Having back to school books for kindergarten is so important as kids can be afraid to start this scary new thing called kindergarten and you want to show them that it’s fun! The more books you read to them about kindergarten, the better! đ
This list is books specifically for kindergarten but I also made a Favorite Back to School Books list of fun read alouds for any age. I also made a HUGE list of books by behavior to read the first few weeks of school that covers everything from tattling to how to share to picking your nose â I covered everything! Theyâre AWESOME books that target specific behaviors and spark great lessons to start the year off right.
Here are some of my favorite kindergarten books! I provided the links for you to see them directly on Amazon if you want to check them out â some links are affiliate links which means I get commission if you buy from the links, itâs no extra cost for you but I just wanted to let you know!
I love Planet Kindergarten – it’s such a fun twist on the typical starting kindergarten book about a little boy who blasts off to Planet Kindergarten and is excited to explore this new world. Kindergarten really might feel like a whole other world to your littles so it’s a fun play on that. I really like the illustrations and rhyming in this space themed book!
Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten? is one of my favorites because it is silly but teaches great lessons. Kids think it’s hilarious that a buffalo is in kindergarten and it’s fun to see him in the school settings. It also shows things like how the buffalo doesn’t get mad when someone takes his building blocks (such a great relation to K!) but remembers the rules for sharing instead.
The Night Before Kindergarten is a great book to read early on the first day because  it addresses going to bed the night before kindergarten, preparing, and all the nerves associated with it. I really feel like students relate to it and it does a good job of relieving any fears. It’s also a great book to read to your own child before they start kindergarten!
I don’t have a picture of the cover but On the First Day of Kindergarten is a super cute kindergarten book! I really like this one too!
Kindergarten Rocks! is a cute book about a little boy who is afraid to start kindergarten but pretends not to be but the illustrations show his worried face. His stuffed animal Rufus he brings is the nervous one according to him and as he has fun in school, Rufus does too. đ It’s a cute book to help ease the nerves of starting kindergarten – I really like it!
Ready for Kindergarten, Stinky Face? is a cute book about a little boy who has a bunch of outlandish fears about kindergarten like what if the sink pours out grape juice instead of water but his mom keeps assuring him. This is a great silly little story to read and then ask the kids what they were worried about kindergarten being like and make an anchor chart together of their worries.
Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten is a cute simple book with a fun rhyme of each kid in class preparing for kindergarten (each kids’ name starts with a letter in order A-Z so it’s sneakily an ABC book too!) while Miss Bindergarten gets her classroom ready for school.
Kindergarten, Here I Come! is another great book to read before a child starts kindergarten or on the first day of school.
The Pirate of Kindergarten is another fun book about a little girl who has some trouble in school because she sees things twice and when it’s found out that she has double vision, she has to wear an eye patch and becomes the pirate of kindergarten! It’s great for helping students have empathy and accept others, as well as embracing being different. I like this one a lot!
Adventure Annie Goes to Kindergarten is a book about a spunky little girl named Annie who is determined to get a Gold Star for good behavior from her kindergarten teacher Mr. Todd. I love this one for discussing class rules and how to earn whatever your classroom reward is.
Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come! is a cute story about a little mouse who is getting ready for kindergarten. He is a little nervous but his mom assures him it will be okay.
I loved Clifford as a kid so Clifford Goes to Kindergarten is one of my absolute favorites to read to kids who may be nervous about kindergarten. Molly Elizabeth (the little girl who Clifford belongs to) started kindergarten yesterday so she walks you through kindergarten and what she experienced that can really help ease kids’ fears about what kindergarten will be like. Plus, Clifford does silly things when Molly Elizabeth brings him to school. đ
The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten is such a humorous, fun book about a little girl in kindergarten who is so embarrassed when her mom comes to kindergarten and breaks all kinds of rules like not raising her hand to speak, using her library voice, talking during story time, etc. It’s a great book to go over a bunch of classroom rules while being really funny because it’s the little girls’ mom breaking all the rules on accident. The teacher is really understanding since her mom is new to kindergarten which is really relatable to students who may get in trouble because they just don’t know yet. I really love this one – it makes me laugh!
The Twelve Days of Kindergarten: A Counting Book is a fun way to practice numbers with a kindergarten theme in the familiar song we all know:Â On the first day of kindergarten, my teacher gave to me… đ
Countdown to Kindergarten is about a little girl who is really worrying about starting kindergarten. She doesn’t know how to tie her shoes and thinks the #1 rule of kindergarten is that you’re not allowed to ask for help. I recommend reading this later in the week because the majority of the book focuses on all the girls’ worries. Make sure every time they say that you’re not allowed to ask for help that you say how that’s silly and of course you can ask for help so her fear is unwarranted so it doesn’t make them fearful as well. I love the illustrations of the little girl with her cat and all of the situations she gets into while trying to figure out how to get around not being able to tie her shoes before she starts kindergarten. When she finally gets to school, most of the other kids can’t tie their shoes either and she realizes she’s not the only one and all her worrying was for nothing! It’s a great book to talk about what they were scared of about kindergarten and why it’s not the case as well as talk about asking adults for help when you need it.
Okay so this isn’t technically a back to school book and you’ve probably already read it 10 times but Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is just loved so much by kids if you read it in a fun rhythmic sing-song-y way that I think it should be a first week read aloud for kindergarten anyway! It’s a great alphabet book if you read it right! đ I am working on a huge list of fun alphabet books I recommend so keep a look out! This is also a great way to introduce attention grabbing chants like if you say, “Chicka Chicka” the kids stop what they’re doing and say, “Boom Boom!”
Don’t forget to check out my list of FAVORITE BACK TO SCHOOL READ ALOUDS that work for any age!
I also really recommend my Back to School Books By Behavior list of books that will help teach your kids important lessons like sharing, not interrupting, handling anger, being kind, using inside voices, even using too much glue!
Here’s a list of more kindergarten books if you still want to look some more! I don’t personally have these ones but you can check them out if you’d like!
Monkey: Not Ready for Kindergarten
and there are so many more! I think the more kids read about kindergarten, the less fears they’ll have and the more excited they’ll be! I hope you enjoyed reading my list and found some new books you hadn’t heard of before. Do you love any of these books too? Which are your favorites? Any books I didn’t mention that you think I should know? Let me know in the comments!
I absolutely love making lists and have a lot planned to show you my favorite books for every theme and holiday so please stay tuned! Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date!
If you’re still prepping your classroom (or are just obsessed with all things teachery like me), check out my must have lists:
Flexible Seating Classroom Ideas and Seating Options
Feel free to use this image to pin this to read later!
You can also use this one! Simply hover over them and click “Save” or go to it directly to save it onto your boards yourself đ
I hope you enjoyed this list of books! Be sure to check out all my other ones if you did – I love books! đ
4 Comments
mary weaver
August 13, 2018 at 4:26 pmHow about a list for first grade?
Teachers Love Lists
October 6, 2018 at 6:03 pmDefinitely! That is on my list to make a list for. Yes, I have lists of lists to make đ
Maty
February 3, 2019 at 5:23 amMy son will be going to kindergarten next school year, these are great for summer reading. Thank you
Teachers Love Lists
September 16, 2019 at 12:46 amThank you! I hope your son enjoys these books and also enjoys kindergarten! đ