The BEST First Day of School Books for Kindergarten

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The room was full of parents helping students hang up backpacks, giving final hugs, and a few just lingering.  A grin covered my daughter’s face as she opened up her chocolate milk, blond ponytails swinging back and forth.  

She held up her hand, and I knew it was time for me to leave.  

I gave her palm a quick kiss, just like in one of our favorite first day of school books. 

To prepare for that first day, we had read a variety of picture books about the first day of kindergarten, and now my baby girl was ready to fly.

Along with these great books, you may also enjoy some of these duct tape crafts for school to get your child excited about starting school. 

books for the first day of school

 

To prepare for kindergarten we did lots of fun hands-on learning activities, like these vehicle preschool activities.    We also read through a few of these fun and silly books each day the whole month leading up to the big day.

These Tips to Ease Social Anxiety in Kids may also help ease those first day jitters. 

First Day of School Books for Kindergarten

Just click the words in blue to see an image of the book and get more details about it.    

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books about kindergarten

Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee made us all giggle every time we read it.    It is a cute story about a little girl who is nervous about kindergarten. 

Why?  It’s all because she can’t tie her own shoes. 

She does some pretty silly things with her shoe laces and shoes to try to eliminate the problem.  (My son particularly loved the part where she sails her rubber ducky in her shoe like a boat.)  At the end she finds out that she is definitely NOT alone in not being able to tie her shoes, and, YES, the teacher is willing to help with shoe tying after all.

Miss Bindergarten Has a Wild Day In Kindergarten by Joseph Slate was another one that made us giggle.  

I love how the book uses each letter of the alphabet to name the characters throughout poor Miss Bindergarten’s crazy day.  For instance, there is Danny the dog and Emily the elephant. 

Each student adds to the wild day, from pouring too much water on the plants, to dropping the jar of bugs and opening up the butterfly cage.  I have to say as a former classroom teacher I was really sympathizing with the teacher because it really was quite a day!

Miss Mingo and the First Day of School by Jamie Harper is a cute and educational book. 

The teacher, a flamingo, tries to ease everyone’s nerves on the first day by asking them to share something unique about themselves.  Throughout the book, as each different animal shares something unique about themselves, there are little side notes with interesting facts for each animal.

Ms. Bitsy Bat’s Kindergarten by Pamela Duncan Edwards is a cute story about how the animals all react to a new teacher — a bat!

Chicken Chickens Go to School by Valeri Gorbachev was another favorite.  Two little chickens are dropped off for their first day of school.  At first they have a little trouble making friends, but by the end they are excited to get to come back the next day and play with their new playmates.

books for first day of school

 

When Kangaroo Goes to School, by Sonia Levitin is one that could definitely be read and enjoyed by older children as well. 

The story follows Kangaroo when she goes to school.  The other students are all typical girls and boys.  Kangaroo learns to raise her hand instead of yelling out answers, to follow instructions during fire drills, and other important lessons.

Kindergarten ABC by Jacqueline Rogers went through the alphabet, much like many schools do, with a “letter a day” theme.  For each letter you had a list of items to look for on the page.  We had fun hunting for each of the hidden items.

First Day of School (Fred Bear and Friends) by Melanie Joyce is illustrated with photos of teddy bears in real locations.  This book is better suited for younger children just starting preschool.

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn should be on the reading list of every child starting kindergarten.  

When Chester raccoon is scared to start school his mom shares a family secret (the kissing hand) with him.  This heartwarming book is sure to leave parents a bit teary eyed.  (Or is that just me?)  You may even find yourself kissing your child’s palm like I did on that first day of school.

 

Finally, if you are looking for great preschool/kindergarten books that deal with the start of school, the PBS cartoons Clifford and Sesame Street both have several cute books that deal with school. 

We picked one of each to check out and they were both hits.

 

Your child’s first day of school is one of those moments you never forget.  

