3 New First-Day-of-School Picture Books

It's that time of year! Kids are readying themselves to exercise their brain! But what about the newbies? How do you prepare a child for (the sometimes scary prospect of) formal education? Here's three books that I particularly enjoyed that were just published about what kids can expect when they start school. 

Ally-saurus & the First Day of School
Written and illustrated by Richard Torrey

ISBN: 978-1454911791
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Date of publication: May 5, 2015
Age: 4 - 7 years

Ally prefers to be called Ally-saurus, because she's a dinosaur at heart. She stomps and chomps and loves to ROAR! But when Ally-saurus starts school, she finds that her classmates all have their own personalities, and that making friends is a bit harder than she thought. Especially with a bunch of know-it-all princesses...

This is a great book that can be targeted towards slightly older kids, as well. Those who may be starting at a new school, not just starting school for the first time, will also wonder about making new friends. Ally is perfectly precocious and a good mix of outgoing and shy. The story has just the right amount of humor, too. But what really wins me over are the inventive illustrations; each child "wears" their imagined personality and it's adorable. Seriously, you should pick this one up and give it a try so you know what I'm talking about.

(It's at the library or on Amazon)

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Go to School, Little Monster
Written by Helen Ketteman, illustrated by Bonnie Leick

ISBN: 978-1477826362
Publisher: Two Lions
Date of publication: August 4, 2015
Age: 3 - 6 years

Little Monster is going to school for the very first time. That means he’ll be meeting all the other little monsters, including one who has really big teeth and draws scary pictures. Who will ride the ogres and dragons with Little Monster at recess, and listen with him during story time? And what happens when Little Monster realizes he forgot his lunch?

This is a really endearing first-day-of-school tale—if you don't mind a touch of creepy. These monsters do go to monster school, after all, and eat some pretty interesting monster foods. But with the rhyming scheme of the text, and the fact that the narrator is talking to little monster, it comes off pretty darn cute—with illustrations to match. Even if the teacher may drool a bit. 

(It's at the library or on Amazon)

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If an Elephant Went to School
Written by Ellen Fischer, illustrated by Laura Wood

ISBN:978-1938063619
Publisher: Mighty Media
Date of publication: August 11, 2015
Age: 2 - 6 years

Would an elephant learn the ABCs if she went to school? No way! She would learn to use her trunk as a nose, a straw, a hand, and a hose! What about an owl? Or zebra? Yep, each animal would learn something unique. So what do you learn if you go to school?

This book is a pretty straightforward lesson, perfect for the slightly younger crowd. Not only does it help with what happens at school, but you get some fun animal identification and traits practice in there. Plus, the illustrations are pretty darn cute (detecting a trend?).

(It's at the library or on Amazon)