The Turtle Who Wanted To Make Friends is a Sesame Street story read by Bob. Sheldon the Turtle, or Shelly (performed by Jim Henson), is new to the forest and wants to meet his new neighbors, but he fears that they won't like him. Every time an animal comes along, Shelly hides in his shell and is left unnoticed. Shelly feels he can hide because that's what turtles do, but Bob doesn't think it will help him make friends. He suggests that Shelly should stick his head out of his shell and introduce himself the next time another animal approaches.
When the animals come over to have their yearly picnic, Casey the Rabbit (performed by Fran Brill) is about to stand on Shelly's shell (which he thinks is a rock) to give his annual speech. As he proceeds to do so, Shelly pops his head out of his shell proclaiming he’s not a rock. He introduces himself to the other animals and befriends all of them. In the end, Shelly learns that in order to make new friends, all you need to do is stick your head out of your shell and introduce yourself.