Staff Picks

Miss Nelson is the nicest teacher in school. She is always cheerful and sweet, but her class has the worst behaved children in school. One day Miss Nelson does not come to work, and the kids in Room 207 are ready to really misbehave when the new teacher, Miss Viola Swamp, walks in, slaps down a ruler and sets her students to work. The children have loads of homework, no story time and have never worked so hard! The kids miss Miss Nelson and try to find her, but have no luck until the day Miss Nelson walks back into the classroom. The children learn a lesson in appreciation, and a surprise ending lets readers know the true identity of the fearsome Miss Viola Swamp.

This much-beloved classic, filled with humor, surprises and delightful illustrations by James Marshall, has been a school favorite for decades. Readers eager for more of Miss Nelson’s adventures will be happy to see her return in two sequels, Miss Nelson is Back and Miss Nelson Has a Field Day.

A robot helps children get ready for school by treating the first day as a top secret mission. The classified information includes “Suit Up” with your favorite outfit; “Rendezvous at Vehicle Checkpoint,” which includes various kinds of transport, such as walking, cars, buses and bicycles; and “Meet the Intelligence Officer,” your teacher. Phonics lessons become “Practice Decoding,” and “Develop Secret Signals” includes hand gestures for a good job and time out. The theme continues with “Issue Final Report” as one of the children tells his parent all about his first day of school, and our robot guide concludes with a cheery “Mission Accomplished!” The theme of the books even carries to the author and illustrator profiles on the jacket cover, showing them as kindergarteners with a mission profile.

Lighthearted and humorous illustrations by Mary Lundquist show everyday school activities as part of the secret mission, and a supportive teacher and cheerful students make this a mission every child would love to undertake.

A little girl tries to understand why her teacher, who taught her mama and grandmamma, is still working and has not retired. She later realizes that her teacher loves to see her students use their talents, she loves to read and encourages her students to love reading too, and she likes to talk about things that are important to the children. Her teacher shows her pictures of long‑ago students now grown up and following their dreams, and says that her childhood dream was to be a teacher. The teacher tells the little girl she loves helping make sure that all the children’s dreams come true.

A sweet, sentimental story that shows the joy of helping others and making your community stronger, as well as highlights an appreciation for the value of experience. The teacher’s answer to why she keeps teaching, “I teach because of every one of you. I just love teaching and being a part of your lives. I love helping to make your dreams come true,” is surely every teacher's motivation. James Ransome’s words and illustrations set a gentle and heartfelt tone, and the white‑haired teacher’s dedication—and the children’s love for their teacher—are well expressed.

In this clever twist, a brand new school worries about the first day of the school year. The school is friends with the janitor who throughout the summer assures him he will like the children. But when the students finally arrive, they open and close the lockers, drink from his water fountains and play on his jungle gym. Worst of all, the school hears the older children complaining that they hate school. The school sees a little girl with freckles whose mother has to carry her into her kindergarten classroom, and the school decides he must be awful. But as the day goes on the children and the school relax and find joys in lessons, lunch time and art class. In the end, the school decides that he is lucky to be a school after all, and eagerly awaits the next day.

Charming illustrations by Christian Robinson depicting lively, diverse children and lovingly decorated classrooms make Frederick Douglass Elementary a school any child would be eager to attend. The fears and problems of the first day of school are faced honestly, and the soothing, hopeful tone of the book will help ease children into their first day of school.

Timothy is excited to attend his first day of school until he meets perfect Claude, who always wears the right clothes, has many friends and tells Timothy what he is doing wrong every single day. Though Timothy’s mother does her best to help, Timothy begins to hate school. But one day as Timothy watches Claude play the saxophone at the school assembly, he meets Violet, who is equally exasperated with her perfect classmate, Grace. Timothy and Violet play together at recess and find friendship, and a little laughter makes up for being less than perfect.

Timothy’s reactions to Claude’s harsh comments are realistic and will ring true for any child who fears rejection at school. Timothy will still wear the wrong clothes and may not always get stars on his assignments, but having a good friend puts his problems in perspective. Rosemary Wells’s wonderfully expressive illustrations infuse her animal characters with humor and heart.