Book Bloggers choose starting school books 2 Story Snug https://storysnug.com
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Book bloggers recommend starting school picture books (2)

For those parents who are looking for picture books that will help their child with the transition into school we have more picture book recommendations from book bloggers who have also experienced the first day of school as parents. Thank you to Phil (and his daughter Charlotte), Loll, Anne-Marie and Damyanti for recommending the picture books that helped you with the start of school.

Loll from Story Seekers chose Starting School by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. She also wrote a great post last year recommending her favourite starting school picture books.

‘This lovely book by the Ahlberg dream team follows a group of eight children as they journey through their very first term at school. Immediately this is a book that many children will be able to relate to, as there are non-white children with their families; there are dads doing the school run; there are grandparents as carers; there are many varied combinations of sibling groups. Brilliant start!

The story is split into little sub-sections, with headings like ‘The First Day’, ‘The First Week’ and ‘Time Goes By’. It’s nice to see a book that covers a whole term, as one of the issues I’ve come across with C and his friends is that school is all very well – and often lots of fun – for the first week but loses a little of its magic when they realise that this is ‘it’ now and they’ll be going to school for the foreseeable future!

In terms of the small details, the book gently but effectively introduces children to all the new things they might come across at school, even down to the small touches like banging your knee in the playground. It gives ample opportunity for discussion and is a book that can be dipped in and out of easily. We read it countless times and would highly recommend it!’

Starting School - Story Snug

Anne-Marie at Child-led Chaos recommends Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds.

‘These days, in the UK at least, many children are in a childcare setting from before a year old, so ‘the first day of school’ is more of a change of setting than a completely new thing. Harry and the Dinosaurs Go To School approaches this with Harry starting a ‘new’ school, along with his friend Charlie. Charlie is a girl, and there is a wonderful mix of genders and races depicted happily interacting throughout the book. I love Harry and the Dinosaur books, the pictures are beautifully observed (I especially love little touches like how bellybuttons become exposed as children raise their arms!), and the text covers normal family life (including sibling rivalry) in a realistic and positive way. In this story, Harry notices another boy being really quiet in the class, and with the help of his dinosaurs, they become friends. All the Harry books are lovely, covering a variety of issues, and are suitable from a very young age, but are still enjoyed by my 7 and 5 year olds (and me!).’

Harry and the Dinosaurs Go to School Story Snug https://storysnug.com

Phil and his daughter Charlotte, the team from Readitdaddy, recommend Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton.

‘At ReadItDaddy we like books that perform a dual role. In the case of ‘Splat the Cat’, you have a book that subtly reassures children about their first time at “big school” while providing chuckles and giggles along the way. We took to Rob Scotton’s brilliant moggy almost immediately, and quite by accident I ended up adopting a strong brummie accent for Splat when reading aloud.

It’s Splat’s first day at school and he’s thinking up all sorts of excuses not to go. His hair is messy and he can’t get his socks on. Luckily his best friend Seymour is on hand to help Splat get through the day. Splat soon settles into Miss Wimpydimple’s class and has a million and one questions (yep, that has a real ring of familiarity about it!) and learns an awful lot about cat behaviour. But this business about chasing mice? Can that really be right? As the story progresses, children will see that Splat has a lot of fun at school and that mum really DOES come back as promised at the end of the day.

There are lots and lots of books that go into more detail about that first school day, almost drily regurgitating what children can expect from it – Rob Scotton turns that on its head a little bit with a feline view of things but the subtle reassurance and reinforcement of things like friendship and satisfying a child’s curiosity are nicely threaded through an entertainingly comic tale.

Most of the other ‘Splat’ books are also brilliant (though the later ones are a bit ‘by the numbers’ alas) but we adore this first Splat tale. It’s thoroughly recommended if your little ones are about to make that first big step up to big school, whether their tails are wiggling wildly with worry or not!’

You can read Phil and Charlotte’s full review here.

Splat the Cat - Story Snug

Damyanti from Overdue Books says that her son loved reading Welcome to Alien School by Caryl Hart and Ed Eaves before he started school.

‘Starting school can be a daunting new experience however the comfort of an old familiar character, in this case Albie, provides a helpful support.

