Are you looking for a new read-aloud for the first day of school or some new children’s books to add to your classroom reading corner? It’s a new year, after all, which makes it the perfect time to think of your list of back-to-school books to read during the first week of school!
The teachers of the Teach Starter team and our wonderful teacher community have compiled a brand-new first day of school booklist to help you pick the perfect book to read to your new class. All 56 of these back-to-school books are stamped with the teacher tick of approval, saving you time at the bookstore.
Keep reading for all our back-to-school books and ideas from our teacher community on how to incorporate them into your classroom lessons.
How to Use This Back-to-School Booklist
Reading back-to-school books is a great way to connect with your new class on the first day of school, but that’s not all. Use a read-aloud to:
- Introduce rules and classroom expectations
- Open up classroom conversations about feelings
- Set the tone for the school year
Get ready to explore your favourite picture books from the Teach Starter team and more teachers from around Australia to pull out on day one! We have ended up with a fantastic mix of books for all sorts of topics, plus we’ve put together some ideas for activities that will go along with the read-aloud.
Books About Classroom Community
1. Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen
The first day of school is a perfect time to introduce the concept of the classroom being a community. With this book, recommended by Australian primary teacher Kerryn Sayers, students will learn it’s important to be a friend to everyone, it’s okay to make mistakes, and the classroom is a safe space to be yourself.
After reading this book, you can discuss with your students how they can be good teammates/classmates, how everyone can work together and set goals for your classroom community to meet throughout the school year.
2. Monster School Rules by Rory H. Mather
Discussing classroom rules is a common first-day-of-school practise, and Monster School Rules can help you approach the subject! This book is delightfully illustrated with cute, wacky monsters who are learning the rules of monster school such as no biting and to please sit down while eating.
While monster school rules may not be the same as human school rules, this book gives you a good opportunity for story time and then transitions into making some school rules for your own classroom. You can also use this opportunity to discuss more generic school rules, like Aussie teacher Marni, who reads the book with her class before and then makes rules if the monsters visit them in our classroom.
3. Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry G. Allard Jr.
The classroom community includes the teacher just as much as the students! This classic story demonstrates what happens when a misbehaving class gets a taste of their own medicine when a mysterious and mean substitute teacher restores order while the sweet Miss Nelson is missing.
4. The Tale of the Trolls by Rianna Le
Teaching kids not to litter in the classroom and on school grounds is a common rule to reinforce at the start of a new year. This book takes an entertaining twist to teach kids about the consequences of littering in the form of rubbish-hungry trolls coming out to hunt at night.
5. A Letter From Your Teacher: On the First Day of School by Shannon Olsen
Make your new bunch of little learners feel welcomed and supported in your classroom with this heartwarming read. This letter-style picture book will help set a positive tone for the year and kickstart conversations around classroom rules and expectations.
There’s even a blank space at the end of the book for teachers to sign and personalise the letter for this year’s class!
6. Starting School by Jane Godwin
We can all agree that starting school can be overwhelming, especially for Prep and Year 1 students who are totally new on the scene. This beautifully illustrated picture book follows five different students on their first day of school, experiencing both highs and lows. Read to your students to help them navigate their nerves and feel excited about learning and making new friends.
7. The Starting School List by Kitty Black
The Starting School List is another fabulous picture book to help early years students overcome any fear of starting school with a list of what to expect. Written from the perspective of a big brother, the book shows that his little brother can learn from experiences and remember that he is not alone on the journey.
8. What If Everybody Did That? by Ellen Javernick
Primary school teacher Kate Kellet swears by this picture saying, ‘I read [it] to understand consequences to our actions. It’s so we can create our class covenant of behaviour. It is read many times over the year.’
Books About the First Day of School
9. The Pigeon Has to Go to School by Mo Willems
Help students get over their first-day jitters with a classic by Mo Willems (the author of Don’t Let the Pigeon Ride the Bus). The pigeon goes through a range of feelings, just like your little learners, and it is the perfect picture book to open up discussions with your early years students about any fears they may have about starting school.
10. First Day by Andrew Daddo
Written by Aussie author Andrew Daddo, this picture book about first-day nerves tells the story of a mum preparing her little girl for her first day of school. This is one for the early years students that reminds them their parents or carers are waiting at home for them, eager to hear all about their big day.
11. Danny Goes to Big School By Prof Claudia Gray
Written by a pediatrician, this book is all about Danny beginning ‘Big School.’ Danny feels scared at first, but he soon learns that a big school is lots of fun! It’s a feeling many early years students will identify with.
After reading, why not learn how to sign feelings and emotions in Auslan (Australian Sign Language)? You can create an interactive display for your classroom and encourage your students to attach a name peg to the Auslan Feeling Flashcard that best describes how they are feeling.
