Are your kids settled yet? Last year when we started preschool my son didn’t have any anxiety but he did want to read a ton of books about school well into October. I think he felt special being able to relate to these books now that he was “in” on it. If your child is experiencing some anxiety reading books about school can be useful too. You can ask if your child does the same things as the characters, if now what is different etc… talking about it in a non pressured way can be really effective.

The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon is a really cute book. This is the story of Ginny who doesn’t know that the way she things is a little different than the other kids in her class. She is teased, her teacher reprimands her for squinting but it’s not until she has an eye screening that the nurse figures out she has double vision. I like this book because it really allows children to experience what Ginny goes through , how being different but not knowing it can be fixed feels.  Ginny is given a patch and that too could be a source of humiliation but she is proud to be a pirate! Great and unexpectedly tender look at being different at school.

Little School by Beth Norling makes me miss teaching. It’s a simply written but detailed look at preschool and all the things waiting to explore in the classroom. Readers follow a class of four year olds as they navigate their day learning, playing, creating and some crying. I like this book because like I mentioned above this can be used as a tool to compare to your child’s own experience. My son immediately looked for dress up clothes, and a fire truck ( which he found ) in the illustrations because those are his favorite things at his preschool. After reading it he wanted to look at it alone and examine each page’s detailed pictures carefully.

Zip, Zip…Homework by Nancy Poydar is a book about telling the truth at home and school. Violet is so eager to get homework because it makes her feel big and important, she even gets a special new bag for it. Things go haywire when she can’t remember which pocket she put her homework in, and she lies about having finished it.  I don’t know about you but as my son nears 4 years old telling the difference between the truth and lies become an important subject that is often discussed. This book is another good tool to help keep that topic going .

My Preschoolby Anne Rockwell is another spot on book by an author we love. Simple and to the point but somehow the author manages to hit all the most important parts of preschool like separation anxiety, conflict resolution and taking turns. I loved that the author included a child making a painting and saying that his mom would love it. I love seeing that sort of pride in creating . My son related well to this book and was quite vocal about the little boy who knocked down another students blocks, which gave me a chance to talk about behavior like that.

It’s Time for School with Tallulah by Nancy Wolff is a bright and funny book that goes through a whole school day in detail. My almost 4 year old was interested but the book was quite long he was teetering near the end ( this was book #6 during quiet time though) . The illustrations are whimsical and we both loved them, and the humor was awesome too. There are a lot of asides in this book and reading them all is what made this book borderline too long for my son. If you skip these extras it will be fine. The problem is the asides are hilarious and even include things like a song, recipe and other tips. I still recommend this book, just read the asides first if your child is not eager to sit for too long.