By Audrey Penn

Chester Raccoon doesn't want to go to school--he wants to stay home with his mother. She assures him that he'll love school--with its promise of new friends, new toys, and new books. Even better, she has a special secret that's been in the family for years--the Kissing Hand. This secret, she tells him, will make school seem as cozy as home. She takes her son's hand, spreads his tiny fingers into a fan and kisses his palm--smack dab in the middle: "Chester felt his mother's kiss rush from his hand, up his arm, and into his heart." Whenever he feels lonely at school, all he has to do is press his hand to his cheek to feel the warmth of his mother's kiss. Chester is so pleased with his Kissing Hand that he--in a genuinely touching moment--gives his mom a Kissing Hand, too, to comfort her when he is away. Audrey Penn's The Kissing Hand, published by the Child Welfare League of America, is just the right book for any child taking that fledgling plunge into preschool--or for any youngster who is temporarily separated from home or loved ones.

By Jane Breskin Zalben

Daniel the elephant is facing his first day at preschool. He sobs and hides behind his mother. But she knows precisely what to do: rather than be a cheerleader for the experience, she calmly and patiently lets Daniel work through his feelings, reassures him that she will always come back and they share their special goodbye. Mollified and fortified, Daniel joins the group. He gleefully spouts water through his trunk at the water table, and "When he looked up, his mother was gone." In both her words and meticulous watercolor illustrations, Zalben painstakingly lays out the arc of the day. Like Daniel's mother, she does not beat the drum for preschool, yet clearly communicates that it's filled with nice new friends and seemingly endless options for fun. She also honestly conveys how Daniel begins to fall apart when he isn't the first to be picked up at day's end. The book concludes with some common-sense preschool adjustment tips from Zalben's editor.

By Francesca Rusackas

Owen’s anxious question prompts this heartwarming, comforting tale of how love stays with a child whether they are together or apart—all day long.

By Kevin Henkes

Wemberly the mouse worries about everything: big things, like whether her parents might disappear in the middle of the night; little things, like whether she'll spill grape juice on her toy rabbit, Petal; and things in between, like whether she might shrink in the bathtub. What she is more worried about than anything else, however, is her first day at the New Morning Nursery School: "What if no one else has spots? What if no one else wears stripes? What if no one else brings a doll? What if the teacher is mean? What if the room smells bad?" Happily, Miss Peachum introduces her to a kindred spirit right away. Jewel doesn't have spots, but she is wearing stripes and holding a doll. As Wemberly plays with her new friend, she still worries, but no more than usual.

By Robie H. Harris

The first day of school is a daunting prospect, best avoided. For starters, how's a kid supposed to know the names of the other kids, where the crayons are, or what kind of juice might be available? And how could a person possibly leave his or her favorite toy monkey at home all by itself? The boy protagonist in Harris' winning first-day-of-school tale decides the night before class that he will not go to school but will instead wait until the second day, when there aren't so many unanswered questions. With a bit of gentle prodding, however, his parents finally get him to school--but not without the company of his sidekick monkey, Hank. Once there, of course, the experience is happily demystified, and he learns everything there is to know about kids, crayons, juice, and more. Children with first-day jitters will take comfort in this story, which shows that the first day of school can actually be fun.

By Amy Schwartz

Annabelle Swift is more than ready for kindergarten, for she has been tutored by her older sister, Lucy. This book is full of humor and lightens the gravity of Annabelle’s early problems without negating them so that young readers will cheer all the louder at Annabelle’s decisive victory.

By Natasha Wing

It's the first day of school! Join the kids as they prepare for kindergarten, packing school supplies, posing for pictures, and the hardest part of all-saying goodbye to Mom and Dad. But maybe it won't be so hard once they discover just how much fun kindergarten really is! Colorful illustrations illuminate this uplifting takeoff on the classic Clement C. Moore Christmas poem.

Miss Bindergarten vigorously prepares for the first day of school as her 26 prospective students (one for each letter of the alphabet) do the same. Any child made anxious by the first day of kindergarten should find great comfort in this book's two parallel stories.

By Katie Davis

According to Dexter, he is totally calm about starting kindergarten, but his stuffed dog, Rufus, is fearful about the bus finding the way to school, getting lunch, being tagged as the only one who can't read, and getting a mean teacher. Upon arriving, Dexter finds that his best friend from preschool is in his class. Among other activities, he gets to write letters, cook food, and play in the school's imagination station. The library has books to borrow, and the cafeteria is exactly almost like a restaurant. In fact, Dexter is having such a great time that he forgets about his stuffed friend until he realizes that Rufus is LOST! A succession of cartoon illustrations and speech bubbles follows the large-eyed child through his first day of school. A gentle, humorous read to calm the anxiety of young students.

By Anne Rockwell

A little boy and his mother attend an open house, and he discovers all of the fascinating classroom centers and the activities that he will be doing in each one when September arrives. After finding a new friend and sharing cookies, he goes home contentedly with his mother, thinking that the school building doesn't look too big at all anymore, but seems "-just the right size for me!" The story is enhanced by simple, bright, and uncluttered illustrations that look like a young child's artwork-a perfect fit for the text.

When Pa was taking Jim to school for the first time, Jim said, "Will I have a friend at school?" "I think you will," said Pa. But even his father's gentle reassurance doesn't make Jim feel any better. The other children in kindergarten are scary strangers to him. He's sure that he'll never find a friend...until naptime, when he discovers someone who feels the way he does.

