Dear New Friend

Share this Book

As you read Dear New Friend aloud, invite students to notice how the narrator expresses friendship—through his kind words, sharing favorite foods and games, introducing the family he loves, and explaining the traditions he values. Encourage discussion about what students would enjoy if they were visiting the boy’s home and how the narrator uses these details to make his friend feel welcome.

After reading, ask students to imagine their own ideal visit with a friend. What simple, thoughtful, fun experiences would they plan? Invite them to brainstorm and write down meaningful, everyday things they enjoy and think about how they might share those moments with someone else. Then guide them to turn these notes into a list poem titled Friendship Day. Encourage them to include sensory details to make the poem vivid: What would they see or hear during this day? What might they smell or taste? What would they be doing together? How would they feel as they spend time with their friend? Prompt students to imagine the experience fully, using concrete details to show what makes the day special.

To conclude their list poem, ask all students to include one final item—a doosti handicraft. Just as the narrator of Dear New Friend made his friend a cut-paper craft of a bridge to celebrate their connection, have students imagine what craft they would create to celebrate a friendship of their own.

Display the poems anonymously and invite students to read and appreciate all the unique invitations for friendship that exist right in their own classroom.

Questions for Discussion or Reflective Writing

1. What is the boy looking forward to when his new friend visits his home? What do you look forward to when you have a friend visit or when you visit a friend?
2. What do you notice about how the boy welcomes his friend? What would you like most about visiting the boy’s home? 
3. What new things did you learn about Persian culture from this book? Why is it special to share things from your culture or traditions you have with a friend?
4. If you were writing a letter like this to a new friend, what would you include? What kind of doosti handicraft would you imagine giving to a new friend? Why?

Related Resources

Taraneh Matloob on Dear New Friend from TeachingBooks

List Poems for Kids from Poem World

The Basic Diagonal Stripe Friendship Bracelet from Klutz

3 Easy Beginner Friendship Bracelets from Audrey’s Jar