It’s that time of school again - back to school season. Stores are full of stretchy textbook covers, loose-leaf notebook paper, and vast displays of Crayola crayons, markers, and colored pencils. But as we all know, this year is different. Some families are trying to carve out space in their homes to create a home learning space for some form of e-learning. Other families are making or buying masks and stocking up on hand sanitizer as they prepare for in person instruction. Teachers are readying classrooms (virtual and physical) and prepping lessons. Some first day photos will be in shiny new outfits, others in pajamas; but it seems like everyone is a little nervous to see how it will all turn out.

I’m a nervous laugher. I cant do a thing about it. The nerves hit and the noise just happens. So this week I’m harnessing that nervous energy and laughing in the face of the anxiety with some favorite classic children’s books all about school.

First Day Jitters - Julie Danneberg

Sarah Jane Hartwell is starting a new school, she is a bundle of nerves and does NOT want to get out of bed and go to school. Mr. Hartwell gets her motivated and to school, the principal shows her to her classroom. This book has a delightful twist that will delight young readers.

How to Get Your Teacher Ready - Jean Reagan

This one reads like a friendly instructional. Sometimes when kiddos are nervous, they cope better when they know they can help other people cope with nerves. The kids in this book do a wonderful job allaying their teacher’s anxiety at the beginning of school and throughout the year.

The Pigeon HAS to Go to School - Mo Willems

Sometime the biggest cause of nerves for kids is just the weight of all the unknowns - who will I sit next to? will my teacher like me? what will we play at recess? Well, pigeon has all those same worries as well as a few more. I think it is great for kids to see that everyone worries going in to new situations, but talking about those jitters is easier when they see how common they are.

How to Eat Fried Fried Worms - Thomas Rockwell

This book isn’t about back to school, specifically; but there are plenty of examples of how to deal with nerves. I think the reason I wanted to include this book was because of my strong positive memories of this book. When I was in grande school, our librarian Mrs. Schram read this book to us over the course of several library visits. I just remember sitting cross-legged on the floor among my classmates and the glorious waves of laughter as Mrs. Schram read aloud to us. Even if your young reader is able to read on their own, this is a great one to read out loud together - especially if you lean into the descriptions of all the ways Billy garnishes those worms to eat them down.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Judy Blume

Peter Hatcher is nine years old. His younger brother “Fudge” is two and a half and a proverbial thorn in his older brother’s side. Fudge throws tantrums, goes on a hunger strike, mimics Peter, and constantly bothers Peter’s pet turtle Dribble. It seems like no matter what Fudge does, he does it without consequence and their parents continue loving Fudge (to Peter’s dismay). Fudge escalates his behavior, resulting in more than one trip for medical attention. When my boys were little, we read them all of the Fudge books. The “Fudge voice” is recognized family-wide and utilized when anyone is being Fudge-like.

One additional note - Tales of a Fourth Grader Nothing has been banned in some school and library systems because Fudge was often perceived as a bad influence. You can talk with kids about book banning, and why Fudge is a bit of a bad example (but don’t we need examples to show us how NOT to behave sometimes?).