Are you hoping to create a sense of belonging in the classroom for your students this year? Are you keenly aware that now, more than ever, it’s important to strengthen our students’ sense of community? Creating a sense of belonging in our classrooms and establishing the expectation that students will extend a sense of belonging to others is so important at the beginning of the year.

I launch my belonging and community unit during the very first week of school and these books on belonging help me set the tone and spark engaging discussions with my students. I hope you find many stories about belonging that you’re excited to read aloud to your students to help them develop a better understanding of belonging and community!

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As you read through the summaries of these recommended belonging books, you’ll find that the concept of accepting others is intertwined and cannot be separated from trying to develop a sense of belonging. When we accept others, we allow them to be who they are without expecting them to conform. We allow them to be their own unique persons with their own feelings, thoughts, looks, and behaviors.

You may also notice themes other than belonging woven through these read alouds such as individuality, courage, kindness, compassion, and friendship. If you plan to touch on any of these themes with your students throughout the year, I’ve linked resources for each throughout the summaries. You can also find all of my social-emotional learning lessons and morning meeting activities here.

(Note: I’ve included Amazon affiliate links so that you can easily find these books! As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, I may earn advertising fees at no cost to you by linking to amazon.com. Read my full disclosure here. )

The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

The beginning of a new school year, with a new teacher and a new group of classmates, can bring out a lot of apprehension about fitting in. The Day You Begin highlights the idea that everyone feels different for one reason or another at times and can find themselves feeling hesitant to step outside of their comfort zone in order to connect with others. This book focuses on the shared feeling of being an outsider and encourages readers to be courageous and take the first step toward creating their own sense of belonging. I’ve also used this belonging book during my Individuality unit!

One Green Apple by Eve Bunting

Eve Bunting does a phenomenal job of putting the reader in the shoes of a young Muslim immigrant who starts school in America where all of her classmates already know each other, speak the same language, and dress similarly. Readers will immediately be able to empathize with the main character as she goes on a field trip on her second day of school feeling like a complete outsider. This beautiful story models compassion, acceptance, and courage.

There are multiple avenues of discussion about considering others’ perspectives, making others feel accepted into a classroom community, and highlighting the qualities that are the same among us while appreciating our differences. This is an SEL read aloud that you will find yourself pulling out again and again to reference all year long!

We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio

Based on the chapter book Wonder by R.J. Palacio, We’re All Wonders is a thought-provoking read aloud that inspires readers to step outside of their own shoes, consider someone else’s perspective, and understand that everyone has a longing to belong. Readers are invited into Auggie’s world, a boy who has severe facial deformities which makes him look very different from his peers but feel just like everyone else. This is a great mentor text for discussing the shared desire to belong as well as the importance of not letting differences get in the way of ensuring everyone feels accepted and a part of the classroom community.

Suki’s Kimono by Chieri Uegaki

Suki wants to wear her favorite kimono on the first day of school, but her sisters try to encourage her to wear something that won’t make her stand out. Her sisters are embarrassed and try to pretend that they don’t know Suki so that she won’t botch their chance at fitting in. Suki’s Kimono celebrates the courage it takes to proudly and confidently wear your individuality on your sleeve even when it puts you at risk of being “different”. Suki definitely brings a cool factor to standing out in a crowd! This is a fantastic belonging book to share with your students when discussing the importance of accepting others and celebrating differences. It’s also an amazing SEL book choice when teaching students about courage and individuality!

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

If you don’t have a copy of The Name Jar in your classroom, I highly recommend adding it to your library. While I use this mentor text to teach my students about belonging and accepting others, it is one of those books that has multiple avenues for rich, thought-provoking discussions throughout the school year.

Unhei, a Korean girl who has just moved to America, worries about fitting in in her new country. When it comes time to introduce herself to her new classmates she doesn’t want to share her name for fear that it will be too different from American names and cause her to stand out. She decides to “try on” new names like Suzy, Laura, or Amanda to see if one fits her. Her classmates join in the search for a new name, creating a name jar where students can add their name suggestions. One day, a classmate discovers Unhei’s real name and its special meaning. When Unhei goes to choose a new name from the jar, she finds that her classmates got rid of the name jar. They encourage her to keep her own name, share its meaning, and teach them how to pronounce it. This is a heart-warming story that goes hand in hand with teaching students about the shared desire to belong and how to compassionately welcome others as they truly are.

