Once again, world news has focused on a terrorist act, this time in Norway. The alleged shooter believes that his country should not tolerate anyone who comes to live there from mid-east countries. How do parents respond to such news?

One way is to be sure to teach young children about friendship and tolerance. Materials that can be checked out from the San José Public Library can aid in illustrating this lesson. I would like to highlight three books that can be used for this important task.

Margaret and Margarita, Margarita y Margaret is a picture book by Lynn Reiser that is in both English and Spanish. It is about two children that meet at a park. Although they do not speak each other's language, they have a great time and look forward to playing together in the park again.

Cat and Mouse, written by Tomek Bogacki, is the first in a series of picture books featuring the title characters. In this book, a kitten and a young mouse become friends, not knowing that they are supposed to be enemies. Their siblings also meet, and all play happily together.

And to Think That We Thought That We'd Never Be Friends was written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Kevin Hawkes. Starting with the children of one family and ending with the entire world, people discover how quickly they can end an argument and learn to be friends.

Come to your local public library and check out the resources available to parents and caregivers about teaching tolerance and friendship to young children!