back-to-school – Heise Reads & Recommends

Honoring Names at the Start of the School Year

Jillian — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 02:35:53 +0000

Those first days are a critical time to set the tone for the whole rest of a school year. And one of the most important things to make sure to get right are students’ names. Someone’s name is an integral part of their identity, so ensuring classmates and teachers are using and pronouncing each student’s name correctly can go a long way toward building a classroom community that is a safe space based on caring and mutual respect for each person in that space. Picture books provide a wonderful way to kick off the year with that at the forefront, especially if doing daily picture book read alouds with #ClassroomBookADay.

While classics can be a valuable resource, and a book’s age doesn’t automatically disqualify it, with the vast advancements the children’s literature industry has made in authentic and inclusive representation, it necessitates evaluation of books you select with a more critical eye toward ensuring all identities are seen and valued and honored in schools. For that reason, I encourage you to branch out from what may have been used for the last thirty years into some of the newer titles that can provide similar conversations while encouraging a deeper sense of belonging and understanding for all students.

Instead of Chrysanthemum, try one of these newer titles!

My Name is Saajin Singh
Becoming Vanessa
~~Tell~~ Teach Us Your Name
Call Me Max
Kantiga Finds the Perfect Name
Your Name is a Song
My Name is Long as a River
My Name
Yefferson, Actually
Banana Dream
My Name is Not Ed Tug
Do You Even Know Me?
Alma and How She Got Her Name
The Girl Who Named Pluto
The Arabic Quilt
THAO
My Name is Aviva
Josie Dances
I Am Not a Fish!
What’s Your Name?
Calvin
The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name
My Name is Sangoel
Always Anjali
Say My Name
Sora’s Seashells
That’s Not My Name!
Baba, What Does My Name Mean?: A Journey to Palestine
My Name is Bana
Naming Ceremony
Joyful Song: A Naming Story

You can shop this list, & many more for your personal or classroom collection, at my Bookshop page to support independent bookstores + my work.

Back-to-School Picture Books 2020 Recommendations for #classroombookaday

Jillian Heise — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 04:41:00 +0000

With all of the uncertainty facing educators about how we might be starting this school year, there is one thing I do know for certain: We can use picture books to start building relationships and connections with and among our students. Whether virtual behind a screen or in person behind a mask/shield, we can use picture books to create a more welcoming environment that honors all students and shows them they have a place in our virtual or physically distanced classroom communities.

For my back-to-school recommendations this year, I have chosen books with themes of friendship, focusing on the power of names, being welcoming to those from other cultures, doing our best in the circumstances we are given, thinking about worry and what to do with it, several around families near and far, some straight-forward ones around racism and viruses and consent, grieving those lost or moved away, dealing with worry around the first day, empowering stories, those that honor Black lives and raise up Asian American creators and characters, and a few that are just fun in thinking about our classroom and reading spaces. I believe this collection will have something for everyone to fit that first month back with students as teachers try to be responsive to the needs of their group and build community from the start.

I hope that these titles will bring you comfort and inspiration for the work we have ahead during this ongoing global pandemic to keep kids and relationships at the heart of our classrooms, no matter the worry, fear, anxiety, or despair that may also be present. I wish you the best in whatever your circumstances may be as we head back this year. xo Jillian

Here are 37 picture books I recommend for back-to-school read alouds this year.

2020 Back-to-School Picture Book Recommendations

*You can shop this list at Bookshop to support independent bookstores + my work.

A Friend for Henry

by Jenn Bailey, illustrated by Mika Song

Gustavo the Shy Ghost

by Flavia Z. Drago

My Heart Fills with Happiness

by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Julie Flett

One Hug

by Katrina Moore, illustrated by Julia Woolf

All Are Welcome

by Alexandra Pendolf, illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman

Not Quite Snow White

by Ashley Franklin, illustrated by Ebony Glenn

I Am Every Good Thing

by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James

A Girl Like Me

by Angela Johnson, illustrated by Nina Crews

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs

by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Stephanie Laberis

Evelyn Del Ray is Moving Away

by Meg Medina, illustrated by Sonia Sanchez

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates

by Ryan T. Higgins

Lift

by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat

Black is a Rainbow Color

by Angela Joy, illustrated by Euka Holmes

Butterflies on the First Day of School

by Annie Silvestro, illustrated by Dream Chen

M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child

by Tiffany Rose

The Perfect Seat

by Minh Lê, illustrated by Gus Gordon

Can I Give You a Squish?

by Emily Neilson

The Arabic Quilt

by Aya Khalil, illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan

Always Remember

by Cece Meng, illustrated by Jago

Danbi Leads the School Parade

by Anna Kim

Swashby and the Sea

by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

Our Children Can Soar

by Michelle Cook, illustrated by 14 Black Illustrators

When Aidan Became a Brother

by Kyle Lukoff, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita

A Kids Book About COVID-19

by Malia Jones

Happy Right Now

by Julie Berry, illustrated by Holly Hatam

The Rabbit Listened

by Cori Doerrfeld

Jabari Tries

by Gaia Cornwall

A Kids Book About Racism

by Jelani Memory

Allie All Along

by Sarah Lynne Reul

Alma and How She Got Her Name

by Juana Martinez-Neal

Always Anjali

by Sheetal Sheth, illustrated by Jessica Blank

I’m Worried

by Michael Ian Black, illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

You Matter

by Christian Robinson

Your Name is a Song

by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, illustrated by Luisa Uribe

Hair Love

by Matthew A. Cherry, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

The King of Kindergarten

by Derrick Barnes, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Truman

by Jean Reidy, illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Back-to-School Picture Books 2019 #classroombookaday Recommendations

Jillian Heise — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 04:07:00 +0000

When considering picture books to recommend for #classroombookaday read alouds, one consideration I use is time of year or what may be happening in schools. Back-to-school time is when I think carefully about what those first read alouds of the year might be – those books that will help set the tone for the classroom community for the school year. The picture books below are some of the newer ones I am most looking forward to sharing with my students this year during the first month of school, and beyond.

You can find more of my back-to-school recommendations in my Building Community book list & blog post at Follett Community.

Picture Books for Back-to-School 2019

My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith, illus. by Julie Flett

You Are Your Strong by Danielle Dufayet, illus. by Jennifer Zivoin

A Friend for Henry by Jenn Bailey, illus. by Mika Song

Butterflies on the First Day of School by Annie Silvestro, illus. by Dream Chen

We Don’t Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, illus. by Suzanne Kaufman

Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin, illus. by Ebony Glenn

I Am Not a Fish by Peter Raymundo

Truman by Jean Reidy, illus. by Lucy Ruth Cummins

We Are (Not) Friends by Anna Kang, illus. by Christopher Weyant

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs by Melissa Stewart, illus. by Stephanie Laberis

Meet My Family by Laura Purdie Salas, illus. by Stephanie Fizer Coleman

Raise Your Hand by Alice Paul Tapper, illus. by Marta Kissi

Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds

Allie All Along by Sarah Lynne Reul

Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, illus. by Mark Pett

*The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes, illus. by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
*Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal
*The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson, illus. by Rafael López

*September #cbadspotlight choices