We Can Get Along

Children need help learning how to get along with others at school, in the neighborhood, and on the playground. They need to know that they have the power to make good choices.

In simple, affirming words and exuberant full-color illustrations, We Can Get Along teaches essential conflict resolution and peacemaking skills—think before you speak or act, treat others the way you want to be treated—in a way that young children can understand.

In simple text, describes how it feels when people get along well together and when they do not, and explains that one has control over how one reacts in both kinds of situations.

Children need help learning how to get along with others at school, in the neighborhood, and on the playground. They need to know that they have the power to make good choices.

In simple, affirming words and exuberant full-color illustrations, We Can Get Along teaches essential conflict resolution and peacemaking skills—think before you speak or act, treat others the way you want to be treated—in a way that young children can understand.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 3Written with clarity, authority, and empathy, this text explores the universal feelings of children in the area of getting along with one another. Good times such as laughing, working, and playing together make them feel happy and safe, while quarreling, hitting, bullying, and teasing make them angry and afraid. These are the givens of everyday life. The empowering theme here is that individuals choose how to behave. Everyone can share, respect others, think before speaking, work out problems, and enjoy many types of friends. Caring adults can be consulted in times of puzzlement and trouble. To make this didactic message lively and appealing, the short blocks of text are enclosed in double-page frames of imaginative and charming illustrations done in pen and ink and bright markers. Children of all races are shown in a variety of ordinary activities, with exuberant backgrounds and borders of interesting items. This expression of the Golden Rule in sensible, easily understood language could be used in any setting, with a group or one-on-one, to address individual behavior or peacemaking techniques in general.Patricia Pearl Dole, formerly at First Presbyterian School, Martinsville, VA

Lauren Murphy Payne, M.S.W., is a psychotherapist in family practice. She is cofounder of The Turning Point, a speaking and consulting service. She lives in Racine, Wisconsin.

Claudia Rohling, M.S.W., has created many popular prints and greeting cards. She is cofounder of The Turning Point, a speaking and consulting service. She lives in Racine, Wisconsin.