Back to School Books for Kindergarten and 1st Grade
I can’t believe my son goes back to school 1 week from today! He will be attending 1st grade this year and it will be his first year of going to school all day. It’s also going to be his first year riding the school bus which he is super excited about. To share in his excitement, we have been busy reading back to school books.
Back to School Books for Kindergarten and 1st Grade:
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Books about 1st grade
First Grade, Here I Come! We were at the library last month when Big Brother came up to me with a big smile on his face and handed me this book for one of his choices. It’s a cute story that my son can relate to about how 1st grade is different than kindergarten.
More books about 1st grade:
- The Night Before First Grade
- First Grade Jitters
- Off to First Grade
- Junie B., First Grader (at Last!)
Books about kindergarten
The Night Before Kindergarten – I love this whole series! Besides school-themed, Natasha Wing also has holiday-themed books such as The Night Before New Years and The Night Before Mother’s Day. I bought The Night Before Kindergarten as a preschool graduation gift for my son. It talks about getting ready the night before and then takes you through the 1st day of school. The story follows the same format as the Twas the Night Before Christmas poem. I like that it touches on it being a bit scary yet exciting at the same time – which is exactly how my son felt in the months leading up to the big day. It prompted us to talk about what things might be like as well as things that are different like not taking naps. The kids in the story have lots of fun on their first day and it showed my little guy that it might not be so scary after all.
More books about kindergarten:
- Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come / Preparate, kindergarten! Alla voy! (Max and Ruby) (Spanish Edition)
- Kindergarten, Here I Come!
- Kindergarten Rocks!
- On the Way to Kindergarten
General Back to School Books
- This School Year Will Be the BEST!
- First Day Jitters (Mrs. Hartwell’s Class Adventures)
- Amelia Bedelia’s First Day of School
- Miss Mingo and the First Day of School
- Splat the Cat: Back to School, Splat!
Off to School! (Smurfs Classic) – My son picked this one out in the Learning to Read section (Ready-to-read Level 2, short paragraphs). Papa Smurf gets frustrated that the smurfs don’t know the things he thinks they should know so he sends them back to school. This make Grouchy unhappy! In the end he sees the importance of school.
Yellowbelly and Plum Go to School – Yellowbelly (cat) takes Plum (his teddybear) to school with him. While outside during recess Yellowbelly realizes that while playing with new friends, he lost track of Plum. It worries him that he can’t find his toy bear since they are always together. It turns out that a lot of the school kids were having a blast playing games with Plum. It’s a cute story about friends.
School Bus Themed Books
Off to School – My daughter was fascinated with this book simply because it is shaped like a school bus.
Pete the Cat: The Wheels on the Bus – Both my little ones loved reading, or should I say, singing this book which is similar to the popular song. They thought it was hilarious that a dog rode the bus too.
Must reads:
All 3 of these are the cutest, sweetest, must read back to school books – especially for kids who are apprehensive about their 1st day.
The Kissing Hand – See our book review and Chester the Raccoon paper bag puppet craft here. Bonus: enter the giveaway (huge prize pack!) and browse the linky for TONS of back to school resources and activities by 30+ bloggers. Also, head over to our other blog to see handprint crafts inspired by The Kissing Hand.
The Kiss Box – Great for anytime kids are apart from their parents. Mama Bear and Little Bear make kiss boxes filled with 100 kisses to help ease anxiety. You can easily make your very own kiss boxes together!
Take a Kiss to School – Digby and his mom walk to school for the 1st day and wants to stay with her instead. In order to calm his anxiety, his mom places 12 kisses in his jacket pocket for Digby to take out every time he gets worried. He takes a kiss out for different things throughout the story. Towards the end of the book, he realizes that he left his blue coat outside. He finds it and reaches into the pocket to take out a kiss but there is a hole. He starts to worry but then hears another kid in the school yard. They connect with each other and become friends.
What’s you favorite back to school story?
Great list!
What a very neat list of books for your children. They must be very happy to be able to read those great books. Thank you for sharing.
Yes! They love reading. We have 47 books checked out from the library right now….Lol! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Loved the list!