Back-to-School Books

September is the back-to-school month in the U.S. Many children, of course, are nervous about their first day of school. These stories bring some of those childhood fears about school to light and in doing so, can help kids deal with them. In each story, the main character's problems are realistically resolved in a satisfying way without becoming overly saccharine. These books would also make a good inspiration for writing in those first school days. All of them are easy for children to make text-to-self and text-to-text connections with to enhance their comprehension.

Vera's First Day of School
by Vera Rosenberry

Vera can't wait to join her siblings at school but she somehow gets distracted and misses the school bell. Horrified, she runs home and hides from her mother. When her mom finds her, she helps her get back to school without losing face, and Vera ends up having a good first day. The children in this story are believably imperfect, and the story's resolution realistic and reassuring.

My little sister actually did this when she was young, and my mom was quite surprised to discover her behind the couch while vacuuming when my sister was supposed to be at school.


Timothy Goes to School
by Rosemary Wells
Rosemary Wells precisely captures the feelings of childhood in her stories, and this one is priceless. We all know how it feels to be compared to someone who is better at everything. Timothy tries his best, but feels always outdone by Claude. He becomes more and more dispirited as the days progress until he gets to know Violet, a classmate with the same problem named Grace. The two of them become fast friends and gain a sense of belonging that is essential for school success.


Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
Before she starts kindergarten, Chrysanthemum is proud of the name her parents lovingly gave her. But once at school, Chrysanthemum's classmates make fun of her long name that has "half the letters in the alphabet". They make fun of having a flower for a name, and Chrysanthemum is devastated. In the end her name is given the respect due it when her teacher reveals that her first name is Delphinium! All of Kevin Henkes' books speak to concerns that are very real to children, and he handles them with deference.

This is a wonderful book to inspire young children to count the letters in their names (first or last) and compare their physical lengths as well as the number of letters in each name. Other activities include sorting children's names by first letter and by number of letters, and putting names in alphabetical order by first letter.

The stuffed mouse to the right is available at IKEA for $2.99 as of this posting. Click on the picture to link directly to IKEA's web site.

Story Props for Back-to-School Books