BIB From The LMC
Back-To-School Books
We don't have them all, but I thought you might like to have a list of some books to read aloud for the first days of school. Public libraries, book stores, district libraries may have them. Need more information or more titles? Come to the LMC.
P-K-1
- Goodman, Joan E. Bernard Goes to School; illustrated by Dominic Catalano. Honesdale, PA:
When a young elephant is apprehensive about his first day of school, his parents show him how much fun school can be.
going to school and the other children make fun of it.Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts
Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, but when he asks her to wait a while before showing the class her new purse, she does something for which she is very sorry later.
A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list of things to worry about when she faces the first day of nursery school.
Baby Duck experiences the fear of the first day of school, but with a little help from Grampa, everything turns out okay.
A traditional nursery song is expanded to tell the story of a young child's first day at school.
Piggy has a hard time saying good-bye to his father on the first day of school, but his day soon turns into a pleasant surprise. Both Dad and Piggy need a gentle nudge for separation. Translation of: Slokje, kikker!
Barnaby loves to roam the seashore and longs to be an explorer when he grows up, but first he must face a new challenge, his first day of school.
Although some of the things her older sister taught her at home seem a little unusual at school, other lessons help make Annabelle's first day in kindergarten a success.
On Python's first day of school, she can't stop squeezing her classmates, until Elephant accidentally shows her how it feels. From a series on classroom behavior. "Originally published in 2001 by Andersen Press, Ltd., London, England" Others in the series include: Be Quiet, Parrot!, No Biting, Puma!, Take Turns, Penguin! All by same author.
--Series: Reading railroad books-- In the tradition of "The Night Before Christmas," these rhymes outline the thoughts and emotions of children and their parents as they prepare for and attend the first day of kindergarten.
Grades 1-2
- Bloom, Suzanne. The Bus for Us. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mill, 2001. RL 1.1
On her first day of school, Tess wonders what the school bus will look like. She and her brother focus on the different vehicles passing by, while the bus stop becomes more crowded and filled with excitement and activity.
--Series Step into reading. Step 2 book -- Arthur is in for some embarrassing moments after he, D.W., and their mother shop for school supplies and end up buying two identical backpacks.
First grader Arnie tells his mother about his tiring first day at school, while the illustrations reveal the mayhem he is leaving out of his account.
Jim's anxieties on his first day of school are happily forgotten when he makes a new friend. --Originally published by MacMillan, 1967. An old favorite that has not lost its appeal.
Sarah is afraid to start at a new school, but both she and the reader are in for a surprise when she gets to her class.
A first-grade boy is shocked, then pleased, when he discovers that his teacher has a life away from school.
- Hoban, Lillian. Arthur's Back to School Day. NY: HarperCollins, c1996. RL 2.2
--Series An I can read book-- Arthur's first day back at school is full of adventure, beginning with an exciting bus ride, and ending with his sister's surprise snack.
- Howe, James. The Day the Teacher Went Bananas; illustrated by Lillian Hoban. NY: Dutton, 1987, c1984. RL 1.5
Series Picture puffins Notes "A Puffin Unicorn." A class's new teacher, who leads the children in a number of very popular activities, turns out to be a gorilla.
- Jackson, Ellen B. It's Back to School We Go : First Day Stories from Around the World. Danbury, CN: Millbrook Press, c2003. RL?.
.In easy-to-read text, describes what the first day of school might be like for a child in Kenya, Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Peru, Germany, India, Russia, and the United States.
- Van Leeuwen, Jean. Amanda Pig, Schoolgirl; pictures by Ann Schweninger. NY: Puffin Books, 1999, c1997. RL 2.5
Amanda Pig's first day of school is every bit as wonderful as she always hoped it would be. Series--Puffin easy-to-read.
Grades 2-4
Two separate stories, the first telling of Mari's starting school in a new land, and the second describing village life in her country before she and her family left in search of a better life.
- Baker, Barbara. Third Grade is Terrible; illus. by Roni Shepherd. NY: Puffin, 1999, c1989. RL 4.6
--Series: Puffin chapters-- Liza is convinced third grade is going to be great until she gets to school that first day and everything starts going wrong.
