I absolutely love sharing great book recommendations over on my Instagram account. One of the biggest requests I get is for picture books for back to school, especially for upper grades students! While I tend to defer to the Ramona Recommends or Katie King from Queen of the First for amazing book recommendations, I’ve amassed quite a collection of first month of school read aloud books that upper elementary students love. These back to school books have a ton of different themes, from friendship and kindness to developing a growth mindset to accepting others and inclusion.

Kids are never, ever too old to appreciate a good picture book, and amongst all of my other first week of school plans, I always find time to incorporate picture books that are full of meaning, theme, and heart. Here is my collection of first day, week, or month of school read aloud books for bigger kids. You can click the image of any of these back to school books to be taken to an affiliate link to purchase the book, or even better, add it to your wishlist and share it with your principal or parents! Have fun choosing which ones you are going to incorporate!  You can’t go wrong with any of these.

…and if you still need more amazing back to school, here are a few more that I love!

What if Everybody Did that?
Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun
Iggy Peck, Architect
The Bear and the Fern
The Dot
How I spent my Summer Vacation
The Juice Box Bully
The Jelly Donut Difference 
Chocolate Milk, Por Favor

You can also sign up for this list to receive dozens of more great titles and resources!

I’d love to hear your favorite back to school books! Please share them with me in the comments, and happy reading!

Are you looking for more first week of school or back to school lesson plans? Hop on over here to read more!