Back to School Books

For many children, this past week marked the start of school in our community. Some preschool and kindergarten children may be beginning school for this first time this week. What stories have you enjoyed sharing with your child(ren) about beginning school? It can be a time of great excitement, as well as nervousness, as children (and parents) adjust to this big transition.

Here are a few staff favorites and new books to help with the transition:

Kindergarten Diary by Antoinette Portis

A Pirate's Guide to First Grade by James Preller

Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten by Toni Buzzeo

Amelia Bedelia's First Day of School by Herman Parish

Dinosaur Starts School by Pamela Duncan Edwards

I Don't Want to Go to School! by Stephanie Blake

It's Your First Day of School Annie Claire by Nancy White Carlstrom

Kevin Goes to School by Liesbet Slegers

Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Pick of the Week: Will I Have a Friend?

Will I Have a Friend? by Miriam Cohen, illustrated by Ronald Himler (Star Bright Books, 2009)

In this newly illustrated version of Miriam Cohen's classic book about starting school, a young boy named Jim has a lot of anxiety about starting school. Will he have a friend there? Lucky for Jim, his anxieties are put to rest when he meets Paul, who shares his toy car with him. Share this one with young children who are nervous about starting school for the first time or transferring to a new school. The new illustrations by Ronald Himler give great new life to this classic back-to-school title.

Pick of the Week: Late for School!

Late for School! by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa (Carolrhoda Books, 2008)

Mr. Bungles is late for school and he's the teacher! He rushes like mad to get to school in time...will he make it? This is a great read-aloud that begs for children to chime in. "I missed the train. I won't make a fuss. Down the street, I can catch the....bus!" Children will quickly pick up on the rhyming and anticipate what Mr. Bungles will try next to reach his destination. A fun twist on the daily struggle of getting to school on time!