Recommended Books For Children Going Back To School
As children return to the classroom in September, books about mental health, class transitions and coping with change are more important than ever.
We’ve handpicked a list of back-to-school book recommendations to share with children returning to a new class – grouped into themes of community, being yourself, starting something new, big feelings, friendship and fun.
For books about first-day-back nerves, try Geoffrey Gets the Jitters or Find Your Happy. For stories about starting a new class, try The Friendship Bench or Mooncat and Me, or for more friendship-boosting stories, we recommend I’m Going to Make a Friend and The Blue Umbrella.
For icebreaking books to bring classroom laughter, try You Say Ooh I Say Ahh, or for something to inspire classroom projects on the first week back, we recommend Mixed or The Dot.
Our separate booklists of All About Me topic books and community-themed picturebooks will help, too, but for books about uniqueness, be absolutely sure not to miss Can I Build Another Me?. Additionally, The Best You will encourage pupils to be the best versions of themselves, while The Smile and All Are Welcome will help to boost discussions on how to make the classroom community a better place.
