Recently, I had the occasion to read Little Mole Goes to School (thanks, Beaming Books!), a charming story of a, well, little mole, who is headed off to his first day at the Woodland School. Little Mole is worried: his eyesight isn’t great and sometimes he has a hard time hearing. He doesn’t know his alphabet, and he’s sure everyone else will be ahead of him in every subject. Of course, his worries are wrapped up within the 32 pages of the picture book, and I thought it was a sweet, encouraging read for anyone who might be worried about the new school year. But I wanted to call attention to the backmatter of this picture book, specifically. Picture book backmatter is typically a page or two of nonfiction text that helps a child or the child’s caretaker understand the topic at hand a bit more. It can help a picture book age up from about a 3-year-old’s reading level to a 7-year-olds, as it brings in more complex subject matter. In Little Mole Goes to School, there is a page of woodland creature facts that allows a young reader to understand how important story beats were based on actual characteristics portrayed by the young animals in the story, as well as a page of tips about caring for a child with school anxiety, written by a licensed family therapist. Below, I’ve listed eight back-to-school picture books about children heading off to school to help your little one conquer their back-to-school jitters. Some have backmatter, some don’t, but all will help your child make that big, sometimes scary, often wonderful, transition. I hope you found a book in this of back-to-school picture books list that can help your little one, or just help to build some excitement for the big day. Want some STEM picture books to prepare your kid for science class? Check out these books about creepy crawlies. Want an overview of the best picture books of the year? Here’s a list of the greatest picture books 2022 has to offer. If you’re not sure why adults might get something out of picture books, here’s a great argument that says adults should be reading picture books.