These first day of school books will help make the transition easier for you both.

first day of school books

 

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Comments

  2. We love The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn!! The little raccoon is worried about going away to school so his Mommy plants a sweet kiss in the palm of each hand for him to take with him. My kids often request a “kissing hand” before a night away or something else that is stressful to them. It’s a really great book. You’re kids would love it!

  3. Whatever you do, do not read “Love You Forever” or “The Kissing Hand” until the first month is over. Our kids read them both on the first day of school, and I left in a blubbering mess while my kids “pretended they didn’t know the crazy crying lady”. My oldest is starting high school this year…..and they both STILL make me cry!

    • Oh, I KNOW I can’t read them Love You Forever! 🙂 I think I remember my brother had that book and it made me cry back then, when I was in high school. Certainly would blubber right through the whole thing if I read it right now.

  7. Great list. We’ve started looking for back-to -school books at the library. We’ll add these to our list. Found you via Sun Scholars this morning. I would love to invite you to share this at my Season’s Best {Back-to-School} Link-Up this month. Best wishes for a great start to the school year! Thanks!

    • LOL– later I thought that maybe I should have taken pics with them with 2 books at a time to cut the pics down to half…They were pretty silly by the end!

  10. We love Countdown to Kindergarten in our house! We also have a really cute one called “The Night Before Kindergarten” that I already have set out to read in a couple weeks! 🙂 Great post! Stopping by from the SITS Sharefest on Twitter.-Ashley

  11. What a fun book roundup! The kids look so cute with each book.

    Thank you for linking to Raising Imperfection.
    Please come back Friday to see if you were featured. 🙂

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•*´
    (¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
    Raising-Reagan.com

  13. What a great collection of books to prepare your daughter.

    Thank you for linking up to Raising Imperfection!
    Make sure to check back on Friday to see if you were featured.
    Leslie

  14. Some great choices here, thanks so much for these, and at the perfect time of year of course as well! Popping over from the Parenting Pin it Party 😀

  16. What beautiful children. I do think reading about these things makes such a big difference. We just did a similar thing about new babies with my toddler before his little sister arrived and it did help I am sure. I am pinning this for when he gets bigger too. Thanks so much for joining in with this weeks pin it party and please do come back next week.

    • Oh, I read tons of books about being a big sister to my daughter before her brother was born. Definitely helped!

      Thank for hosting!

  17. What a great list! Thanks so much for taking the time to compile it, and thanks for sharing it at Booknificent Thursday! Looking forward to seeing you again there soon!
    Tina

    • That is a great book! 🙂
      I found all the books on Amazon, so I would think you should be able to get them in Australia. Books are a blessing! 🙂

  19. I would recommend ‘Tom and Small’ or ‘Martha and the Bunny Brothers – I love School’. They’re both written and illustrated by Clara Vulliamy.

    You could also read ‘Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten?’ by Audrey Vernick.

    I hope that your daughter has a great time in kindergarten. Thanks for such a great list.

  20. One of my favorite back to school books is First Day Jitters. It probably works best with just slightly older kids, but it helps them see that everyone is nervous on the first day…and there’s a surprise ending.

    We love all of the Miss Bindergarten books.

    Oh and The Kissing Hand is wonderful!! If your daughter is nervous, it is a great book to read the night before school starts.

    • I’ve heard the Kissing Hand mentioned so many times; definitely need to get it! 🙂
      First Day Jitters sounds good, too.

      Thanks for the suggestions!

  22. Great book list! One of my back to school favorites is The Kissing Hand! Thank you so much for linking up to Back to School with KBN!

  23. What a great post! Thanks for providing such great 1st day of school titles! Your kids are too cute 😉

  25. Great selection!
    My daughter loves Lucky Wish Mouse Starting School and Tom and Small, both written and illustrated by Clara Vulliamy. She also likes Franklin Goes to School.

  28. We are actually starting homeschool this year for first grade and kindergarten for my youngest… We have already read a few of our favorites of these again — I figure they will help him when he goes to homeschool art this year.

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