Back to School

Back to School!

Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices
by Betsy Franco and illustrated by Jessie Hartland

This book of poetry can be read by two people, as the lines for person one to read is in plain type and the lines for person two to read are in bold type. There are also some lines that both can read together. The poems are funny, and they are about different parts of being back at school, such as the bus ride, reports for class, being in the library, the lines at lunch, homework, and many others. At the end of the book are some suggestions to make the reading of the poems a little more exciting.




















The Reinvention of Moxie Roosevelt
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

Moxie Roosevelt Kipper is used to people expecting something extraordinary from her due to the name she was given. She always sees the disappointment on their faces when they realize she is just an ordinary girl. She is tired of being the one overlooked, and she is ready for something exciting to happen to her. She decides that if she ever gets out of the school she is going to, she will become someone who matches her name. She will become someone who is fun and outgoing and who stands out. Then Moxie gets her chance when her parents decide to send her to Eaton Academy for Girls, a boarding school. Her talent at piano playing has earned Moxie a scholarship to the school, and she cannot wait to start. She is also ready to start becoming a new person. Unfortunately, she has trouble deciding on the new personality she would like to choose. She meets people like Spinky, her roommate, who fits into her “Detached, Unique, Coolly Knowing Individual” personality, and Moxie tells her things that she would expect someone DUCKI to know, which are not necessarily true. Another girl she meets is Haven, who fits into her “Mysterious Earth Goddess” personality, and she also tells Haven things that would fit with that personality, which are also not necessarily true. All of these stories and personalities could get confusing, though, so Moxie decides to keep a Personality Log to remember what she told people. Will this plan to reinvent herself really work for Moxie? Will she get too caught up trying to people different people that she forgets how to be herself? What happens if anyone finds out all of those things she told people that were not necessarily true?





















First Grade Jitters
by Robert Quackenbush and illustrated by Yan Nascimbene

A little boy is upset, because he does not know what to expect when he starts first grade. So he decides that he is not hungry, does not want new shoes for school, and acts a little grumpy. The little boy liked Kindergarten where he got to play with his friends, but what if his friends are not in his class? What if he has to do things that he does not know, such as reading, spelling, or doing math? What if he cannot understand the teacher? So he decides to tell his mother that his leg is hurt, and he cannot possibly go to school that way. Then his friends call, and he goes over to play with them? Will being with his friends make him feel better? Will he be less scared of starting first grade?


















This School Year Will Be the Best
by Kay Winters and illustrated by Renée Andriani

On the first day of school the teacher asks her students what they hope will happen that year. Each student shares one thing that they hope for. Some want the best seat on the bus, to look good in the school pictures, to bring their pet for show-and-tell, to take a field trip to someplace cool, and even not to be a vegetable in the school play or lose things in their desk. There are many other hopes that are given, and some are big while others are little. The teacher’s one hope is to get to know everyone.