Books for Grades PreK-2
Ease back-to-school anxiety and prepare kids who are entering the classroom for the first time with friendly characters and funny stories about school day experiences.

Arthur's Teacher Trouble
by Marc Brown
Begin 3rd grade with Arthur, who must face the fearsome Mr. Ratburn and compete in the school spellathon.

Back to School
by Maya Ajmera & John D. Ivanko
See how children from all over the world start the school year, from traveling by horse-drawn wagon to doing homework outside.

Chrysanthemum
by Kevin Henkes
Follow Chrysanthemum’s lead as she learns to overcome other children’s teasing on the first day of kindergarten.

David Goes to School
by David Shannon
Get ready for school rules with the boy who breaks all of them.

Don't Eat the Teacher
by Nick Ward
Nick the shark is so excited on his first day that (oops) he takes a bite out of his teacher!

First Day Jitters
by Julie Danneberg
Discover that starting a new school can be scary for everyone, including teachers.

I Spy School Days
by Jean Marzollo
Everyday school supplies become exciting riddles in this super-challenging puzzle book.

Junie B., First Grader (at Last!)
by Barbara Park
Junie B. starts 1st grade, only to find that her bestest friend has left her behind, and, worse, she needs glasses!

Meet the Barkers: Morgan & Moffat Go to School
by Tomie dePaola
Moffie gets all the gold stars, but Morgie is good at making friends. The twins learn to help each other during their first week of school.

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten
by Joseph Slate
Experience the first morning of kindergarten with a diverse array of alphabetically ordered — and terribly nervous — animals.

Miss Nelson Is Back
by Harry Allard & James Marshall
You’ll think twice about skipping school after meeting Miss Viola Swamp, the dreaded substitute teacher.

Timothy Goes to School
by Rosemary Wells
Timothy’s first day of school isn't going so well until a friend shows him how to laugh and relax.

We Share Everything!
by Robert Munsch
Amanda and Jeremiah’s teacher tells them to share books, blocks, and paint…but clothes?!

Wemberly Worried
By Kevin Henkes
Wemberly worries about everything — especially her first day of school — but meeting a friend makes everything work out.

Books for Grades 3-5
Explore school's exciting side with stories about favorite characters and their adventures in and out of the classroom. Plus learn how to face the responsibilities that go along with growing up.

Amber Brown Goes Fourth
by Paula Danziger
Starting 4th grade can be tough, especially when your best friend moves and your parents have divorced. Can Amber make new friends and deal with her changing family?

Blister
by Susan Richards Shreve
Meet Blister, the rough and confident alter-ego who can handle what 5th-grader Alyssa Reed can’t — a new home, a new school, and a family crisis.

Dear Whiskers
by Ann Whitehead Nagda
Join two penpals as they overcome their differences to become friends and make their classmates smile.

Dog House Blues
by Jacqueline Pearce
Bullies and their cliques can hurt. But Erika learns that there can be friends in unexpected places and that bullies have fears, too.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
by J.K. Rowling
Harry Potter discovers that even wizards have to go to school, but with trolls, enchanted mirrors, and three-headed dogs, Hogwarts isn’t like any other school.

Nothing's Fair in Fifth Grade
by Barthe DeClements
Jenny and her 5th grade class blame the new girl, Elsie, for everything. But when Elsie becomes Jenny’s math tutor, Jenny learns that it’s important to give everyone a second chance.

Princess Academy
by Shannon Hale
In this Newbery Honor book, Miri goes with the other village girls to the Princess Academy to prepare for a royal marriage, and the seemingly insignificant heroine puts her talents to use to save her fellow villagers.

Ramona’s World
by Beverly Cleary
Ramona can’t wait to begin 4th grade, but can she survive her spelling lessons? A new baby sister, Ramona’s first best friend, and a schoolyard romance shake things up.

The Report Card
by Andrew Clements
Sick of letter grades? So is 5th-grade genius Nora Rowley, and it’s time she did something about it.

The Secret School
by Avi
If you think being a student is hard, try being the teacher too. Ida Bidson, an American student in the 1920’s, must do just that to finish 8th grade and realize her dreams.

Sideways Stories from Wayside School
by Louis Sachar
Visit the 30-story Wayside School, where the students have contagious smiles, switched names, toes for sale, and other strange and often surprising habits.

Stuart Goes to School
by Sara Pennypacker
Stuart is worried about starting 3rd grade at a new school, but, with his magical cape in hand, he overcomes his embarrassments and makes new friends.

The View From Saturday
by E. L. Konigsburg
No one knows why Mrs. Olinski picks Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian to be on the school's academic bowl team, but the experience will change their lives in this Newbery Medal winning book.

Wizard's Hall
by Jane Yolen
Henry Thornmallow, new student at Wizard Hall, wonders if he’ll ever get his spells right. Yet when The Quilted Beast attacks the Hall, it’s Henry who leads his classmates and teachers in defeating the monster. Perfect for Harry Potter fans.

Books for Grades 6-8
Tackle middle school challenges with these can't-resist-books about friendship, fitting in, and handling pressure.

A Step from Heaven
by An Na
Step into the shoes of Young Ju Park, a Korean immigrant who becomes an “A” student despite poverty and abuse. Winner of the Printz Award.

Nothing But the Truth
by Avi
When 9th-grader Philip Malloy is suspended for humming “The Star Spangled Banner” during homeroom, he become the center of national media attention. A Newbery Honor book.

Libby on Wednesday
by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
As the formerly home-schooled Libby navigates her first year in a formal school, she must come to terms with the very different students in her creative writing workshop.

Shakespeare Bats Clean-Up
by Ron Koetge
Kevin Boland loves baseball, but he’s stuck at home recuperating from mononucleosis. He finds his dad’s poetry book and, through words, he begins to explore how he feels about his mom’s death, girls, and, of course, baseball.

Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems
by Kristine O’Connell George
Experience a year of middle school from start to finish through this collection of humorous, realistic, and touching poems.

Football Nightmare
by Matt Christopher
Keith Stedman must prove that he is a trustworthy teammate if he's going to make the school football team.

Sixth-Grade: Glommers, Norks, and Me
by Lisa Papademetriou
Beware the norks (combinations of nerds and dorks) and glommers (clingy friends) as Allie Campbell redefines friendship and gains some confidence at the start of 6th grade.

Yankee Girl
by Mary Ann Rodman
Would you do the right thing if it meant giving up any chance of fitting in? Alice Ann Moxley must decide when she enrolls in a recently integrated middle school in Jackson, Mississippi.

The Misfits
by James Howe
Name calling hurts everyone, so four 7th-grade misfits, the incongruously self-proclaimed Gang of Five, set out to do away with taunting forever.

Click Here: (to Find Out How I Survived the Seventh Grade)
by Denise Vega
Erin Swift begins 7th grade in the principal’s office, having punched the insulting popular girl. Junior high gets even more complicated when Erin’s blog is published for the whole school to see.

Makeovers by Marcia
by Claudia Mills
Marcia Faitak, desperate to lose five pounds and be asked to the school dance, learns that inner beauty can be more important than outer appearances.

Freak the Mighty
by Rodman Philbrick
Tiny, brilliant Freak and big, slow Max make an unusual but powerful pair as together they confront the violence and heartbreak of 8th grade.

Stargirl
by Jerry Spinelli
Stargirl starts a new school — pet rat and ukulele in hand — and her classmates must choose whether to accept the changes she brings.

The Wish
by Gail Carson Levine
If you had one wish, what would you wish for? Eighth-grader Wilma Sturtz picks popularity, and while her new-found celebrity won’t last, the resulting lessons in friendship do.