What do you think?
Rate this book
Unlikely Friendships for Kids: The Dog & The Piglet: And Four Other Stories of Animal Friendships
Good friends come in all shapes and sizes!Unlikely Friendships, the runaway New York Times bestseller with a compelling message of hope and friendship and differences overcome, is rewritten just for younger readers. This hardcover chapter book for children ages seven and up collects five heartwarming true stories of animal a hippo and the goat who is his best friend, an iguana that snuggles with a cat, a dog that takes care of a blind deer, a cat and orangutan who become friends, and a mother dog who cares for a tiny piglet. Chapter books give young readers a strong sense of accomplishment, and these heartwarming animal stories, with their incredible photographs and inexplicable mysteries of attraction, their focus on friendship, love, and the ways that creatures of all different species can find common bonds of affection, will keep kids turning the pages to find out about the unusual ways animals help each other and discover the love of new friends. Each is a perfect gift for young animal lovers, and a lovely subject to help kids get reading.
36 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 10, 2012
21 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 1, 2021
This is part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For an explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.
I think that this is intended to be for kids working on their reading, although that's not the opinion of a professional. So, for that intended audience these are great. They're very short stories that capture the attention and left me wanting to know more about all of them.
There's an animal list and word list at the back.
As an adult reading this, I was deeply unsatisfied. More to each story, more stories, more pictures. I think that's a good thing, right? Actually, I seem to recall feeling some of that about the version for adults. It's sweet stuff, and we can all use more of that.
Library copy
I think that this is intended to be for kids working on their reading, although that's not the opinion of a professional. So, for that intended audience these are great. They're very short stories that capture the attention and left me wanting to know more about all of them.
There's an animal list and word list at the back.
As an adult reading this, I was deeply unsatisfied. More to each story, more stories, more pictures. I think that's a good thing, right? Actually, I seem to recall feeling some of that about the version for adults. It's sweet stuff, and we can all use more of that.
Library copy
June 22, 2017
A nice, happy book with good information fid. I saw the book Unlikely friendships at the physics and decided to buy this one for the children.
They really enjoyed this one so will buy the grown up one for them soon. The illustrations are beautiful in both books.
They really enjoyed this one so will buy the grown up one for them soon. The illustrations are beautiful in both books.
December 7, 2021
This is not a book I would read for myself. But for a child in K - 3. It shows the relationship between different animals. Dogs and Pigs are friends, cats and iguanas are friends. Now he wants to be friends with all the different types of animals and wants to bring them home.
July 3, 2022
Love these stories ❤️❤️
The stories are beautiful ❤️❤️ I love reading about animals but these all go the extra mile for me, awesome 🙏
The stories are beautiful ❤️❤️ I love reading about animals but these all go the extra mile for me, awesome 🙏
February 9, 2023
A Sweet Set of Stories
If you need something to help you believe in unlikely friendships, this is it. Warms the heart and surprises unexpected.
If you need something to help you believe in unlikely friendships, this is it. Warms the heart and surprises unexpected.
June 21, 2024
read when tutoring
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2012
A good early reader, perfect for young animal lovers. Recommended!
This book is a collection of 5 stories of animal friendships, designed to appeal to kids in the 6-10 age range. In terms of reading level, it's comparable to an early chapter book -- a bit harder than Frog and Toad, but only a bit. Each story is quite short (4-10 pages), there's a fair amount of white space on each page, and there are lots of pictures.
Although many of the animals featured started out in unfortunate circumstances, nothing bad happens to any of them in these stories. They are rescued and cared for, and then find true friendship and live cuddly ever after. The pictures will definitely induce "Awww"s!
(Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Workman!)
This book is a collection of 5 stories of animal friendships, designed to appeal to kids in the 6-10 age range. In terms of reading level, it's comparable to an early chapter book -- a bit harder than Frog and Toad, but only a bit. Each story is quite short (4-10 pages), there's a fair amount of white space on each page, and there are lots of pictures.
Although many of the animals featured started out in unfortunate circumstances, nothing bad happens to any of them in these stories. They are rescued and cared for, and then find true friendship and live cuddly ever after. The pictures will definitely induce "Awww"s!
