Back-To-School Rhyming Picture Books

It’s pack-your-lunchboxes, sharpen-your-pencils, wake-up-bright-and-early, back-to-school time!

Teachers all around the country are eager for read aloud books to welcome their students and set the tone for a positive school year. As the Rhyme Doctors have said many times in our HOUSE CALLS posts, rhyming picture books (when done right) make for great read-alouds! So, picture book writers, as you ponder your next topic, why not combine a lyrical or rhyming text with a back-to-school theme?
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To fuel your inspiration, here’s a look at some recent school-themed picture books with perfect-for-reading-aloud rhythms.

We Share this School: A Community Book, by Dan Saks, illustrated by Brooke Smart (Penguin Workshop, 2023)

This explores the many ways that a diverse group of kids share their interests and talents within a school community. We Share this School is a great example of a book that has a clear "heart statement," or underlying message, that shines through and holds the story together. (The Rhyme Doctors always emphasize with our clients the importance having a "heart statement" to guide a picture book manuscript.)

We Share this School is written with an iambic (da DUM) meter. Each stanza is organized into quatrains (four lines) with an ABCB pattern of end rhymes. This structure sets up a predictable, upbeat rhythm. (For more information on IAMBIC meter, see THIS Rhyme Doctors post.) 

A CLASS /room IS /a PLACE / to SHARE.
it IS / a PLACE / to GROW.
It’s WHERE / you GO / to MAKE /  new FRIENDS
that YOU / will GET / to KNOW. 

Goodnight School, by Catherine Bailey, illustrated by  Cori Doerrfeld (Union Square Kids, 2024)

This book layers themes of school and bedtime as readers follow a night guard around after hours to learn how a school settles down for bed. (For more on the importance of layers in a picture book check out THIS Rhyme Doctors post.) Goodnight School is a great mentor text for the poetic device of personification, for example "books burrow under covers" and "recorders drift and dream." (See THIS Rhyme Doctors post for more on the power of personification.) 

Goodnight School also follows a consistent quatrain (four line) structure with an ABCB pattern. However, each line of text is written with series of trochee (DUM da) feet followed by one final stressed syllable. While iambs (da DUM) end with a stressed syllable and are considered a rising beat, trochees end with an unstressed syllable and are considered a falling beat. This falling beat  creates a restful rhythm, perfect for a bedtime story. 

LIT-le / SCHOOL is / STILL,
WRAPPED in / BLUE and / GRAY.
SAFE and / SNUG and / REST-ing / UP,
FOR a / BRAND-new  / DAY. 

The Smallest Spot of a Dot: The Little Ways We’re Different, The Big Ways We’re the Same, by Linsey Davis and Michael Tyler, illustrated by Lucy Fleming (Zonderkidz, 2023)
 
While technically not a back-to-school-themed book, The Smallest Spot celebrates diversity and classroom community, making it a wonderful school year read. This book also combines unique layers, in this case  SEL (individuality and community), and STEM (anatomy and genes.) 

The Smallest Spot achieves a rollicking meter by using a series of three-syllable anapest (da-da-DUM) feet in each line. (Note: the first line of this example is shortened to a two-syllable iamb.) For more on the benefits of anapest meter, see THIS Rhyme Doctors' post. 

just ONE / tin-y DOT / makes you DIF-/ rent from ME.
but we ALL / still be-LONG / to just ONE / fam-i-LY. 

One thing that all of these books have in common is that they take a unique approach. Yes, educators crave new back-to-school titles, but since library shelves are already packed with school-themed books, you'll want to explore a fresh angle to make your book stand out. Writing that book in rhyme will add to its read-aloud appeal. Just make sure that rhyme is flawless! Hopefully these mentor texts will help you as you sharpen those shiny new pencils and get to work!