The anecdotal evidence is in. Teacher friends tell me that COVID-19 shutdowns derailed and delayed social and emotional learning, or SEL, for their students ages 3 to 8.
Makes sense. Many pandemic-era kids lost out on months, even years, of in-person learning and the daily interactions essential for healthy on-track development. That’s something to remember as school begins anew. Are kids prepared for the usual challenges — separation anxiety, new teachers and classmates, higher expectations and a stepped-up curriculum? How can their grown-ups ease the transition?
Some recent picture books introduce and reinforce basic SEL skills needed to meet the moment — how to face fears, manage uncertainty, advocate for yourself, make friends, share and venture forth. The idea: to help kids get along and get the most out of school right from the get-go.
And Then Comes School
By Tom Brenner; illustrated by Jen Hill
(Candlewick; 32 pages; $17.99; ages 4-8)
Make berry jam, play flashlight tag and harvest veggies. This to-do list gently launches a joyful ode to waning summer and what’s to come. A small girl stands in for Everykid on the brink of big change: “When dinner is done/and your first-day outfit has been decided,/ and your new backpack is stuffed with supplies,/and your lunchbox is packed with your favorite things…/Then slip into bed and imagine what tomorrow will bring.” Lovely paintings expand on many such delightful “when” and “then” scenarios, tacitly harking back to Ecclesiastes. To everything there is a season, here a time for both the languid days of August and the busyness of a new school year.
Back to School, Backpack!
By Simon Rich; illustrated by Tom Toro
(Little Brown; 40 pages; $18.99; ages 4-8)
“Can I tell you a secret? The first day of school always makes me nervous?” That from a goofy-looking teal green backpack, lead actor in this offbeat picture book about fears and friendship. Backpack freely shares its often sour take on the difficult transition from a tranquil summer on the closet floor to the rough-and-tumble world of school. There Backpack is stuffed with books and binders and then crammed in a locker or just tossed aside! Worst of all, complains Backpack, “I feel like I don’t fit in anywhere.” Even the toilets have each other! Lots of laughs lead up to a pleasingly predictable and reassuring conclusion.
May’s Brave Day
By Lucy Morris
(Bloomsbury; 40 pages; $18.99; ages 3-6)
May has butterflies in her tummy, leaving no room for breakfast. Thus begins this pensive account of how one girl finds the courage to conquer first-day-of-school jitters. First stop: a beloved backyard garden, site of her best thinking. She recalls learning to ride a bike; replays past words of reassurance in her head; tries running and jumping to settle herself; and communes with backyard creatures, seen as seemingly worry-free. Mama’s words set the record straight. “A tiny bird has to learn to fly. A frog has to learn to jump. … Even a butterfly has to learn to spread its wings.” Embedded is a worthy object lesson: Even reticent kids have the pluck to successfully join a bustling classroom.
Ready for Kindergarten
By Bethany V. Freitas; illustrated by Maja Andersen
(Clarion Books/HarperCollins; 32 pages; $16.99; ages 4-8)
Do you know your body parts, listen to and make up stories, count the stairs, know your colors and shapes, sing the ABCs, swing at the playground and know your name? Then you are ready for kindergarten, according to this expert-approved checklist of entry-level skills. One thing is missing: mention of the fact that degrees of readiness differ. Not every 5-year old is the same. Still, busy, bright and blocky digital art showcases a diverse community and delivers a confidence-building message to kids on the cusp of kindergarten: You’ve got this.
Bitsy Bat, School Star
由Kaz Windness
(Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster; 48 pages; $18.99; ages 4-8)
“Rise and shine,” called Mama Bat. “It’s your first night at your new school,” added Papa Bat. What a charming start to this sweet but sometimes painful tale about acceptance. A big star at home, the winged Bitsy isn’t like her furry classmates. “I can’t sit, paint, eat or play like everyone else,” she complains. And she hates the classroom’s bright lights and loud noises. A five-star meltdown propels Bitsy to find clever ways to move forward. Inspired by her own experiences with autism, author-illustrator Kaz Windness reaches out to all kids with implied advice: Understand your needs, speak up for yourself, share your talents, celebrate differences, treat everyone as special and shine in your own authentic way.
Yenebi’s Drive to School
By Sendy Santamaria
(Chronicle Books; 40 pages; $17.99; ages 5-8)
Mami drives Yenebi and Melanie to school every day. This vibrant picture book traces their journey from home in Mexico to school in the U.S. What a commute! Up at 4 a.m., the sisters snuggle, sleep and breakfast on tamales in the back seat, waiting sometimes for hours in the slowla lineaat the border. Colorful vendors circulate among the cars, and a stern agent finally examines their papers, waving them through in time for a full day of school. Context helps with the Spanish, liberally sprinkled throughout. Oakland author-illustrator Sendy Santamaria draws on her childhood memories as an American citizen growing up along the California-Mexico border. Hers is an inspiring story of sacrifice, determination, and love of family and learning.
You Are a Story!
By Bob Raczka; illustrated by Kristin and Kevin Howdeshell
(Holiday House; 32 pages; $18.99; ages 4-8)
You are many things — a child, animal, friend, mystery, miracle, story and so on. Fact and fancy team up in this expansive exploration of two big questions: Who am I? What can I become? Imaginative metaphors abound. As an astronaut, “you are a passenger on a ship called Earth.” As a sponge, “you are constantly soaking up new information.” Sunny Photoshop art details many kinds of kids at many kinds of relevant activities — working, playing, thinking and daydreaming. Self-awareness is often an early-in-the-year SEL topic. This right-on-target reverie invites kids to appreciate the many building blocks of identity and become “the author of your own life.”
Susan Faust is a freelance writer.