National Friendship Day by Heather

A day for celebrating friendships, initially created by the greeting card industry (surprise, surprise!) :o), falls on the first Sunday of August each year (we're a few days late!).

Friendships and the reasons they work can be a mystery, unquantifiable at times.  Although friendships vary in type, from place to place, there tend to be certain characteristics that are a common thread in many of our relationships:  mutual care, concern, honesty, love, sympathy, service, loyalty and shared interests, to name just a sampling.  Friends may be older (wiser), younger, of a different culture, or someone with a different worldview, or even just that someone next-door.

When I discovered that a day each year is celebrated in honor of friends, I thought of the abundance of stories (for young and old – some of which people of ALL ages can appreciate) written to honor the importance of friendships. 

Many of us learned the value of friends at a very young age when our parents read “Winnie the Pooh” books to us.  In 1998, in honor of Friendship Day, at the United Nations, Winnie the Pooh was named “Ambassador of Friendship.”  

 Other good stories for young readers are “Frog and Toad Together,” which tells the story of best friends that enjoy numerous adventures together and “The Lion and the Mouse,” a classic story of an unlikely friendship.

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The Outsiders,” “Fault in our Stars,” “Warm Bodies,” “The Help,”  “Lord of the Rings,”  “The Lightning Thief" “She Matters” and “Holes” are just a small sampling of books to choose from at the library on this topic that patrons of varying reading interests can enjoy.

Friendship stories for animal lovers include “Charlotte’s Web,”  “Unlikely Friendships,” “Dewey the Library Cat,” and “Marley and Me.” Each of these books can’t help but touch your heart.

The conventional thought is that we choose friends because of who they are, but we also love them because of the way they support who we are.  Support your friendship by picking up a good book and share it with your friend.