12. The Wild Guide to Starting School by Laura and Philip Bunting
This book offers an absolutely adorable guide to starting school for kids using cute animals to cover topics such as first-day jitters, meeting teachers, making friends, lunchtime, home time and everything in between.
13. First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg
Sarah Jane Hartwell is starting over at a new school and is scared. Mr. Hartwell spends the morning encouraging Sara Jane to get ready and go to school. Mrs. Burton steps in and helps smooth the way. This is the perfect book to read if you have a lot of students who are new to the school in your classroom.
Books About the Importance of Kindness
14. Boy in the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf
A book for children aged 8 years or older that explores a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, this story highlights the importance of friendship and kindness — two themes perfect for the first days of school and all year through.
15. Wherever You Are, Whoever You Are by Sandra Martin
This sweet book focuses on reminding children to be kind and how important it is to be kind.
Why not ask students to write about all the ways they can ‘stick with kindness’ this school year with a kindness activity perfect for prep through year 2 students? This simple template is one year 2 teacher Miss March told us opened up ‘great discussions’ in her classroom, and it’s sure to do the same in yours!
Thanks to Year 2 teacher Miss March for this photo of the template in action!
16. Fill a Bucket by Katherine Martin
This is a delightful book to teach young children how to experience the joy of giving and receiving. It introduces the concept of the invisible bucket and highlights the importance of filling others ‘buckets’ with love and kindness, as well as your own.
17. The Sunflower Sword by Mark Sperring
This beautiful tale teaches children the idea that fighting is not the best alternative and that an enemy can become a friend. It makes a great setup to talk about conflict resolution.
18. Have You Filled Your Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud
This highly recommended book for reading on the first day of school comes from Carol McCloud, the creator of the ‘bucket filler’ concept for finding and creating happiness. McCloud teaches young readers a valuable lesson about giving, sharing and caring using the visual of a bucket that is filled up. It’s a great way to help students visualise something that is not tangible and can be hard for little ones to understand.
19. The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Brisbane teacher Melanie Robinson and many other teachers swear by this book! The Rainbow Fish was written by a Swiss author in the 1990s, and it has become a classic staple for any classroom. Whip it out on the first day of school to teach kids that sharing is indeed caring and is a great way to make friends and show kindness to others.
20. The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill
If you’re looking for a book that addresses bullying in a relatable way, The Recess Queen might be for you!
It tells the story of Mean Jean, who all the kids are afraid of until a new student with an irrepressible spirit dethrones the recess bully and inevitably becomes friends with her. The clever rhymes make this story fun to read aloud and even more fun to listen to.
Books About Celebrating Diversity in the Classroom
The first day of school is a good time to let students know that your classroom is a safe space where all students will be cherished and respected. Explore themes of diversity and acceptance with some of these books chosen by our teacher team as must-reads for our back-to-school booklist.
21. The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
Year 5/6 teacher Hannah of @thekiwiclassroom recommends this beautiful picture book to read on the first day.
The topic of fitting in can be stressful for any child and is for Unhei, the protagonist of The Name Jar. Unhei is anxious that no one can pronounce her Korean name, so she chooses an American one from a glass jar. Kindness from a new friend helps Unhei discover that she can be proud of her given name.
22. Some Brains by Nelly Thomas
This book celebrating neurodiversity ensures all students can feel seen and valued in your classroom. The book encourages students to look at brains just like fingerprints. They may all be different, but what is different is what makes them so special.
23. Little Nic’s Big Day by Nic Naitanui
This is a beautiful story about embracing our differences and celebrating our diversity. It follows the story of Nic who worries that his new classmates will think he is strange and different. Instead, he finds that people in his new school welcome him and help him!
Author Nic Naitanui was born in Sydney to Fijian parents before moving to Western Australia. The Australian rules footballer may be known to students — he plays for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League.
Attending a new school can be scary for little people because they don’t know the people there or even where to find things (like the bathroom!) — help your class get acquainted with every part of the school with a fun scavenger hunt, and introduce them to all the staff along the way!
24. The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be by Joanna Gaines
This is a beautiful story to read to your class on day one of the school year as it follows a group of diverse children as they each build their very own hot-air balloons. The kids work together leaning into their own skills to fill the sky with beautiful colours.
Why not encourage students to soar to great heights this term by creating a hot air balloon classroom display together?
25. Little Miss Jessica Starts School by Jessica Smith
Little Miss Jessica doesn’t look like the other kids. Follow her journey as she discovers, with her school friends, that their differences are the exact thing that brings them together.
26. How to Get Your Teacher Ready for School by Jean Reagan
This teacher-favourite book provides a brilliant opportunity to develop emotional literacy and to tick a Health and Physical Education box.
