While “teacher new year,” as I call the beginning of the school year, is normally my favorite time of year, I am having a hard time with the uncertainty surrounding the beginning of the school year and am still processing everything that happened last year. I’m sure many others are feeling the same way (including lots of our students!). However, it is August already, so back to school is around the corner. So I am thinking about books I want to read to my students at the beginning of the year or have read in years past as sharing books with kids is always something I enjoy, whether it’s done at a distance, virtually, or side by side!

These are books that came to mind or that I’ve used in the past, but obviously the possibilities are endless. Hopefully this list will help you with some back to school planning (more beginning of the school year ideas here and some that are specific to distance learning here) and introduce you to or remind you of some wonderful books! I find reading a book to students is always a good place to begin and choosing excellent literature to share is one thing we can control right now.

Chapter Books (You can use these as a longer read aloud or read an excerpt.)

Save Me a Seat by Gita Varadarajan and Sarah Weeks: love this book! We started the year with this read aloud and students were hooked. You can read more about how we used it in our class here.
The Top Ten Ways to Ruin the First Day of School by Ken Derby: we read the first chapter of this book on the first day of school and had students make top ten lists (the top ten things to know about me are..). We had examples about ourselves to share, it was a fun community builder!
100 Dresses by Eleanor Estes: great read aloud and a relatively quick one for a chapter book. It’s also an amazing book club book! This story really sets the tone for respect and inclusion.
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: in the past, I’ve used an excerpt from this book as a mentor text when students write their name stories.
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jaqueline Woodson: I’ve found you can use individual poems for almost anything! Also a great whole class read aloud, you can read a poem or two whenever you have a minute.
My Name is Maria Isabel by Alma Flor Ada: also a relatively quick read aloud for a chapter book, but so much potential for community building and respect. Also a great names tie in.

Picture Books for Welcome to School/Names/Get to Know You

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg: great for the first day, reminder that everyone can feel nervous!

My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits: use for name stories or a create or share your name activity
Becoming Vanessa by Vanessa Brantley-Newton: covers start of school jitters, introducing our names, best for K-1st age range
Thunderboy Jr. by Sherman Alexie: we read this and then “created” our names to be displayed on the bulletin board
Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña: reminder not to make assumptions about people, but get to know them!

Picture Books for Hopes & Dreams/Goal Setting

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall: this is a great book for all ages, but especially little ones! I’ve used it before having students write their hopes and dreams for the school year with this framing: Jabari accomplishes his goal with a plan and some support and love. What goals do you want to work towards this school year? Also, now there is a sequel called Jabari Tries which is on my want to read list!
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney: I had this book as a child and it still resonates with me. It’s also a great way to start thinking about goal setting and hopes and dreams for the upcoming year.
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown: A gorgeous book with an environmental message, Liam, the main character, sets a goal of taking care of a struggling garden and is wildly successful. I’ve never used it for goal setting, but have always had it as an option.

Picture Books for Creating Class Contract (Rules)/Setting Expectations

The Day You Begin by Jaqueline Woodson: we used this before we brainstormed what to include in our class contract and asked how we could create a class community where everyone felt comfortable sharing their stories
What If Everybody Did That? By Ellen Javernick: helps to get to the purpose of rules and working/living together as a community.
No David! By David Shannon: great for younger kids, helps them focus on what we should do instead of what we should not do.
Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein: funny story that is a real hit with students - use for introducing participation norms, being a good listener, dealing with frustration - oh so many applications!
Each Kindness by Jaqueline Woodson: I could really only read Jaqueline Woodson books all day, every day, but limited myself to 3 for this post! The title of this book says it all, great for beginning of the year or anytime as a reminder.
The Wedding Portrait by Innosanto Nagaro: talk about when is it okay to break rules? Also great to tie in to protests and the purpose of our class contract.
The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein: taking risks, being kind to yourself

Picture Books related to Managing Emotions/Uncertainty

Saturday by Oge Mora: used this to talk about managing our disappointment during the pandemic
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Dawalt: we’ve used this before creating our emotions continuum and to introduce letter writing (if you have students write a letter to you or to themselves the first day or week of school)
What Do You Do With a Problem? By Kobi Yamada: how could some of the restrictions we might still experience this year be a proble-tunity? Or just challenges in general. (Also, by the same author, What Do You Do With an Idea?)

What are your favorite back to school read alouds?