Are your kids transitioning to a new school, starting school for the first time, or have friends who have moved away over the summer? These first day of school books will help them through this time.
Note: I originally created this list of ideas for the website Rusty and Rosy, however that website is no longer online.
There are so many things that run through your mind when you send your child off to school for the first time. Will they make friends? Will there be bullies? What if my child feels different from the other children. Does my child learn differently from other children? Here are some resources to answer those questions and others.
First day of school books
First day of school jitters
- It’s Time For School, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
- It’s Time For Preschool! by Esme Raji Codell and Sue Rama
- First Grade Jitters by Robert Quackenbush
- Kindergarten Rocks! by Katie Davis
- Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
- Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee
- I Don’t Want to Go to School: Helping Children Cope With Separation Anxiety by Nancy Pando
Bullies, troublemakers, and tattling
- David Goes to School by David Shannon
- The Bully Blockers Club by Teresa Bateman
- A Bad Case of Tattle Tongue by Julia Cook
- Skippyjon Jones, Class Action by Judy Schachner
- Don’t Squeal Unless It’s a Big Deal: A Tale of Tattletales by Jeanie Franz Ransom
- Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
- The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
Making new friends and changing schools
- Amber Brown is Not a Crayon by Paul Danziger
- My new School by Kirsten Hall
- Back to School Mallory by Laurie Friedman
- First Day Jitters by Julie Danneburg
- The Night Before First Grade by Natasha Wing
- Making Friends is an Art by Julia Cook
- The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
Books that help
- Amelia Bedelia Goes Back to School by Herman Parish
- Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
- My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook
- Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen by Howard Binkow
- It’s Hard to Be a Verb by Julia Cook
- Personal Space Camp by Julia Cook
- Spaghetti In a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to be Who You Are by Maria Dismondy
Other school stories
- Tripping Over the Lunch Lady: and Other School Stories by Nancy Mercado
- Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall
- Lunch Money and Other Poems About School by Carol Diggery Shields
- The Magic School Bus
- Last Day Blues by Julie Danneburg
- Back-To-School Rules by Laurie B. Friedman
- Peanut Butter and Homework Sandwiches by Lisa Broadie Cook
Do you have any other books to recommend? Please leave them in the comments below.
More back-to-school ideas for kids
Are you looking for more ideas to prepare the kids for the school year? Take a look at these:
- Back-to-school lunches, homework, and checklists
- A classroom party kit for the classroom
- Back-to-school rewards chore chart for kids
- DIY lunch box labels for kids
