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Best Sharing Picture Books for Kids
Learning to share can be challenging for young children, but it’s also an important part of building kindness, empathy, and healthy friendships. Whether it’s taking turns with a favorite toy, including others in play, or learning to think about someone else’s feelings, sharing is a skill that develops over time with guidance and practice.
Picture books are a wonderful way to help children understand why sharing matters. Through relatable characters and engaging stories, kids can see how generosity, cooperation, and kindness can strengthen relationships and make everyday situations easier to navigate.
Many books about sharing also help children build empathy by encouraging them to consider how others may feel in social situations. If you’re looking to support emotional awareness and perspective-taking as well, you can also explore our collection of the best picture books about empathy for kids.
In this list, we’ve gathered some of the best sharing books for kids to help teach cooperation, patience, kindness, and taking turns. Whether you’re reading at home, in the classroom, or during social-emotional learning activities, these stories can help encourage thoughtful conversations and positive behaviors.
Top Picks at a Glance
- Llama Llama Time to Share → Best for helping toddlers and preschoolers learn to take turns
- Should I Share My Ice Cream? → Best for teaching kids to think about others before it’s too late
- Strictly No Elephants → Best for encouraging inclusion and making others feel welcome
Picture Books About Sharing Kids Will Love
Featured Picks
When a new friend comes over to play, Llama Llama struggles with sharing his favorite toys and attention. This relatable story helps young children understand big emotions around possession, patience, and cooperation while teaching important lessons about friendship and taking turns.
Best For: Helping toddlers and preschoolers learn to take turns
Why It Stands Out: A highly relatable story that captures the real challenges young kids face when learning to share.
Gerald the Elephant faces a hilarious but meaningful dilemma when deciding whether to share his ice cream with his best friend Piggie. With humor and simple storytelling, this popular picture book introduces young readers to generosity, friendship, and the joy of sharing with others.
Best For: Teaching kids to think about others before it’s too late
Why It Stands Out: Uses humor and friendship to make sharing lessons memorable for young readers
When a boy and his tiny elephant are excluded from a pet club, they decide to create a more welcoming space where everyone belongs. This heartwarming story teaches children about kindness, inclusion, empathy, and sharing community with others.
Best For: Encouraging inclusion and making others feel welcome
Why It Stands Out: A beautiful story about inclusion, belonging, and creating space for others.
Through warm illustrations and gentle storytelling, this picture book celebrates the many ways children can share with others — from food and games to laughter and friendship. It’s a thoughtful introduction to generosity, cooperation, and the happiness that comes from sharing experiences together.
Best For: Showing how sharing builds community and connection
Why It Stands Out: Shows that sharing is about more than objects — it’s about connection and togetherness.
Two squirrels argue and compete over the last pinecone, only to discover that working together matters more than winning. Filled with humor and lively rhyming text, this engaging story helps children understand sharing, friendship, and conflict resolution.
Best For: Teaching kids to cooperate instead of compete
Why It Stands Out: A funny, fast-paced story that turns a simple squabble into a meaningful sharing lesson
How to Choose the Right Book About Sharing for Your Child
Learning to share is an important part of a child’s social and emotional development, but it can take time and practice — especially for younger children. The right picture books can help kids better understand cooperation, patience, generosity, and how their actions affect others.
Here are a few things to consider when choosing a book about sharing for your child.
Look for Relatable Everyday Situations
Children often connect best with stories that mirror situations they experience in real life. Books about sharing toys, taking turns, playing with friends, or handling disagreements can help children better understand social situations they regularly encounter at home, school, or daycare.
Relatable stories also make it easier for children to apply those lessons in their own daily interactions.
Consider Your Child’s Age and Development
Toddlers and preschoolers may benefit from simple stories with clear lessons about taking turns and cooperation. Older children are often ready for more nuanced books that explore generosity, inclusion, teamwork, and thinking about the feelings of others.
Choosing books that match your child’s developmental stage can make the message more engaging and easier to understand.
Choose Books That Encourage Empathy
Many of the best sharing books also help children develop empathy by encouraging them to think about how others feel. Stories that explore kindness, friendship, and perspective-taking can help kids better understand why sharing matters in relationships and social situations.
If you’re looking to build emotional awareness alongside sharing skills, you can also explore our collection of the best picture books about empathy for kids.
Look for Positive Examples of Cooperation and Kindness
Children learn a lot by observing how characters solve problems and interact with others. Books that model teamwork, generosity, patience, and including others can help reinforce positive behaviors in a natural and memorable way.
Many sharing stories also encourage broader social-emotional skills like compassion, friendship, and kindness. If you’re looking for more stories that focus on caring for others and positive behavior, explore our collection of the best picture books about kindness for kids.
Pick Stories That Open the Door for Discussion
The best sharing books don’t just teach lessons — they encourage conversation. As you read together, ask questions like:
- “How do you think that character felt?”
- “What could they have done differently?”
- “Have you ever had a hard time sharing something?”
These kinds of discussions help children better understand emotions, practice problem-solving, and build stronger social-emotional skills over time.
Frequently Ask Questions
Some of the best books about sharing help children learn cooperation, taking turns, generosity, and thinking about the feelings of others. Popular sharing books for kids include Llama Llama Time to Share, Should I Share My Ice Cream?, and Pie is for Sharing because they teach important social skills in fun and relatable ways.
Children begin learning about sharing during the toddler and preschool years, although it often takes time and practice to fully develop. Picture books can help introduce concepts like patience, fairness, and cooperation in a way that feels engaging and age-appropriate.
Picture books help children see social situations through relatable characters and stories. By watching characters navigate friendship challenges, take turns, and solve conflicts, kids can better understand why sharing matters and how it helps build positive relationships.
Sharing helps children develop important social-emotional skills like empathy, cooperation, patience, and kindness. Learning to share can also strengthen friendships, improve communication, and help children feel more confident in group settings.
Yes, sharing books are especially helpful for toddlers and preschoolers because young children are still learning how to navigate social situations and manage big emotions. Stories about taking turns, waiting patiently, and thinking about others can make these lessons easier to understand.
The best sharing books feature relatable situations, engaging characters, and positive examples of cooperation and kindness. Many strong sharing stories also encourage empathy and help children understand how their actions can affect others.
Final Thoughts
Learning to share is an important part of helping children build friendships, practice kindness, and develop empathy for others. While sharing may not always come naturally, picture books can make these lessons easier to understand through relatable stories, humor, and meaningful conversations.
Whether your child is learning how to take turns, cooperate with others, or think beyond their own perspective, the books on this list can help encourage positive social and emotional growth both at home and in the classroom.
If you’re looking for more stories that encourage compassion, generosity, and caring for others, you can also explore our collection of the best picture books about kindness for kids.