Great Back-to-School Books for Every Age

The Kissing Hand
by Audrey Penn

When Chester the raccoon is reluctant to go to kindergarten for the first time, his mother teaches him a secret way to carry her love with him.

Wemberly Worried
by Kevin Henkes

A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list of things to worry about when she faces the first day of nursery school.

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten
by Joseph Slate

Introduces the letters of the alphabet as Miss Bindergarten and her students get ready for kindergarten.

Ramona the Pest
by Beverly Cleary

Ramona works hard at being noticed in kindergarten.

A Fine, Fine School
by Shannon Creech

When a principal loves his school so much that he wants the children to attend classes every day of the year, it's up to his students to show him free time is a good thing, too.

Matilda
by Roald Dahl

Matilda applies her untapped mental powers to rid the school of the evil, child-hating headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, and restore her nice teacher, Miss Honey, to financial security.

The Mysterious Benedict Society
by Trenton Lee Stewart

After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

A Separate Peace
by John Knowles

Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.

How to be popular
by Meg Cabot

Sixteen-year-old Steph Landry finds an old book on how to be popular and decides to change her social status by following its advice, much to the bafflement of her two best friends.

Add a Library Card to Your Back-to-School List

Pencils, paste, paper and pens -- all are on a typical list of school supplies. But most valuable, says Nancee Dahms-Stinson, is a library card.

Dahms-Stinson, youth services coordinator at the Springfield-Greene County Library District, says that a library card "can open doors to educational resources on any topic that any student may need."

Resources are abundant in a library. "A student can visit a library and access print and electronic sources; improve their technology, reading and writing skills; do research for reports and papers and learn where to find what they need," she says.

Teachers prefer a combination of print and Web resources; using the library's computerized catalog makes it easy to locate books on the shelves, and Internet access is fast and easy. Wi-Fi is available everywhere so you can bring your own laptop.

And don't forget librarians are a resource. "Your child needs to get to know one or more library staff," said Dahms-Stinson. "Their years of experience make them experts at finding any resource -- on the computer or the shelves.

Physically being in a library may help your youngster with homework, especially if the student is reluctant or has trouble concentrating. "Libraries are soothing, calm environments that foster reading, learning and concentrating," she says.

The 10 libraries in the District -- five in Springfield and five in Greene County -- are conveniently located near schools and residential areas. "Many are open until 9 p.m. on weekdays," said Dahms-Stinson.

In Springfield, the major resource facility is the Library Center. Library Station is on North Kansas Expressway. Neighborhood libraries include the Midtown Carnegie Branch, the Brentwood Branch and the Park Central Branch Library. In the county, there are branches in Republic, Fair Grove, Ash Grove, Willard and Strafford.

For more information about this and other topics, Ask a Librarian.

- Jeanne Duffey, Community Relations Director, Springfield-Greene County Library District.