After reading, why not use the My Emotions Wheel to show your students a range of emotions?
- Ask your students to take you on a museum walk (silent stroll) around the classroom to observe the different areas of the classroom.
- Gather in a circle, and lead a discussion in which your students tell you what they have seen.
- Encourage your students to tell you what activities might take place in areas such as the reading nook, wet area and group work area.
- Encourage your students to suggest how each area could be looked after.
Books About Social-Emotional Skills
27. The Koala Who Could by Rachel Bright
Year 4 teacher Miss W of @inspire.young.minds recommends this book for teaching growth mindset.
It can be hard to face change of any kind, which is what Kevin the koala faces with apprehension. He wants every day to stay the same! Once Kevin realises that change can bring joy when you face it with courage, he isn’t frightened anymore!
It’s completely normal to be nervous on the first day of school, and some of your little learners will undoubtedly relate to Kevin the koala. You can use this book as a discussion starter for first-day feelings.
28. Happy by Mies Van Hout
Great for beginner readers, Happy is an introductory book to help your early years students learn and recognise different emotions. Once you’re finished reading, have your students talk about their feelings that day and draw their own fish on black paper to imitate the illustrations in the book.
Australian Year 2 teacher Rebecca Welsh of @wonderfulworldofwelshy recommended this book saying, ‘ [It has] such glorious illustrations! Then we talk about everyone’s feelings on day 1 and draw our own fish on black paper to illustrate.’
29. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Like The Name Jar, another book about names and self-esteem is Chrysanthemum, a classic about a little mouse who gets bullied at school for her flower-themed name. What will happen for Chrysanthemum to feel good about her name again?
Both The Name Jar and Chrysanthemum bring good opportunities to have your students share their names with the class, talk about them and encourage everyone to treat each other with kindness and respect.
30. Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester
Wodney Wat, or Rodney Rat, can’t pronounce his R’s. Unfortunately for Rodney, the other rodents tease him for his speech impediment. It’s not until Rodney uses a small but mighty voice to stand up to the new kid at school that the class realises he’s a hero!
31. All the Ways to Be Smart by Davina Bell
Several Teach Start community members, including teacher Samantha Floyd, swear by this book.
Being smart is cool, and this is the perfect book to read at the start of the school year to build up your students’ confidence. After reading, one of the teachers on our team loves to pull out this Proud Peacock printable worksheet and ask students to share all the special things that they are proud of!
It’s a great activity to revisit at the end of the term as well to see how that list has changed.
32. The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn
This is a beautiful story and perhaps one to suggest to parents of children who are really anxious about starting school. Chester Raccoon doesn’t want to go to the first day of school. To ease his fears, Mrs Raccoon shares a family secret called the Kissing Hand to reassure him of her love any time he feels a little scared. Why not create handprints of each student and add a sweet message in the centre for each child to take home on the first day of school?
33. The Best Part of Me by Wendy Ewald
This is a gorgeous book where a photographer asks children ‘What is the best part of you?’ then presents their answers and includes striking black and white photographs. It presents a great activity to then do with students — ask them each what is the best part of you.
34. What Should Danny Do? by Adir Levy and Ganit Levy
Who doesn’t love ‘choose your own adventure’ style narratives? This interactive book comes with nine different stories featuring one character to empower kids that their choices will shape their days.
35. Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Aaron
Peral and Charlie are best friends but they are very different, but this gorgeous story highlights the power of friendship. After reading, why not choose an icebreaker game to get your students started on making friends?
36. Feelings are Like Clouds by P A Serena Hemmer
This book was written by a psychotherapist, and it explains that feelings are like clouds and we all have the power to change our feelings.
37. Hey Warrior by Karen Young
This book helps kids understand why anxiety feels the way it does and empowers them to notice when they are feeling anxious. It talks about how anxiety can be a sign that you’re about to do something really brave.
38. Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg
This is a book that shows young readers how every mistake is an opportunity to make something beautiful. It’s a gorgeous book to read to talk about how it’s OK to make mistakes — that’s how we learn.
39. The Dot by Peter Reynolds
Entice even the stubbornly uncreative to make a mark with this book on the first day of school, or wait for International Dot Day in September.
There are lots of great art activities that you can do after reading this story too — explore our whole International Dot Day teaching collection for activities that work any time of the year!
40. What We’ll Build by Oliver Jeffers
This is a spectacular story of a father and daughter working together to build memories to cherish, a home to keep them safe and love to keep them warm.
41. What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yamada
Throughout the school year, students will likely be faced with big or small problems, so it’s a great idea to prepare them! This stunning picture book follows the story of a child figuring out how to deal with a persistent problem, with the moral that problems are scary, but we grow and learn by tackling them.
