little shy when it comes to making friends? Is your best friend moving? Are you and a friend having a fight? This book as the answer to those questions and much, much more. There's a section on making friends, which includes choosing a good friend and places to meet friends. There's also a section on being a friend: when your friend moves or has a bad day, and just ways to make your friend feel better. The next section is about fighting. There are steps on what to do when you and your friend are in a fight, and even ways to decide whether or not your friendship is ending, plus ways to keep the friendship alive. Finally, there's a section on celebrating friendships-crafts, food, holding friendship parties, activities, and games. At the end of the book are pop-out friend info pages where you can glue your friend's picture. I loved reading this book, and it helped me make and keep friends. Hope you love this book as much as I do!

The best...:)

This is a wonderful book. I wanted this book 'cause I was haveing ALOT of trouble with a certain friend of mine, and we needed to get our problems sloved. This book helped us alot! Now we are BEST friends! I totally recomend this book to ANY friends fighting or not!!