A Friend for Henry

Name: A Friend for Henry
Author: Jenn Bailey

A story that explores friendship and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families

Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →

♥ This book teaches: Friendship. showing up for someone else.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition: A friend is someone you like spending time with because they make you feel happy and special, and help you when you need it. In short: Build bonds that last forever. Summary: Henry’s on a quest to find a friend at school. He looks around and assesses the possibilities, finding reasons to not reach out to certain classmates because he doesn’t like something about them. Henry becomes frustrated and angry, until he meets Katie. They bond over some of the things they don’t like, and simultaneously find activities they both like. Even though it was difficult to find a friend, Henry finally succeeds! Lesson Objectives:

Students apply what they learned about friendship from this story - don’t give up on your quest to find a friend (get help if you need it), look for someone who shares at least some of your interests, and don’t be too picky!
Teachers reinforce some of the “rules” of friendship: a friend says thank you and a friend listens.

Guiding Questions:

What was Henry looking for?
Henry tried to make Vivien his friend but it didn’t work out. Why?
Henry tried to arrange the carpet squares carefully but something happened that made him angry - what happened?
What are Henry’s ideas about what friends are supposed to be like?
Why do you think Henry and Katie are able to be friends?
Henry didn’t like it when classmates broke school rules. Do you agree with Henry? Why or why not?
Henry invited Katie to play with the blocks and that was the beginning of their friendship. What do you do when you want to make a friend?
Sometimes a friend will not want to do what you’d like to do. Henry didn’t like to go down the slide but he waited for Katie at the bottom. Is it okay with you when friends don’t always want to do what you want to do?
Ask a family member, parent, grandparent, sibling, about their friendships when they were your age. How did they make friends?
What do you like to do with your friend?

🌿 Virtue Connection: Friendship means showing up for someone else, consistently.

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.

Read-aloud video · Best with headphones

Find this book at your library or bookstore →

Friendship · Family Discussion Guide

A Friend for Henry

by Jenn Bailey

Guiding Questions

Students apply what they learned about friendship from this story - don’t give up on your quest to find a friend (get help if you need it), look for someone who shares at least some of your interests, and don’t be too picky!
Teachers reinforce some of the “rules” of friendship: a friend says thank you and a friend listens.

Guiding Questions:

What was Henry looking for?
Henry tried to make Vivien his friend but it didn’t work out. Why?
Henry tried to arrange the carpet squares carefully but something happened that made him angry - what happened?
What are Henry’s ideas about what friends are supposed to be like?
Why do you think Henry and Katie are able to be friends?
Henry didn’t like it when classmates broke school rules. Do you agree with Henry? Why or why not?
Henry invited Katie to play with the blocks and that was the beginning of their friendship. What do you do when you want to make a friend?
Sometimes a friend will not want to do what you’d like to do. Henry didn’t like to go down the slide but he waited for Katie at the bottom. Is it okay with you when friends don’t always want to do what you want to do?
Ask a family member, parent, grandparent, sibling, about their friendships when they were your age. How did they make friends?
What do you like to do with your friend?

valuesandvirtues.org · Made possible by our supporters

A Friend for Henry

Guiding Questions for Parents.

About the Story.

More Friendship guides.

Be Kind

Claymates

Desmond and the Very Mean Word

Do Unto Otters

Explore more guides for Pre-K & Kindergarten.

A Friend for Henry

Guiding Questions