Living in a new house and about to start at a new school, Florence feels sad that all her friends are a long way away. So, she decides to write a letter to the panda who lives in the zoo next door to her new house, asking him to be her friend. Happily, he obliges. Soon, when Flo is asked to stand up in front of her whole class and talk about any special friends she has, it only seems right to tell everyone about Panda, and for him to come for a visit.

It’s thanks to Panda that Flo meets Bea, a little girl who shares her love of pandas — and swimming, and hula-hooping, and all kinds of other things. A quiet, introspective story about finding the confidence to make new friends, Dear Panda plays with the boundaries of what’s real and what’s imagined, and gives readers a new way to think about finding kindred spirits.

Grade: 2
Fountas & Pinnel: K
Reading Recovery: 18
Lexile Measure: AD 680L
Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.2,2a,2b,5,5a,5b,6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.2.4,4a,4b,4c
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.1,2,3,5,6,7,10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.2.3,5,8