Five Faves: Back to School

School started back up again last week and with that comes all kinds of emotions! Excitement for a new year, sadness that summer is over, and fear of the unknown. A new school year means lots of changes, and to help with those changes here are five picture books about back to school experiences!

Back to School Backpack

Written by Simon Rich

Illustrated by Tom Toro

New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book.

The first day of school can be a little scary for everyone, even your backpack! This funny picture book is all from the perspective of a backpack. Backpack has books shoved down its throat, is left on sticky floors, and can't even see where it is going as it is walked down the halls. Just like everyone, Backpack just wants to find friends to make school even better!

Mr. S

By Monica Arnaldo

New York, NY: Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023. Picture Book.

A class of Kindergarteners show up on the first day of school and instead of finding a regular teacher in their classroom, they find a sandwich, with "Mr. S" written on the board. They assume that the sandwich must be their new teacher for the year and begin learning all they can!

The Brilliant Ms. Bangle

Written by Cara Devins

Illustrated by K-Fai Steele

New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Picture Book.

The first day of school comes and the students realize that they are getting a new librarian at their school. The students are sad to lose their old librarian and decide that they are going to refuse to read until their old librarian comes back. Change can be difficult but the students learn that it doesn't always have to be bad.

My Name

Written by Supriya Kelkar

Illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat

New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023. Picture Book.

The first day of school is a time to learn everyone's names. An Indian American boy is excited to go school but gets discouraged when his classmates can't pronounce his name. His parents help him realize how special his name is and how he can be proud of it instead of ashamed.

The Worry Balloon

Written by Mónica Mancillas

Illustrated by Betty C. Tang

New York, NY: Roaring Brook Press, 2023. Picture Book.

Isla has a lot of anxiety and worries about the first day of school. She learns how to take all of her worries and visualizes herself blowing those worries into a giant balloon. As she goes to school, whenever she has a worry pop in her head she uses her new found skills to help her breathe and think happy thoughts.

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