- Banks, Kate. Howie Bowles, Secret Agent; pictures by Isaac Millman. NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999. RL 3.0
Third-grader Howie Bowles copes with having to change schools twice in one year by pretending to be a secret agent named Agent Bean Burger.
- Corey, Shana. Horus's Horrible Day. NY: Scholastic Press, 2001. RL 1.7
As the school year begins on Mars, Horus the Martian gets off to a rocky start, but soon discovers that first grade is not really as bad as he thought
- Danziger, Paula. Get Ready for Second Grade, Amber Brown; illus. By Tony Ross. NY: Putnam's Sons, c2002. RL 3.2
Amber is nervous about starting second grade with a new teacher, but despite being in the same class as mean Hannah Burton, things turn out just fine.
- Lindbergh, Reeve. The Awful Aardvarks Shop for School; illustrated by Tracey Campbell Pearson. NY: 2002, c2000. RL 4.2
Aardvarks invade a Shop-All-Day Mall and turn it upside down with their wild back-to-school shopping spree.
- Lindgren, Astrid. Pippi Goes to School; pictures by Michael Chesworth. NY: Viking, 1998. RL 5.5
--Series: Pippi Longstocking Storybook-- After Tommy and Annika entice Pippi into going to school, her first-and-only day there is unlike anything they ever expected.
- Pennypacker, Sara. Stuart Goes to School; illus. by Martin Matie. NY: Orchard, 2003. RL 3.2
--Series--Worried about his first day at a new school, eight-year-old Stuart wears his magic cape and hopes that it will help him.
- Teague, Mark. How I Spent My Summer Vacation. NY: Crown, 1997, c1995. RL 2.5
A schoolboy tell his class about his summer vacation, during which he joined a group of cowboys and stopped a cattle stampede.
Grades 3-6
- Adler, David A. Cam Jansen and the First Day of School Mystery; illustrated by Susanna Natti. NY: Puffin Books, 2003, c2002. RL 4.2
.--Series: Cam Jansen Mysteries-- On her first day of fifth grade, Cam Jansen uses her photographic memory to help the police find a car thief. Includes a memory game. Cam Jansen adventure series
- Danneberg, Julie. First Year Letters; illustrated by Judith Dufour Love. Watertown, MA: Whispering Coyote/Charlesbridge, 2000. RL 4.2
The children in Mrs. Sarah Jane Hartwell's class write letters to her describing their observations of her first year of teaching.
- Gantos, Jack. Back to School for Rotten Ralph; illus. By Nicole Rubel. NY: HarperCollins, 1998. RL 2.8
Afraid of being left alone, Rotten Ralph, the nasty red cat, follows Sarah to school and tries to prevent her from making new friends.
- McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002, c2000. RL 3.6
Third grader Judy Moody is in a first day of school bad mood until she gets an assignment to create a collage all about herself and begins creating her masterpiece, the Me collage.
- McMullan, Kate. A Fine Start. NY: Scholastic, 2003. RL 5.0
--Series: My America-- Meg continues to write in her diary about her family's adventures in the Kansas prairie in 1856 as they try to return to a more normal life after surviving a cholera epidemic, separation, and invading Border Ruffians.
- Strasser, Todd. Help I'm Trapped in the First Day of School. NY: Scholastic, c1994. RL 5.1
Jake Sherman is sure he has made it when Alex Silver becomes his friend in eighth grade, but he has to go back and start the first day of school over again. Is this forever?
- Teague, Mark. Dear Mrs. La Rue: Letters From Obedience School. NY: Scholastic Press, 2002. RL RL 3.7
Gertrude LaRue receives typewritten and paw-written letters from her dog Ike, entreating her to let him leave the Igor Brotweiler Canine Academy and come back home.
- Bibliography Created by:
- Carol J. Fox, LMC Teacher
- Montessori Magnet School, Rockford , Il Dist.205
- August 18, 2003
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