Weston Massachusetts Public Library

SCHOOL
BOOKLIST

Picture Books:

School Booklist Picture Books: Try a school adventure! On this list, you'll find a little bit of everything--from first day jitters to show-and-tell excitement to fantasy field trips.

Ahlberg, Janet. Starting School
Introduces the serious and fun activities of students just starting school.

Aliki. Marianthe's Story Two separate stories in one book, the first telling of Mari's starting school in a new land, and the second describing village life in her country before she and her family left in search of a better life.

Asbury, Kelly. Yolanda's Yellow School Young Yolanda enjoys show and tell, reading, finger painting, playing after lunch, and watching a video during a day in first grade.

Baehr, Patricia. School Isn't Fair! Four-year-old Edward describes all the unfair things that happen to him during a school day.

Bemelmens, Ludwig. Madeline's Rescue A hound rescues a schoolgirl from the Seine, becomes a beloved school pet, is chased away by the trustees, and returns with a surprise.

Bourgeois, Paulette. Franklin Goes to School On the first day of school, Franklin is a little nervous, but his teacher, Mr. Owl, knows just what to do.

Cannon, A.E. I Know What You Do When I go to School A child imagines all of the great adventures that his mother and younger brother have while he is at school.

Carlson, Nancy. It's Going to be Perfect A mother and her young daughter reflect on the daughter's growing up, including her infancy, potty training, first words, and starting school, noting how nothing has been what the mother expected.

Carlson, Nancy. Look Out, Kindergarten, Here I Come! Even though Henry is looking forward to going to kindergarten, he is not sure about staying once he first gets there.

Caseley, Judith. Bully Mickey has trouble with Mack, a bully at school, until he decides to try being nice to Mack and making him a friend.

Cazet, Denys. Never Poke a Squid Arnie and Raymond recount the Halloween celebration at school in which the principal accidentally got sprayed with a bag of ink.

Chall, Marsha. Bonaparte When a young French boy goes away to school, he and his dog are sad to be separated until they find a way to change the school's rules about dogs.

Christelow, Eileen. Jerome Camps Out Jerome the alligator is looking forward to the Swamp School camping trip, until he and his friend learn that Buster, the class bully, will be there, too.

Clayton, Elaine. Ella's Trip to the Museum When Ella visits a museum with her school group, she shows them how to look at art in a magical way.

Clement, Rod. Just Another Ordinary Day Amanda's ordinary day has her riding to school with a Tyrannosaurus rex, having lunch with an alien, sailing a pirate ship at library, and riding home on an elephant.

Clements, Andrew. Double Trouble in Walla Walla It's an ordinary morning in Walla Walla until Lulu, her teacher, the school nurse, and the principal are all infected by a word warp which makes them reduplicate everything they say.

Cocca-Leffler, Maryann. Mr. Tanen's Ties Mr. Tanen, the principal at Lynnhurst Elementary School, is well known for his colorful and unusual ties, but he and his students are saddened when his boss orders him to stop wearing them.

Couric, Kathie. The Brand New Kid Lazlo, who has just moved to the United States from Hungary, is ostracized at school until two girls have the courage to befriend him.

Cuyler, Margery. 100th Day Worries Jessica worries about collecting 100 objects to take to class for the 100th day of school.

DePaola, Tomie. Meet the Barkers: Morgan and Moffat go to School Bossy Moffie and her quiet twin brother Morgie both enjoy starting school, especially getting gold stars and making new friends.

Dorrie, Doris. Lottie's Princess Dress When Lottie persuades her mother to let her wear her sparkly gold dress to school, their day becomes very special.

DuRubertis, Barbara. A Collection for Kate As she adds up the items in the collections that some of her classmates bring to school, Kate tries to come up with a collection of her own that has enough items for her to share.

Faulkner, Matt. Black Belt After hiding in a karate school to escape a bully, Bushi wakes up in another time and learns from a karate master that intelligence can be more powerful than mere strength.