(Note: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher at an American Library Association Annual Conference. I was not required to write a positive review. Thank you, Workman!)
September 11, 2014
The truth is that this more closely resembles a very pretty booklet or preview than an actual book.
I found the writing to be incredibly simple, even for a book aimed at younger readers. The chapters are beyond short and there are hardly any pictures. My 8 year old niece finished it in less than 10 minutes and enjoyed it enough to want to go on to read the "real" book. She seriously thought this was just a preview.
It wasn't a total waste of time, but I'd recommend skipping this volume and heading straight into the full (not kid-aimed) volumes.
I found the writing to be incredibly simple, even for a book aimed at younger readers. The chapters are beyond short and there are hardly any pictures. My 8 year old niece finished it in less than 10 minutes and enjoyed it enough to want to go on to read the "real" book. She seriously thought this was just a preview.
It wasn't a total waste of time, but I'd recommend skipping this volume and heading straight into the full (not kid-aimed) volumes.
January 13, 2016
This is a sweet little e-book that kids and adults will like. It is always a good thing to see animals that we don't think of individuals, such as pigs and deer, befriending those animals we do, such as dogs. Through the pictures and descriptions of the animals' playful bond, we realize that those animals we think of merely as resources and "things" really aren't so different than those we think of as family members.
June 26, 2012
This is a great book for children to read with their parents! It's a quick read with some adorable pictures (can you saw 'Awww'?). I found it gave enough information without being too overwhelming and it held my attention for the few minutes it took me to read. Ms. Holland has 3 books in this little 'series'. These are definitely worth checking out!
September 25, 2012
My students and I love this series. The writing is simple (at times bordering on simplistic) but this means that these books are accessible to a wide variety of readers. The photographs never fail to elicit “awwws” from adults and kids alike and the short stories, although lacking in great detail, lend themselves to further conversation about friendship, science, geography, etc.
September 25, 2012
First of all: awwww
This is a great NF choice for beginning solo readers, looking to transition out of Readers and into chapter books. It is broken down into 5 small sections/chapters that are about 4 or 5 pages each and interspersed with images of the animals being focused on in the chapter.
Recommended for animal lovers.
This is a great NF choice for beginning solo readers, looking to transition out of Readers and into chapter books. It is broken down into 5 small sections/chapters that are about 4 or 5 pages each and interspersed with images of the animals being focused on in the chapter.
Recommended for animal lovers.
January 22, 2015
Sweet stories with messages
Stories promote unusual friendships with different species, this is particularly beneficial if used to promote discussions on acceptance and tolerance of others. May also be used to promote veganism amongst human children. Would you eat or wear your pet as a belt? No, then why other animals?
Stories promote unusual friendships with different species, this is particularly beneficial if used to promote discussions on acceptance and tolerance of others. May also be used to promote veganism amongst human children. Would you eat or wear your pet as a belt? No, then why other animals?
August 15, 2013
Jennifer S. Holland has a new non-fiction series perfect for kids just starting to read chapter books. If you like animals, you will love these short stories about the friendships between some pretty unlikely animals.
January 11, 2016
Great for young kids
Short sweet book, great for young kids. I enjoyed the sweet stories and at the end of the book they have a glossary of terms and kinds of animals mentioned in the book.
Short sweet book, great for young kids. I enjoyed the sweet stories and at the end of the book they have a glossary of terms and kinds of animals mentioned in the book.
February 3, 2017
Our son is a huge animal lover and loves when animals cuddle each other and are friends. These books are very cute, but could be read with 6-8 year olds. I will get him the adult version of these great animal stories!
July 21, 2012
Very cute stories about inter-species friendships. Great for kids who love animal stories!
July 27, 2012
Very matter-of-fact. Not enough details about the friendships are revealed so I found it a little lacking.
September 10, 2015
This book will kill you with cuteness.
November 13, 2015
Hübsche Geschichten über außergewöhnliche Tierfreundschaften, für Kinder gut geeignet. Nur die Fotos hätten ein wenig größer sein können.
October 7, 2017
Very cute. I wanted a little more information and I think my fifth graders will too. I plan on checking out the "adult" version to see if I could use that in my classroom instead.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews