From this book, students can learn about the importance of kindness. It can also help explain the concept of "volunteering" to students. ( )

Rosa loves spending time in her new treehouse, especially now that her friend Matthew is helping her fix it up. Then some volunteers begin a new Habitat house next door, and as the two houses take shape, we learn along with Rosa and Matthew that the act of building together enriches all of us.

This is such a cute book and it helps children understand helping others and how they can make new and different friends. This little girl sees a boy and befriends him. They get along super well and then he moves in next door. This would be great for first graders to about second graders. ( )

One of a series of picture-books published by Habitat for Humanity, an "ecumenical Christian housing ministry dedicated to eliminating poverty housing and homelessness," Building Friends is the story of Rosa, and her new friend Matthew. Newly moved into the neighborhood themselves, Rosa's parents volunteer at the Habitat site right next door, helping to build their neighbor's new home. Paralleling their elders, Rosa and Matthew work together on Rosa's tree-house, making it better than ever.

Habitat for Humanity is an organization close to my heart. I support their mission of building affordable housing for the working poor, and approve of the way in which they use volunteer labor (including that of the family being helped) to accomplish their goals. But although I donate money to the organization, and am keenly interested in children's books, I was not aware, until very recently, that they had published a series of picture-books in the late 1990s. In fact, if I hadn't gone looking for more books illustrated by husband-wife team Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu - who also worked on the wonderful Jingle Dancer and Sam and the Lucky Money - I probably wouldn't have discovered it!

I'm glad I did, as Building Friends pairs an engaging story with appealing illustrations, and is a great way to introduce children to the subject of housing needs, and the work of this wonderful organization. Although the blurb on the back cover specifies that Habitat is a Christian organization, and there is a brief quotation from Corinthians at the front, this really isn't a religious book, and would be suitable for children of any (or no) faith. After all, people of all backgrounds work with Habitat to build homes! ( )