Finchler, Judy. Miss Malarkey Doesn't Live in Room 10 A first-grade boy is shocked, then pleased, when he discovers that his teacher has a life away from school.

Floca, Brian. The Frightful Story of Harry Wallfish When her class goes ape on a school visit to the Natural History Museum, a wily teacher tells the tale of a rambunctious former classmate of her own who found himself left behind in the museum after dark.

Gantos, Jack. Back to School for Rotten Ralph Afraid of being left alone, Rotten Ralph, the nasty red cat, follows Sarah to school and tries to prevent her from making new friends.

Hafner, Marylin. A Year with Molly and Emmett A young girl named Molly and her big orange cat named Emmett share a visit to the zoo, a hike, buying school supplies, celebrating the holidays, and more.

Henkes, Kevin. Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts going to school and the other children make fun of it.

Henkes, Kevin. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Lilly loves everything about school, especially her teacher, but when he asks her to wait a while before showing her new purse, she does something for which she is very sorry later.

Henkes, Kevin. Wemberly Worried A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list of things to worry about when she faces the first day of nursery school.

Hest, Amy. Off to School, Baby Duck! Baby Duck experiences the fear of the first day of school, but with a little help from Grampa, everything turns out okay in the end.

Howard, Elizabeth. Virgie Goes to School with us Boys In the post-Civil War South, a young African American girl is determined to prove that she can go to school just like her older brothers.

Kirk, David. Little Miss Spider at Sunny Patch School On her first day at school, Little Miss Spider worries that she cannot do what the others can, but she learns that she has a special quality all her own.

Langreuter, Jutta. Little Bear Goes to Kindergarten Little Bear likes the teacher, other children, and activities on his first day at kindergarten, but he does not want his mother to leave.

Lasky, Kathryn. Lunch Bunnies Clyde, the rabbit, is ready to start school, but after talking with his brother, he is worried about what will happen at lunchtime.

Lauture, Denize. Running the Road to ABC Long before the sun even thinks of rising the Haitian children run to school where they learn the letters, sounds, and words of their beautiful books.

Leedy, Loreen. Mapping Penny's World After learning about maps in school, Lisa maps all the favorite places of her dog Penny.

Levitin, Sonia. Boom Town After her family moves to California where her father goes to work in the gold fields, Amanda decides to make her own fortune baking pies and she encourages others to provide the necessary services--from a general store to a school--that enables her town to prosper.

Lindbergh, Reeve. The Awful Aardvarks Shop for School Aardvarks invade the Shop-All-Day Mall and turn it upside down with their wild back-to-school shopping spree.

London, Jonathan. Froggy Goes to School Froggy is nervous about his first day of school, but even though it's hard to sit still, he has a wonderful time.

McCain, Becky. Nobody Knew What to Do: a story about bullying When bullies pick on a boy at school, a classmate is afraid, but decides that he must do something.

McCully, Emily. School A curious little mouse decides to find out what school is all about.

McGeorge, Constance. Boomer Goes to School Boomer the golden retriever accompanies his owner to school for show-and-tell.

Martin, Linda. When Dinosaurs go to School Dinosaurs spend a day at school with reading, writing, arithmetic, music, fingerpaints, exercise, and pizza.

Mora, Pat. The Rainbow Tulip A Mexican-American first-grader experiences the difficulties and pleasures of being different when she wears a tulip costume with all the colors of the rainbow for the school May Day parade.

Munsch, Robert. Get out of Bed! Amy's mother, father, brother, and the school principal use very unusual measures to try to get the sleepy girl out of bed.

Munsch, Robert. Stephanie's Ponytail Stephanie's not too happy about starting a trend in school.

Munsch, Robert. We Share Everything! On the first day of school, after their kindergarten teacher scolds them for not sharing, a boy and girl share their clothes and shoes.

Neitzel, Shirley. I'm Not Feeling Well Today In cumulative verses using rebuses, a young boy describes all the things he will need since he is not feeling well--until he learns that school is closed because of a snow storm.

