Best Book for the First Day of School: All Are Welcome

I wrote this post before the United States was besieged with two mass shootings in one weekend, one of which was clearly motivated by hate. I’m honestly at a loss for words. Words feel so empty as this point.

The first day of school is upon us today! First of all, we live in the South where back to school comes earlier. Second, my children go to a school that starts three weeks earlier so that we get more breaks throughout the year. We get a week in October, a week for Thanksgiving, two weeks for winter, and two weeks for Spring Break. As we prepare to head back into the school year, I wanted to share what I think is the best book for the first day of school.

One of our teachers shared this book with me. It’s called All Are Welcome Here. You can listen to the book being read here.

A warm, welcoming picture book that celebrates diversity and gives encouragement and support to all kids.

Follow a group of children through a day in their school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms. A school where kids in patkas, hijabs, and yarmulkes play side-by-side with friends in baseball caps. A school where students grow and learn from each other’s traditions and the whole community gathers to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

All Are Welcome lets young children know that no matter what, they have a place, they have a space, they are welcome in their school.

All Are Welcome Here

Vocabulary to Preview in the Best Book for the First Day of School

Patka = Noun. patka (plural patkas) A head covering worn by Sikh boys. The same head covering worn by Sikh men either alone or as an under-turban.

Sikhism = Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world with a population of upwards of 30 million worldwide. It originated in India.

Hijab = Noun. (plural hijabs) A head covering worn in public by some Muslim women.

Muslims are people who follow the religion Islam. Islam began in Arabia.

Muslims believe that there is only one God. The Arabic word for God is Allah.

Yarmulkes = Noun. A skullcap worn especially by Orthodox and Conservative Jewish males in the synagogue and the home

Questions

• What makes you feel welcome?
• Share about a time when you have felt welcome. (Note: Allow many or all children to answer this question so that there can be a foundation for discussing how there are differences in how we all feel welcome. Hearing many different answers will also help lead into the conversation about how to create a welcoming place for everyone, including those who are different from ourselves.)
• Have you ever not felt welcome? Would anyone feel comfortable sharing that story with us? (Note: Prepare to share examples that you have seen in classrooms in the past.)
• What does the author mean by “all are welcome here”?
• What are some of the examples of difference that we see throughout the story?
• How would people feel in a place where everyone was welcome?
• What is the opposite of a place where everyone is welcome?
• How can you welcome others into our classroom? How can you help make our classroom a welcoming a place?
• Talk about a time you might have unintentionally excluded someone or made an assumption but you were able to catch yourself and make a positive connection instead. What was it that helped you see what you were doing? What did you do to change the situation and what kind of person did this enable you to be?

Ideas for Extensions

• Make an “All Are Welcome” sign for the classroom or school
• Make a collage poster of people who are different from each other working together
• Write a letter to a pen pal in another country

I call All Are Welcome the best book for the first day of school because it can span multiple grade levels (I think Pre-K3 through 6th grade!) and it sets the tone for a welcoming and inclusive community.