By Mary Ann Rodman

On her first day of first grade, Haley discovers that the routines are much different and decidedly less fun than kindergarten. She gets only one recess, no sharing time, a room without the familiar decorations, a teacher who is less demonstrative than her beloved Ms. Lacy, and, worst of all, a read-aloud that isn't even finished. Each time Haley discovers another difference she mutters to herself, First grade stinks! Finally, a gentle reprimand for whispering sends Haley into a full-blown meltdown, screaming her mantra of frustration aloud to the entire class. When she lists her complaints to her teacher, Ms. Gray explains about chapter books and reassures her that soon she will be reading them on her own. With her eyes opened to the possibilities ahead, Haley decides that first grade is great.

By Miriam Cohen

irst Grade Takes a Test is a book for young children about keeping test-taking in perspective. When a lady from the principal's office brings a test to the first-grade class, the children have some trouble because none of the answers seem quite right. For example, one question says "Rabbits eat: [] lettuce [] dog food [] sandwiches". Yet young George can't find "carrots" on the list--and he knows that if rabbits don't eat carrots, their teeth will grow too long and hurt them. When the test is over, Anna Maria goes to a special class because she did very well, which provokes unrest and even name-calling "Dummy!" among the other children. It takes the wisdom of their teacher to put the test results in their proper context. "The test doesn't tell everything. It doesn't tell all the things you can do! You can build things! You can read books! You can make pictures! You have good ideas! The test doesn't tell you if you are a kind person who helps your friends. Those are important things." First Grade Takes a Test celebrates the importance of all types of learning--reading and math as well as social skills--and the importance of not reading too much into a rigorous but limited test, especially at a young age.

By Jamie Harper

If there's an elephant in the classroom — along with an alligator, a koala, a centipede, an octopus, and who knows what else — it must be Miss Mingo's class on the first day of school! Miss Mingo, herself a flashy flamingo, is eager to start off the year by inviting all creatures great and small to share something special about themselves. From the enormous Hippo to the teeny Ant, each member of her class is certainly unique. Do you have any idea how long Giraffe's tongue is? Or how much water Pelican's pouch can hold? Visit Miss Mingo's classroom for just one day and meet a delightfully diverse group of students — and discover a world

full of wonderful facts!

By Janice Savage

Charlie enters the first day of first grade confidently. This changes suddenly when he is asked by his teacher to answer the first question. His Family teaches him how to be able to answer the teachers questions correctly and not get scared. Kids in every grade will laugh at how Charlie handles his fate.

By B.G. Hennessy

Kids find it hard to think of teachers as having a life outside the classroom. This cheerful picture book humanizes the new teacher and connects him with his students by putting a different slant on that scary first day of school. Mr. Ouchy is nervous. When the kids play with his name ("Does it rhyme with 'grouchy?'"), he tells them to call him Mr. O. They learn lessons about telling time, counting, and reading, and Mr. O. listens to when they talk about what they want to learn. In watercolor, gouache, and pen-and-ink, the pictures take children into a busy, lively classroom, where kids work together and do what interests them--from making doughnuts, swinging on a trapeze, and training a cat to hitting a home run. That night Mr. O.'s mom calls to find out if he got a haircut and ask about his first day. "My class is the best," he says.

By Jennifer L. Holm

Ginny has ten items on her big to-do list for seventh grade. None of them, however, include accidentally turning her hair pink. Or getting sent to detention for throwing frogs in class. Or losing the lead role in the ballet recital to her ex-best friend. Or the thousand other things that can go wrong between September and June. But it looks like it's shaping up to be that kind of a year! Here's the story of one girl's worst school year ever -- told completely through her stuff.

By Nancy Kurlick

After spending the night studying the Joyce Kilmer Middle School Handbook, Jenny McAfee feels totally prepared to start sixth grade. But Jenny has another reason to feel confident. She'll have her best friend, Addie Wilson, right there by her side. When Jenny and Addie meet at their lockers the next morning, Jenny finds out that Addie has other plans--and they don't include her. Could Addie really be ditching her for The Pops--the coolest seventh graders in the school?

By Barthe DeClements

Helen figures that she’ll coast through sixth grade—until she comes face to fae with her new teacher, Mrs. Lobb. Strict “Mrs. Blob” rules the class like a sergeant, and Helen’s practical jokes make her crack down even more. It wouldn’t be so bad if Helen got good grades—but the harder she works, the more she fails. Is Helen going to be stuck in sixth grade forever?

By Gordon Korman

Wiley and Jeff take pride in their ability to come up with apt, funny nicknames, nicknames that stick. But even they don't believe in the power of their monikers until they give "the blandest student" in school a cool nickname, spread it around, and watch his popularity soar. At the same time, they mount a campaign to help their bombastic substitute teacher Mr. Hughes (aka Mr. Huge) keep his job by raising their test scores through constant reading. Told mainly in quick-paced dialogue, the story captures the ambience of sixth grade with humor and empathy. With its appealing title and accessible style, this entertaining book reinforces its own message about the power and fun of reading.

By Lisa Papademetriou

Allie Kimball is a little intimidated about starting middle school, especially since she will be going to a magnet school for smart kids rather than to her neighborhood school. Best friend Tamara is not much help, especially when former friend Renee inserts herself between Allie and Tamara, encouraging Tamara to try out for cheerleading rather than soccer with Allie. Predictable misunderstandings, cat fights, and dirty tricks ensue, resulting in hurt feelings and, eventually, a greater understanding of what really counts in life. Papademetriou's strength lies in her well-tuned ear for middle-school dialogue and understanding of preteen concerns. Allie and her friends may be shallow and annoying, but they are also people whom readers will easily recognize. The addition of invented slang with definitions ("nork: a combination of nerd and dork") adds to the appeal. Funny and poignant by turns, this will attract readers getting ready to leave elementary school behind.