Palatini, Margie. Bedhead After many unsuccessful attempts to control his unruly hair one morning, Oliver and his family think that they have solved the problem--until he gets to school and finds that it is school picture day.

Polacco, Patricia. Thank You, Mr. Falker At first, Trisha loves school, but her difficulty learning to read nmakes her feel dumb, until, in the fifth grade, a new teacher helps her understand and overcome her problem.

Poydar, Nancy. First Day, Hooray! All over town, Ivy Green and her bus driver and her teacher and the other school employees get ready for the first day of school.

Priceman, Marjorie. Emeline at the Circus While her teacher Miss Splinter is lecturing her second-grade class about the exotic animals, clowns, and other performers they are watching at the circus, Emeline accidentally becomes part of the show.

Pulver, Robin. Axle Annie The schools in Burskyville never close for snow because Axle Annie is always able to make it up the steepest hill in town, until Shifty Rhodes and Hale Snow set out to stop her.

Pulver, Robin. Nobody's Mother is in Second Grade Cassandra's mother, who wishes she could go to second grade again, visits her daughter's class disguised as a plant.

Reiser, Lynn. Earthdance As Terra performs her part in a school show about the Earth and the solar system, her mother, who is an astronaut, is hurrying back from space with a special ending for the production.

Santiago, Chiori. Home to Medicine Mountain Two young Maidu Indian brothers sent to live at a government-run Indian residential school in California in the 1930s find a way to escape and return home for the summer.

Schaefer, Carole. The Squiggle As she walks to the park with her school class, a young girl finds a piece of string which her imagination turns into a dragon's tail, an acrobat, fireworks, a storm cloud, and more.

Scieszka, Jon. Baloney (Henry P.) A transmission received from outer space in a combination of different Earth languages tells of an alien schoolboy's fantastic excuse for being late to school again.

Schwartz, Amy. Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner Although some of the things her older sister taught her at home seem a little unusual at school, other lessons help make Annabelle's first day in kindergarten a success.

Seuss, Dr. Gerald McBoing Boing Gerald, whose communication in the form of clangs, toots, and blasts, distresses his parents and the kids at school.

Seuss, Dr. Hooray for Diffendoofer Day! The students of Diffendoofer School celebrate their unusual teachers and curriculum, including Miss Fribble who teaches laughing, Miss Bonkers who teaches frogs to dance, and Mr. Katz who builds robotic rats.

Shannon, David. David Goes to School David's activities in school include chewing gum, talking out of turn, and engaging in a food fight, causing his teacher to say over and over, "No, David!"

Slate, Joseph. Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten To celebrate one hundred days in Miss Bindergarten's kindergarten class, all her students bring one hundred of something to school, including a one hundred year old relative, one hundred candy heartes, and one hundred polka dots.

Slate, Joseph. Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten Introduces the letters of the alphabet as Miss Bindergarten and her students get ready for kindergarten. Also try Miss Bindergarten Stays Home from Kindergarten.

Stevenson, James. No Need for Monty Convinced that crossing the river on the back of Monty the alligator is too slow, the animals try to find a faster way to get their children to school.

Stoeke, Janet. Minerva Louise at School Out for an early morning walk, a chicken wanders into a school that she mistakes for a fancy barn.

Teague, Mark. The Secret Shortcut Because Wendell and Floyd have a problem getting to school on time, they decide to take a shortcut which, however, leads to unexpected adventures.

Weisner, David. Sector 7 While on a school trip to the Empire State Building, a boy is taken by a friendly cloud to visit Sector 7, where he discovers how clouds are shaped and channeled throughout the country. An unusual story for older picture book fans.

Wells, Rosemary. Emily's First 100 Days of School Starting with number one for the first day of school, Emily learns the numbers to one hundred in many different ways.

Wells, Rosemary. Yoko When Yoko brings sushi to school for lunch, her classmates make fun of what she eats--until one of them tries it for himself.

Willis, Val. The Secret in the Matchbox Bobby takes his matchbox containing an awesome secret to school, where the class slowly and horrifyingly becomes involved with the contents.

Return to Top