Back-to-school season this year brings with it some unique emotions and need for topics as we enter a third pandemic teaching year, some with students who were virtual for most of last year. This year I am including some new books, and some old favorites, in this list of 40 picture books I recommend right now. It includes many SEL connections, and more, with themes/topics relating to being yourself, making friends, emotional intelligence, affirmations, consent, play, learning about the viruses, public health measures, being there for people, community, remembering 9/11 twenty years later, and more, I’m hopeful you will find books that also speak to your specific classroom, school, and family needs. Wishing all the best to everyone as we head back to school.
Please wear a mask, & get vaccinated if you’re able to,
so we don’t end up with a fourth pandemic teaching year in 2022!
You can shop this list at Bookshop.org to support independent bookstores & my work.
Sharice’s Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman
An Equal Shot: How the Law Title IX Changed America
We All Play
Six Feet Together
30,000 Stitches: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag
Don’t Worry, Little Crab
Meesha Makes Friends
It’s Not All Rainbows
I Am Smart I Am Blessed I Can Do Anything
Can I Give You a Squish?
Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America’s Doctor
Jabari Tries
Juna’s Jar
Where Oliver Fits
Thao
The Cot in the Living Room
Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race
Be You
I’m Trying to Love Math
Someone Builds the Dream
June Almeida, Virus Detective! The Woman Who Discovered the First Human Coronavirus
When We Are Kind
Be Strong
When the World Went Quiet
Jacob’s Room to Choose
This Very Tree: A Story of Resilience, Community, and 9/11
I’m Worried
Friends Stick Together
The Rabbit Listened
I Am! Affirmations for Resilience
Flying High
I Got Next
Jayden’s Impossible Garden
The Color Collector
I Walk With Vanessa
My Two Border Towns
The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh
Bear Needs Help
It Is (Not) Perfect
Ten Beautiful Things
