Frog and Toad Together
by Arnold Lobel
Early reader · ages 4–8 · 420L (~1st–2nd grade) · 1971
Why we'd hand it over
The gold standard for early-reader friendship books—each story is self-contained, the humor is genuine (never condescending), and the emotional truth about what friends do for each other will resonate at 5 and again at 7.