“Thank you for being a friend, traveled down a road and back again. Your heart is true. You’re a pal and confidant.” Those lyrics from the theme song of the 1980s television series, “Golden Girls,” always rang true to me—and the tune itself was pretty darn catchy, too.

My daughters, then 12 and 14, watched reruns of the series; they loved the camaraderie and companionship of the actresses. Later, I realized that this series was teaching Ellen and Polly about friendship, and this is a good thing. Television aside, books on the subject are plentiful at any of the eight branches and bookmobile of the Springfield-Greene County Library District.

Friendship among siblings is the foundation for other relationships, and the oversized board book, “And To Think That We Thought That We’d Never Be Friends” cleverly written by Mary Ann Hoberman and beautifully illustrated by Kevin Hawkes, is excellent at making this point.

The book, in easy-to-read cadenced rhymes, starts off in a way that all parents can relate to:

“One day we were playing outside in our yard

When my brother got mad and he pushed me so hard

That I pushed him right back—with all of my might—

And quick as a wink we were having a fight!”

After a few pages, the brother and sister resolve their differences and end their argument because “it’s funny how quickly an argument ends. .and to think that we thought that we’d never be friends.”

From there, the siblings note how differences can be reconciled with the next-door neighbors, to those in foreign lands—and, okay, all the people on Earth. It’s an optimistic—and probably unrealistic—feel-good message, I know, but little kids will love it.

Here are other “friendship” books recommended by Jessie Alexander-East, a children’s librarian at the Library Center.

• “My Best Friend” by Pat Hutchins
  
• “Friends” by Rob Lewis
• “Horace and Morris, Bust Mostly Delores” by James Howe
• “Toot & Puddle” by Holly Hobbie
• “Plantzilla” by Jerdine Nolen
• “Brianna, Jamaica and the Dance of Spring” by Juanita Havill