Book Review: How To Make And Keep Friends

Disclaimer: I received books to review. All opinions are my own.

Both of my children have some issues that affect the way they handle social situations. Snapper has been diagnosed with anxiety that is most likely from her speech delay. Tbomb has ADHD and has a problem with anger because of it. They both are very good kids, but just need a little help sometimes and need tools to help them manage these problems. I had the opportunity to review 3 books that would most likely be beneficial to my children and I am so very glad I accepted this opportunity.

How to Make & Keep Friends: Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Common Social Challenges

Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea, authors of How to Make & Keep Friends ($12.83), have done such a wonderful job creating a book to help children overcome social situations. It makes sense to have a book for children, when there are so many books like this available for adults and children need to learn how to handle social situations. This is especially important for my homeschooled children.

We use this book during our "morning meeting" we are going through the book in order. If the kids understand what the book is teaching, we move on the next day, if not- we revisit it.

Updated for 2016! How to Make & Keep Friends: Tips for Kids to Overcome 50 Common Social Challenges By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea offers social skills and friendship advice presented in a reference guide format, using lists to easily find tips and strategies on a specific topic or social situation. This is a resource for those children who benefit most from direct instruction or learn more effectively using factual materials rather than fictional stories. While the reading grade level and content is geared toward elementary school kids, many teens and adults report they are finding these tips on the basics to be helpful. Included are simple and immediately actionable tips to navigate common social situations that can be challenging, such as: • How to Join a Group • How to Safely Handle Angry Feelings • Handling Rejection and Exclusion • Working Things Out & Sharing Fairly • Being a Good Guest and Host • Playground Success • … and much more! In this updated edition, we have taken the feedback from our reviews and readers and added the "why" of learning each of these skills is important along with practice questions to inspire discussion and role playing of different social situations with children.

I Feel Mad! Tips for Kids on Managing Angry Feelings (How to Make & Keep Friends Workbooks) (Volume 1)

The I Feel Mad anger workbook provides simple, actionable and proven strategies to help kids manage angry feelings. In this workbook, your child will learn: • the anger rule to follow and what he or she can or cannot do when he or she is feeling angry; • that anger is a normal emotion we all have, but managing anger appropriately is a critical life skill; • how to identify the physical sensations of anger and implement strategies before it becomes too hot to handle; • a menu of safe strategies to choose from when angry situations arise; • and effective problem-solving skills and specific reactions to replace an angry response. I Feel Mad is written at a 3rd-grade reading level. Younger children can easily access the content with parent support and some older children (up through 5th grade) have found the workbook to be a helpful tool for coping with strong feelings.

Trevor is in Kindergarten, but doing it together, he is able to understand it. 


I Feel Worried! Tips for Kids on Overcoming Anxiety (How to Make & Keep Friends Workbooks) (Volume 2)

The I Feel Worried workbook provides simple, actionable and proven tips to help kids manage anxious feelings. In this workbook, your child will learn: • that anxiety is a normal and sometimes necessary emotion we all experience; • how to understand and label feelings; • how to identify the physical sensations of anxiety and implement strategies before the fear becomes too strong; • calming exercises to choose when anxiety-provoking situations arise; • effective coping skills and specific strategies to manage anxiety; • that he or she has the power to overcome anxious thoughts and become an expert worry ninja. How to Make & Keep Friends, LLC provides the following resources • The How to Make & Keep Friends Books and Workbooks • Bullying Prevention, Facilitated Recess Programs and School Observations • Professional Development Seminars • Workshops for Children and Parents Shea and Briggs consult with families, school systems, and community organizations to improve the social and emotional lives of children everywhere. The important thing is, you really should not let the worries win. You may not feel as though you are stronger than your worries, but you really and truly are!


Together, these three books have become invaluable tools for my children. We do the workbooks one on one, but the How to Make & Keep Friends book we do together during morning time. They are great teaching tools and I can tell that the workbooks are really making a difference with their dealing with anxiety and anger. I am so thankful to these two authors for creating such wonderful tools for children.