42. Enemy Pie by Derek Munson
In this endearing book, a boy becomes enemies with another boy in his neighbourhood and turns to his dad for a solution – spending an entire day playing with the enemy instead of fighting. It teaches kids important lessons about how friendship can blossom from being kind, empathetic, and respecting peers.
Silly Books for the First Day of School
43. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
We love this suggestion by Aussie teacher Bethatrix Black.
Penelope Rex is nervous for the first day of school and wonders what her classmates will be like. The problem is, it’s hard to make friends with humans when they fall into the same category as food! This teacher-favourite is a fun story for the first day of school. After reading, discuss a class motto everyone will follow for the rest of the year.
44. Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Queensland primary school teacher Miss Wheels of @misslisswheels reaches for this book to help break the ice with her class.
Dragons love tacos, and children love Dragons Love Tacos! A New York Times bestselling book, this story illustrates the immense love dragons have for all flavours of tacos. However, they hate salsa! Be sure not to give a dragon any salsa, or there will be trouble! This silly yet loveable story is great for introducing story time in the classroom.
45. Ten Delicious Teachers by Ross Montgomery
Ten teachers miss the last bus home after school and take a shortcut through the forest. Little do they know, there’s a hungry horde of goofy monsters waiting for food! The whimsical illustrations in this counting book will help students get over those first-day jitters.
46. The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School by Laura Murray
This is a captivating story about a just-baked Gingerbread Man being left behind in the classroom. With the help of some school staff, the Gingerbread Man ends up finding the class. It’s a funny twist on the original story.
47. Zog by Julia Donaldson
This is another cute picture book about the keenest dragon in school, but he’s a little bit accident-prone!
48. The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt
If you’re looking for a book that you can read that will captivate your students from day one — this is it! Take their mind off their first-day jitters by exploring these fantastically silly letters from each of the crayons!
The book plays heavily on emotional language that your students can learn from and happens to be one of our favourites when teaching persuasive writing, so even if it doesn’t make your first day of school booklist, it’s one to add to your classroom library!
49. World’s Worst Teachers by David Walliams
Aussie teacher Rowena Kay gets straight into the first day with a David Walliams tale.
A fun read for the older kids, this book includes ten terrifying tales about the world’s worst teachers. Dr. Dread — one of the teachers featured in this book — teaches science and is half man, half monster! We promise no science teachers were harmed in the making of this book.
50. The Book With No Pictures by B. J. Novak
Yup, another great book to read that will take your students’ minds off their first-day jitters. It’s a very, very silly book that will have your students in fits of laughter — but be careful — there are some utterly goofy words in this book.
51. Zoo School by Heath McKenzie
Oh no! What has happened to the school? The teacher has grown a long trunk, and the gym is full of llamas. Join Oscar and Ava as they discover their school has been taken over by zoo animals. (Perhaps a little inspiration for this year’s classroom theme?)
52. Wombat Goes to School by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley
This is a true Aussie book that follows the day in the life of a wombat who suddenly finds himself at a local school!
53. The Nose Pixies by David Hunt
Your students are sure to get a giggle out of this one. While being a humorous tale with cute illustrations, The Nose Pixies teaches kids to refrain from, well … picking their noses!
Books About Celebrating Reading
If you’re anything like our teacher team, you are excited for your students to turn into bookworms this school year! Start the year off with an expectation that reading is fun with a printable bookmark they can use again and again … and a first-day-of-school read that makes it clear your classroom is a place where reading is valued!
54. The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers
This is a funny story about a little boy who develops an appetite for books, in the silliest way. He dreams of becoming the smartest boy in the world, by devouring books with his mouth. Nom. Nom!
55. The Children Who Love Books by Peter Carnavas
This is a wonderful story about celebrating books and how they bring us all together. It’s a wonderful way to introduce students to their new ‘positive self-talk bookmarks,” which you can print and hand out to students on the first day to let them know you are always on their side, and that you are their first champion.
Adelaide-based teacher Bec tells Teach Starter she loves to gift these bookmarks to her students because “Our kids so desperately need to have a cheerleader on their side, especially when their environment, the world and their own mindset tells them they are not enough.”
Photo courtesy of Teach Starter Ambassador Bec of Adelaide
56. Parsley Rabbit’s Book About Books by Frances Watts
Begin the year by celebrating the joy of reading and begin a lifelong love of books. Join Parsley and his brother Basil as they walk through the different elements that make up a book.
If you’re looking for more ideas to get ready for the first day of school, we’ve got you covered. Head to our first day of school collection!
Banner image via Shutterstock/Monkey Business Images
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