Though it feels like summer has just started, teachers and librarians are already prepping for the new academic year. We’ve compiled a list of some back-to-school stories to ease kids into the classroom.
Picture Books
Archie and Pip: The First Day of School
Zoe Wodarz, illus. by Mari Richards. Cottage Door, $7.99 (36p) ISBN 978-1-64638-991-9. Ages 4–7.
As animalian siblings Archie and Pip prepare for the school year’s start, each grapples with different anxieties while drawing strength from their bond in this straightforward back-to-school story. Headed to kindergarten, pink pig Archie worries about whether he’ll be able to sit still all day. Meanwhile, rising first-grader Pip, a blue platypus, wonders whether Archie will make so many new friends that he’ll forget about Pip.
Bob McKinnon, illus. by Thai My Phuong. Penguin Workshop, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-5936-5879-6. Ages 4–8.
Casting America as both the new kid at school and this story’s narrator, McKinnon and Phuong roll out a historical welcome wagon. The narrator’s anxiety is palpable on the initial day of class. Soon, the classroom Welcome Wagon, filled with books whose “pages turn like the hands of old friends waving hello,” helps the new student consider how the words of four historical figures—Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King Jr., Emma Lazarus, and Sojourner Truth—might inspire their dreams.
June Sobel, illus. by Nabila Adani. Clarion, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-326578-3. Ages 4–8.
Using declarative couplets that center emotional recognition, Sobel cheers on students experiencing a range of first-day feels. From happiness and worry to bravery and embarrassment, the text describes a full range of emotions, pointing to breathwork as a resource during moments of stress.
Drew Beckmeyer. Atheneum, $18.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-6659-4042-9. Ages 4–8.
A classroom’s first week launches a dynamic change in this inventive picture book. Using crayon-styled bird’s-eye-view illustrations, straightforward captions, and emotionally observant text that communicates multiple perspectives, Beckmeyer invites readers to root for the transformation of a classroom culture. The book received a starred review from PW.
Catherine Bailey, illus. by Cori Doerrfeld. Union Square, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4549-4854-4. Ages 4–8.
Bailey and Doerrfeld skillfully twine story lines in this loving after-hours tribute to a stalwart school building. Following a long day, the school is ready for some much-needed rest, and a night guard’s arrival signals the structure’s bedtime. Meanwhile, a red-eared slider turtle escapes its classroom terrarium and embarks on a journey through the rooms, cleverly evading the diligent security guard. The book received a starred review from PW.
Hello, Crayons! And Other School Friends
Hannah Eliot, illus. by Anna Clark. Little Simon, $7.99 (16p) ISBN 978-1-66595-250-7. Ages up to 3.
School supplies confidently introduce themselves via rhyme in a gregarious board book that’s poised to prepare new backpack wearers for the classroom. Each spread presents a different “friend,” beginning with crayons and followed by items such as a pencil, paint set, and notebook. First-person stanzas open with a simple introduction, the lines describing activities that each subject can accomplish.
Constance Lombardo, illus. by Micah Player. Hippo Park, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-66264-014-8. Ages 4–8.
“Not your typical monster,” pink Itty-Bitty Betty Blob tries hard to be bad, but her interest in rainbows over rainstorms, and dancing instead of trampling, sets her apart from her peers at Ghoulington Academy. On picture day, Betty’s mother encourages her efforts to look monstrous. But on the way to school that morning, she’s waylaid by dozens of round pink puffs, who help Betty “to be more... Betty!” in this sweet-tempered tale about being yourself.
Keyana Loves School
Natasha A. Tarpley, illus. by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow. Little, Brown, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-316-06830-7. Ages 4–8.
Keyana has the perfect idea for a class project about the people and places she loves around her school. But when the teacher asks Keyana to present in front of the entire class, she’ll need to find her inner confidence.
Ladybugs Do Not Go to Preschool (Preschool Problems #1)
Ali Rutstein, illus. by Niña Nill. Bright Light, $18.99 (24p) ISBN 978-1-76121-347-2. Ages 3 and up.
