Five fab music picture books students will LOVE for back to school

There's nothing like the first week back at school. It's filled with such fun, chaos, and excitement. The kids are working out where they fit in their new class cohort and you're establishing a new classroom culture - so rapport-building activities are super important. Using picture books in the classroom is a great way to help support all the positive learning experiences your students are having and can provide an easy, effective tool to develop your classroom culture.

As a huge lover (umm, more like, obsessed fan!) of all things picture books, I firmly believe they play a significant role in the primary school classroom. I love how kids connect with the narratives, characters, pictures, AND musical elements in the simplest of stories. And what an easy, effective way to sprinkle some musical magic in your classroom by reading a MUSICAL picture book!

There are a tonne of amazing musical picture books to add to your classroom library (more on that later!), so if you're hunting down picture books for back to school, then look no further - I LOVE these fab five music picture books to launch the year. You can use these back to school books with K-6, using them as the lesson stimulus, a time filler, short activity mid-lesson, brain break or as a nice way to wrap up a lesson or the school day.

I'm sure you and your students will love these music picture books as much as I do!

#1 My Favourite Things

Rodgers + Hammerstein
Illustrated by Renée Graef
Suggested classes: K-6

My Favourite Things. This is my favourite. It's from The Sound of Music (which is my favourite musical of all time), how you can go wrong? Read or sing it to the class (I recommend the singing option), or show them the scene from The Sound of Music (Julie Andrews fangirl over here..!!). This is a great prompt to invite students to talk about their favourite things (or favourite things to do, eat, watch, play etc. etc.). For a fun literacy link, have students go around the room naming their favourite things from A-Z, or use this fun worksheet - grab it here!

#2 On the First Day of School

P. Crumble
Illustrated by Dean Rankine
Suggested classes: K-2

On the First Day of School is a fabulous music picture book, perfect for back to school! The book is based on the 12 Days of Christmas, so its catchy, familiar tune will have students singing along in no time. Sing the book to them, have them sing along, or compare it to the original 12 Days of Christmas, and you're on a winner with this music picture book. This great back to school book for kids is the perfect conversation starter about how they expected the first day of school to unfold or can be a good ice-breaker for discussion of classroom rules and expectations. The book comes with a CD (which is fab if you still have a CD player in your room) and has some funny lines, disarming the kids and making the class laugh together by the end of the book.

#3 Five Little Ducks Went Off to School

Peter Millett
Illustrated by Stevie Mahardhika
Suggested classes: K-2

Based on the well-known nursery rhyme, 5 Little Ducks, this is another excellent option for a back to school picture book. Compare the story and song to the original version (note: the melody is different to the original until the "school teacher" section), get the kids to sing the refrain (quack quack quack, quack quack quack, he hurried back with a quack quack quack), use detective skills to work out (*ahem*... infer) what the next little duck goes back home to get (clues are in the pictures!) or enjoy it just for fun - this music read aloud is a winner! It also comes with a CD, or use the singalong version.

#4 Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar?

Public Domain
Illustrated by Jane Manning
Suggested classes: K-4

Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar is a great call and response chant for learning names! You don't need the book for the chanting game, but I love to use this music picture book to introduce the chant to classes who haven't done it together before. Use the book to talk about the structure of the chant, noting which lines change and stay the same; introduce the chant before having a go together as a class, or have the kids tap the beat while you read it aloud. It has pull up tabs, providing a fun opportunity to get students to "help" tell the story.

#5 Your Name is a Song

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow
Illustrated by Luisa Uribe
Suggested classes: 3-6

This book is beautiful. It's inclusive; it reminds us how special and musical our names are; it respects cultures. I love it. It's hard to beat. Your Name is a Song is also a good music picture book to pull out anytime, but it's a wonderful way to start the year, reminding us that all our names are unique. You could follow this up with a name-song activity, where students say their name to the beat or create an ostinato (a repeating rhythm or melody) with their names. You could use this to revise syllables and determine how many syllables are in each student's name - hello literacy links!

Do you have a favourite back to school musical picture book? I'd love to know! I can't wait to hear how you go with these great back to school books - tag me on your socials if you give these a whirl.

Have fun back at school and happy music making!