8 Essential Books for 1st Grade {BTS Edition}

It's no secret that I LOVE children's books.  See examples A and B below!  I've been collecting them since before I was even teaching.  The library is my favorite part of my classroom.  It's the focal point, after all, and is so inviting for kids!  In addition to my classroom library, I also have a personal library.  This is where I keep MY books that kids RARELY get to touch.  These are books I use for Writing Workshop, Reading, Phonics, Social Studies, Math, and Science.  For the classics, there are duplicates in the classroom library, but most of these books are single copies that only I use for instruction.

Let's not discuss the fact that the fourth shelf is now full of books {just two years after this was taken...}.

Many of you liked reading my "8 Essentials for 1st Grade" blog post that I did a few weeks ago. Because people often ask me about my favorite books for back to school, I knew a blog post was in order!  I decided to continue with the "8" theme {don't ask me where 8 came from} and list out 8 of my "must have back to school books."  These are books I use for read-aloud the very first few days of school.

1.  Froggy Goes to School--This is such a fun read-aloud for the first day!  Kids always lose it when it comes to the part about Froggy forgetting his underwear!  Froggy is so silly; what child doesn't love him!?

                                                                

2.  The Night Before First Grade--I love all the books in "The Night Before" series.  Their predictable rhyme and clever wording makes reading these books aloud a blast!

                                                               

3.  Junie B Jones: First Grader At Last--If you've been following my blog for any period of time, you know that I *love* Junie B. Jones.  I read a chapter aloud every day.  For the entire year.  And have done so my entire teaching career.  That's 13 years of daily Junie B.  The first day of school is no exception; I start in right away with this classic book all about Junie B. heading to First Grade.

                                                             

4.  First Day Jitters--This book was gifted to me by my parents before my very first day of teaching 13 years ago.  My mom even wrote a little note in the front cover {{so sweet!}}.  I read it every year on the first day.  This book is all about Sarah Jane Hartwell's fear of going to school.  This book has a surprising twist at the end, which I won't tell you about!  You'll have to get the book yourself to find out what it is!

                                                                

5.  The Kissing Hand--This classic is a MUST for every elementary school teacher.  It's a sweet story about Chester the Raccoon feeling sad about leaving his mama to go to school.  She gives him a kiss on his paw and tells him to remember it when he's feeling sad.

                                                               

6.  David Goes to School--I don't know about your students, but mine are OBSESSED with the David books.  Like I think I have 4 copies of each in our back to school bucket in our library and there is still heartache when one isn't available during our book trading each week.  The kids literally read these books all year.  Infatuated.  David Goes to School is about David's mischievous ways at school...he loves to get into trouble!  This book will have your kids wanting to read it over and over again.

                                                           

7.  Brand New Pencils, Brand New Books--I just love Gilbert books!  In this cute back to school story, Gilbert is worried about what first grade will be like.  Luckily for him, everything turns out ok!

                                                         

8.  Curious George's First Day of School--I never get tired of Curious George books and neither do my kids!  It's always exciting to find out what kind of trouble that silly monkey will get into!  In this book, George is invited to be a special helper...enough said!

                                                        

Well, there you have it, my top 8 books for back to school.  Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for most posts like these about my favorites!

*This post contains affiliate links but these are my own opinions of the books that I have used in my classroom for many years.*