Pretend play helps a child with preschool jitters in Rutstein and Nill’s understanding story, the first in the Preschool Problems series. Ravi, portrayed with peach skin and sporting antennae and ladybug wings, resists each step of the first day of preschool’s morning routine. As they approach the classroom, Ravi’s nerves run high, but the child takes comfort in the knowledge that “ladybugs might be small, but their bright colors made them brave.”
Mamie Tape Fights to Go to School
Traci Huahn, illus. by Michelle Jing Chan. Crown, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-5936-4402-7. Ages 4–8.
In a carefully researched account, Huahn traces a Chinese girl’s attempts to attend school in 1884 California. As part of the only Chinese family in her San Francisco–area neighborhood, Mamie Tape (1876–1972) and her siblings grow up playing with neighborhood children, and “I thought school would be the same.” When she and her mother arrive, however, they are stopped by the principal and told, “Your kind is not welcome here.” Tape’s parents push against San Francisco’s policy excluding Chinese children from its schools.
Olu’s Teacher: A Story About Starting Preschool
Jamel C. Campbell, illus. by Lydia Mba. Candlewick, $17.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-536-23146-5. Ages 3–7.
A Black child narrator named Olu is anxious about starting preschool in this relatable work from Campbell and Mba. Despite parental reassurance about already having friends in class, Olu is concerned about encountering the classroom’s teacher. Olu is pleasantly surprised, upon arrival at school, by the familiar-seeming face of the teacher, portrayed with brown skin. It’s a heartwarming ode to teachers and the importance of representation.
Ruby’s Tools for Making Friends
Apryl Stott. S&S/Wiseman, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-66592-164-0. Ages 4–8.
A trio of tools help a young fox handle social anxiety in this picture book focused on emotional regulation. At her new school, Ruby’s classmates, a mix of animal and human children, greet the teacher’s plan for an egg-drop project with fast, loud chatter. “How can I help my group if I can’t speak up?” Ruby wonders. But the measuring tape she carries helps Ruby count her breathing, and safety goggles help her to see things in a new way. After she enlists a quiet classmate’s support, the group adopts Ruby’s plan.
Cate Berry, illus. by Margherita Grasso. Page Street, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-64567-867-0. Ages 4–8.
Instead of being cute like her ancestors, classroom pet Scorch, a round-bodied hedgehog trapped in a classroom’s “glass castle,” hopes that “her destiny will be ferocious! She will be forged in FIRE.” But despite the best efforts of the self-described “Hedgehog of Doom,” the children of classroom 402 coo over how “adorable” she is. Subtly encouraging perspective-taking, it’s a creature-centric comedy that’s ferociously fun. The book received a starred review from PW.
Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illus. by Shahrzad Maydani. Abrams, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4197-6721-0. Ages 4–8.
At her new school, every day is “play-by-herself day” for Ameena, who feels isolated as one of the only children of color in her class. Then one day, Ameena finds a possible companion in new student Sundus, portrayed with brown skin and wearing a lilac-hued hijab. See Thompkins-Bigelow’s essay for PW on the real-life experience—both as a student and a teacher—that inspired her story. The book received a starred review from PW.
Rob Sanders, illus. by Hannah Abbo. Beaming, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-5064-8921-6. Ages 4–7.
Writing in tight verse that reads like an extended cheer, Sanders imagines a classroom that’s active, compassionate, and inclusive. In Abbo’s friendly illustrations, a line of doll-like children, portrayed with various abilities and skin tones, moves down a hall, chatting and carrying books. Offering warm, embracing assurance that the reader will feel comfortable and safe in a new classroom, it’s a welcoming title for first days and any day.
The Worry-Worry Whale and the Classroom Jitters
Deborah Diesen, illus. by Isidre Monés. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $18.99 (32p) ISBN 978-0-3743-9-1522. Ages 4–8.
Garnering her own spin-off series following The Pout-Pout Fish and the Worry-Worry Whale, Willa Whale returns in this picture book to tackle a school-related anxiety. Despite her gently encouraging teacher’s efforts, Willa never raises her fin during class. At home, Willa’s parents suggest some role-playing to help navigate Willa’s “quivery and sad” feelings. The little whale soon realizes the wisdom of advice that caring adults have been offering: “It isn’t always easy/ To share the things we know,/ But ideas, thoughts, and questions/ Are the way we learn and grow.”
