Friendship Book

Friendship Book

Friendship books (also known as "FBs" in their abbreviated form) are small booklets made by stapling paper together, or are sometimes just sheets or strips of paper. They are usually decorated and the person who starts the book writes their name and address as the first person sending the book. People often include a list of interests as well. The FB is then passed around from penpal to penpal, and can often also become a way for one to meet new penpals. Most people hope to see the book again once it is full so they add their return address to the back cover of the book too, or inscribe "Return to Sender" on it. People also sometimes make FBs for someone else rather than themselves, in which case they write the name and address of the recipient on the front/at the top. Some people find friendship books fun because you can see where they have been in a trail back to the original sender/recipient.

The German friendship books (or poetry albums) serve a similar purpose but are kept, not sent away. Access is considered more intimate; sometimes the book even has a lock. The information given about oneself often includes quotations, poetry and worldly wisdom. Typically they are more like shared journals between two best friends or a couple and are kept at one of their houses.

Friendship books that require entrants to make drawings, use stickers or magazine photographs are known as "deco" friendship books or just simply "decos". Typically, each entrant in the "deco" must use one full page to express themselves. Glitter, sequins, feathers and other scrapbooking supplies are frequently used in "decos." Despite the artistic expressions used in these types of friendship books, the basic rules of passing the friendship book to person to person is the same.

When a 'friendship book' is only one page (no staples), it's called a 'friendship sheet.' If the page is small, like the size of a postcard, or smaller, it's called a 'cram.' Friendship books that have a musical theme, where you have to add lyrics to your entry, are called "lyrics" or "lyrics sheets".