‘Welcome to Alien School’ written by Caryl Hart and illustrated by Ed Eaves was a particular favourite in our house. We always enjoy Albie’s fantastical adventures and in this story he is rocketed into space for an extraordinary school day. The story touches on some common worries about starting school such as making new friends and feeling out of place but is also full of humour, silliness and plenty of excitement. A fun and gentle introduction to the idea of school.’

You can read Damyanti’s full review here.

Welcome to Alien School - Story Snug

A child’s favourite starting school book can also be valuable when the child is older or when they have to cope with a change of teacher or class, revisiting a book that they have previously enjoyed can help to comfort them on those days when they’re a bit uncertain.

Ciara, a teacher and mum, from Our Little House in the Country has written a great blogpost ‘Preparing your child to start school – 20 tips for a smooth transition and happy start to school‘. She has lots of useful suggestions to help parents and their children get ready for the big day.

Thank you to you all for taking the time to contribute to the post, thank you also to Zoe at Playing by the Book and Carmen from Rhinoreads who recommended their favourite starting school picture books in ‘Book Bloggers recommend starting school picture books (1)‘.

Do you have any starting school picture books that you would like to add to these lists? I’d love to see more suggestions in the comments.

You can find more starting school book suggestions on Story Snug’s Pinterest board;

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15 responses to “Book bloggers recommend starting school picture books (2)”


  1. Jenny avatar

    A very timely article and a nice selection of books. My children are now 8 3/4 and 11 3/4, so rather past the picture book stage (although a starting secondary book would have been nice this week – more for the parent than the new year 7…).
    Our favourite starting school picture books are Harry and the Dinosaurs go to School by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds and I Am Too Absolutely Small for School (Charlie and Lola) by Lauren Child.


    1. Catherine avatar

      Thankyou for your suggestions Jenny – they’re both great books 🙂


  2. Cheryl Carpinello avatar

    A great selection! My daughter-in-law read similar ones to our grandson before kindergarten. Thanks for sharing on the Kid Lit Blog Hop.


    1. Catherine avatar

      There is such a huge selection of starting school picture books to choose from now 🙂 It was difficult for me to choose a favourite!


  3. C.L. Murphy avatar

    A timely lot of great recommendations! Thanks for sharing!


    1. Catherine avatar

      You’re welcome. I hope that they will be useful 🙂


  4. Katie avatar

    I have had a few ‘starting school’ books over the years but it’s nice to see there is a much wider variety now. I shall have to look into getting one again for when my next one starts in a few years as mine have been passed on. #weekendbloghop


    1. Catherine avatar

      There are almost too many to choose from, it was hard for us all to choose just one favourite!


  5. Mrs H avatar

    I am a SAHM to my little girl. She is only 15 months old but I worry how she is going to manage when she has to go to school. Especially as all her pals go to nursery. These suggestions will be invaluable. Thank you so much. I may start showing them to her in a year or so. Have a lovely weekend. xxxx #weekendbloghop


    1. Catherine avatar

      All the books are great for pre-schoolers and to read purely for enjoyment so if you introduce them before pre-school she’ll have lots of time to become familiar with what children do at school.


  6. Maria avatar

    What a great selection! Transitioning to school though reading books about it is such a wonderful way for parents to create enthusiasm about going back to school and changing grade levels!

    Maria
    http://www.musicteachingandparenting.com


    1. Catherine avatar

      It was really interesting to see which books everybody chose. I’m familiar with some but not others so it was a really interesting post for me to write 🙂


  7. Jennifer Tzivia MacLeod avatar

    As a homeschooling mama, I never thought about “first day of school” books – and then we ended up putting our kids in school last year. No books to help us along; we just sort of winged it!
    Hopping by from the blog hop!


    1. Catherine avatar

      I think starting school books are useful to give younger children an impression of school but at the age of six my daughter is so ready for school that we read them more for enjoyment than necessity 🙂


  8. chantelle hazelden avatar

    another lot of brilliant recommendations!!! I especially like the sound of the first book. Thanks so much for linking up with #readwithme. I have tweeted out this post x