That's What Friends Are For

by Valeri Gorbachev

Why is Friend Pig crying? Goat isn't sure. Could he have fallen down thestairs and broken his leg? Could he have forgotten to turn off the shower and flooded the house? Could robbers have stolen his apple pie? Whatever it is, Goat has a way to fix it—after all, that's what friends are for!

In his trademark gentle watercolors,Valeri Gorbachev brings us another hilarious tale of misunderstanding between Pig and Goat that will take young readers to the heart of unconditional friendship.

Genres: Picture Books, Friendship, Childrens, Animals, Humor, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 16, 2005

About the author

Valeri Gorbachev is the author and illustrator of a number of children's books, both in the United States and Europe, including Nicky And The Big Bad Wolves and Where is the Apple Pie? Mr. Gorbachev immigrated to the United States from the Ukraine in 1991 and now lives with his family in Brooklyn, New York.

(from harpercollins.com)

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Goat notices his friend Pig is crying, he dreams up a multitude of ways he can help to cheer his friend. Just a sweet, heartwarming tale highlighted by the author's adorable illustrations.

[sincerely · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread for us from last year. Adorable illustrations and great lessons on being aware of others and considering their situation and how we might help them. To understand the punchline, kiddos need to be aware that cutting onions can make your eyes water 😉

[Marcela Lozano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ternura desde el principio, todo lo que se imagina el personaje para animar a su amigo y que deje de llorar.

[Anne Fox]

This is a cute little book, which I found I could actually read and understand with my limited knowledge of Spanish.

Goat and Pig are two friends, and Goat is excited because Pig has invited him to dinner. He looks out his window to see if Pig is done making dinner and sees his friend "crying a sea of tears."

Goat then begins to speculate on why his friend is crying. Did some neighbor's kid ruin Pig's flowers? Did he fall down the stairs and hurt himself? Or maybe he forgot to turn off the faucet? Or turn off the iron and burned his favorite shirt? Or some thieves stole the apple pie he made for their dinner?

Goat then tells everything he'll do to make each of these things right, and rushes over with all of the things he believes Pig might need. But why is Pig really crying?

Well, learn a little Spanish, get this book, and you'll find out!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A goat looks out the window and sees his friend, Pig, crying in his house. Goat imagines all kids of things that could have made Pig cry, and then he sets out to remedy them by bringing various things with him to help Pig feel better. When he walks in the door, Pig asks Goat to help him chop onions for dinner, and that's when the reader realizes that Pig (and then Goat) are crying because of the onion chopping. A good book on friendship.

[Veronica Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toda la ternura y lo chistoso a través de un ingenio simple pero bueno, tan característicos de la colección Buenas noches.
Muy lindo. De toda la onda "antigua" de los amigos de camisa (y corbata) de la onda de Sapo y Sepo.

[Jaelyn Carr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating - 5/5, copyright - 2005, themes- friendship
This is a very cute book, it'd be a great way to introduce a friendship lesson in young grades. My favorite part of the book or the beautiful illustrations, I thought that they were also in depth and really added to the story!

[˚✧ Emilia ₊˚⁺ ˖˚ rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro muy lindo que leí cuando era pequeña (aproximadamente 5 / 6 años) en su momento me enseñó que los buenos amigos siempre se preocupan por hacernos sentir mejor cuando “aparentemente estamos mal”

[Amanda Walz · Rating 5 out of 5]

About friendship, worry and great imagination.

[Camila Vivanco Villa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demasiado lindo! Me encantaron las ilusiones.

[Ayana · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard to teach why pig was crying to my daughter who had nver cut onions.
Anyway,Goat has very warm heart,and that makes this story so cute and humorous.

[Lillian Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cute book! A goat is worried about his friend and does everything in his power to make sure his friend has all the help he needs!

[Aseret Aldrete · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Qué ternura de cuento! La amistad es una base importante para desarrollarnos en sociedad y nuestras buenas acciones harán que las relaciones con los demás se consoliden.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found in L4L Volume 3

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was adorable and my daughter loved it. Goat was such a good friend and there was cute twist at the end. Beautifully illustrated too.

[Vicki Kier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pen-and-ink and watercolor drawings in soft, subdued colors beautifully accompany this heart-warming tale of the friendship between a goat and a pig. One morning, goat discovers through his open window that best friend pig is in tears. The remainder of the book draws listeners into goat's imagination as he considers increasingly unlikely explanations for his best friend's sorrow. It is goat's loving desire to cheer his friend that will touch readers' hearts. As well, the true reason for the tears will provide a learning moment for young listeners. That's What Friends Are For is a sweet book with a lovely message about the sacrificial nature of true friendship. One of well-respected author/illustrator Valeri Gorbachev's best, it is highly recommended for public libraries and pre-school story-times everywhere. (Ages 3-5.)

[Joanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goat sees Pig crying through his window and he can't help but wonder what horrible thing may have happened to his good ol' buddy. Goat assumes all these terrible situations and prepares himself to go care for Pig. Except, when Goat arrives he finds that Pig is not in trouble at all! I won't ruin the surprise but I will say that I laughed out loud at the end of this book; I read it to my first graders and they also thought it was hilarious. I used this book for a sequencing lesson and it turned out great. This book can also be used for prediction or inferring.

[Andrew Schoenfelder]

This book was very visual with large pictures on both sides of every page. The text was appropriate size on the page and consistently on the same side. Bright colors overpowered the book and made viewing the pictures a priority. I like on the cover how the title is written like it would be a child’s handwriting. The characters and setting is cartoon like images which are always fun for kids. The images take up majority of the page providing every page with some clutter and no empty space.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. I liked that the story tells children what it means to be a friend. The story also teaches children about making predictions based on a situation (ex: why could someone be crying). The story also embraces inference, as the students must infer through pictures that the onions are what causes pig to cry.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that onion tears are an almost nightly occurrence around our house, I loved the twist! As with all Gorbachev books (at least that I've read), the illustrations are wonderful and the characters are caring.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cute story of a goat who sees his neighbor-friend pig crying. He runs through a bunch of different scenarios that could have caused his friend to cry and comes up with a way to help him out in each case. If only real-life were more like this story!

Fun illustrations.

[Mandy J. Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is a short and silly little tale, the message of friendship is very good. Goat sees pig crying and things of all the ways he might cheer him up.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read-aloud book where goat overreacts to seeing his buddy crying and anxiously works to correct every problem he might be crying over. Great friendship story.

[Catriona Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about friendship. One of my niece's favorites.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Pig & Goat book of friendship. There are several examples of Goat predicting what has Pig in tears to find out it's not as bad as Goat had imagined.

[Danette · Rating 3 out of 5]

We laughed when we discovered the reason for Pig's tears.

5/1/17 Read with Naomi & Julia.

[Annika Kruse · Rating 5 out of 5]

That's What Friends Are For by Valeri Gorbachev is about a goat who notices his friend pig crying. Trying to be a good friend, goat comes up with different scenarios of what could be wrong. Goat comes up with solutions to all of the scenarios and goes over to pigs house to help. Only to find out that pig is just cutting onions for the dinner. Goat jumps in and helps out pig; they end up sitting down and eating dinner together. This book would be good for the beginning of the year to help students talk about being friends and trying their best to help their friends out. I would read this book and discuss what it means to be a friend and how we can help each other.