Getting Ready for Kindergarten: How Books Help Children Start School

By the My Book Hub Team · 6 min read · Published 14 October 2026 · Our standards

Starting kindergarten (or Reception in the UK) is a big step, and parents often wonder what their child should know first. You do not need flashcards or worksheets. Reading together in the months before school builds the skills teachers look for, and the right stories can turn first-day nerves into excitement.

Most helpful before school: enjoying books, listening to a story, knowing some letter sounds, hearing rhymes, and being able to talk about what happened. Reading together every day covers almost all of it.

What schools hope children can do

Early learning guidance in both countries points to similar things. The US Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework includes listening and understanding, phonological awareness (hearing the sounds in words), print and alphabet knowledge, and comprehension of stories. In England, the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance describes children enjoying stories, joining in with rhymes, and beginning to link sounds and letters. None of this requires a child to read before they start school.

Skills to build through reading

Book handling: holding a book the right way up, turning pages, knowing we read from left to right. Let your child turn the pages.
Listening to a whole story: work up from short picture books to stories of 10 minutes or so.
Talking about stories: ask what happened, who their favorite character was and why.
Rhyme and sounds: rhyming books and sound games build phonological awareness. See how to teach your child to read for simple games.
Their name: recognizing their own name in print is a proud first step.

Using stories to ease first-day nerves

Stories about starting school let children rehearse the day before it happens: saying goodbye, finding the classroom, making a friend, having lunch, being picked up. Read them in the week or two before school starts, and talk about how the character felt and what helped.

Hatty's First School Day: a little girl gets ready for her first day at a small country school.
Seashell School: Pearl the shy seahorse finds her courage on her first day.
Wychwood Academy: Where Magic Begins: every first day feels impossible, until the magic begins.
Backpacks Giggle After School: what happens in the classroom when everyone goes home.
Kitty Feels Brave: a kitten finds her brave.

See all our school stories and books about feelings.

A four-week reading plan

Four weeks before: read every day if you do not already. Add a rhyming book.
Three weeks before: start talking about school. Visit or look at photos of the school together.
Two weeks before: read a first-day-of-school story each night and talk about it.
The night before: read their favorite school story, then a calm bedtime story. Mention the brave character in the morning.

After the first day

Keep the bedtime story going. After a tiring day of new routines, a familiar book is comforting, and it is often when children tell you how school really went. Our bedtime story routine guide has ideas for keeping it calm.

Sources

Office of Head Start. Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework: Ages Birth to Five. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015.
Department for Education (UK). Development Matters: Non-statutory curriculum guidance for the early years foundation stage. 2023.
American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Early Childhood. "Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice." Pediatrics, 2014;134(2):404-409.

This guide is general information for parents and carers. If you are worried about your child's development, speech or reading, talk to their teacher or doctor.

Find a book to read together

Browse the full library by age, or search the store by genre. Many books are free to read with no account.