Hooway for Wodney Wat by Helen Lester

Rodney Rat can’t pronounce his r’s. He is therefore self-conscious when speaking and to make matters worse, his classmates tease and mock him day in and day out. (Grrrrrr!) One day, Camilla Capybara, an intimidating new girl, shows up. In an unexpected turn of events, Rodney puts her in her place and gains the respect and acceptance of his fellow classmates. This picture book on belonging will have your students giggling throughout and has several important themes woven throughout that will support quality student discussion including having empathy for others, seeing the good in others’ differences, acceptance, and the realization that no one person is better than another.

Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

This picture book offers multiple discussion points among students about belonging, acceptance, and appreciating others’ differences. Tacky, the main character, walks differently, sings differently, and dresses differently—from all angles, he is UNIQUE. His fellow penguins ostracize him for his differences. It’s not until Tacky’s quick thinking and colorful personality saves the other penguins from a group of hunters that they begin to take Tacky seriously and appreciate him for who he is.

Big Al by Andrew Clements

Big Al is actually the first book I use to launch my belonging and community unit. It is a fantastic read aloud with gorgeous illustrations and a great jumping off point to begin discussing learning to accept and include one another in our classroom. Big Al is described as the ugliest fish in the sea, but he is also one of the nicest. He tries many things to fit in, often changing himself to look more like the other fish, but nothing works. His size and the look of him just scares all the other fish away. When a fisherman's net captures many of the fish including Big Al, Big Al saves the day and proves what a great friend he can be.

Edwardo the Horriblest Boy in the Whole Wide World by John Burningham

Edwardo can be a bit rude, clumsy, messy, dirty, and grumpy. The more he is criticized by others around him, the worse he becomes until he is deemed “the horriblest boy in the whole wide world.” John Burningham does a fantastic job of portraying how others’ words and perspectives can either lift a person up and encourage us to become our best selves or drag a person down and contribute to bad behavior, negative self-perceptions, and self-fulfilling prophecies. This picture book is a great mentor text to elicit a discussion of how our words have meaning, make an impact, and influence the world and people around us. We have the choice to use our words carefully and to be mindful of when we are negatively labeling others without giving them the opportunity to redeem themselves.

Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli

Mr. Hatch is a lonely, introverted character. Each day he goes through the motions of his lonely life, getting ready for his job at the shoelace factory, keeping to himself all day, and returning home to another evening alone. But on Valentine’s day, he receives a gift that changes everything—a huge box of chocolates shaped like a heart. Although he doesn’t know who sent him the gift, it puts an extra pep in his step. All of a sudden, he is outgoing and interacts with his neighbors. He finds ways to lend a helping hand and show kindness and concern for others. And, because of his change in actions, friendships develop, he’s no longer withdrawn, and he feels like a part of his community. All this because of a heart shaped box of chocolates! It’s all wonderful, until—Mr. Hatch finds out that the box of chocolates was not meant for him. You’ll have to read to see how the story concludes, but I promise, you won’t want to miss sharing this one with your students!

The Boy Who Grew Flowers by Jen Wojtowicz

Rink is a young boy who keeps to himself in school. His family has a reputation for being quite strange (he sprouts flowers on a full-moon!) and the other children tease him and exclude him because of it. One day, a new girl arrives who does not share the same opinion of Rink as her classmates. When Rink performs a compassionate deed to help her feel like she belongs, the two become fast friends. The Boy Who Grew Flowers is a beautiful story about kindness, showing empathy towards others, friendship, acceptance, and belonging.

Babushka Baba Yaga by Patricia Polacco

Baba Yaga (meaning “witch” in Russian) is a lonely old woman who lives in the woods and who deeply desires to belong with the babushkas (“grandmothers”) in her town. However, because she looks and dresses differently, she is unfairly judged as being ferocious and a danger to others. One day she disguises herself and happens to become an integral part of a loving family, helping to raise a young boy who doesn’t have a grandmother to care for him. The other babushkas are in for a surprise when they learn who she really is. Babushka Baba Yaga is a wonderful picture book on belonging that portrays the dangers of rumors, group-think, and ostracizing others from a community. This is the perfect addition to your mentor texts as you discuss belonging and the importance of accepting others in your classroom!

ENRICHING YOUR DISCUSSIONS ABOUT BELONGING AND ACCEPTANCE

To enrich your discussions about a sense of belonging, you may want to address the number of times characters in these stories tried to change themselves to fit in, to belong, and to conform to majority expectations and standards.

If you want to surf the whole list of books on belonging that I recommend, I've compiled them all here into a list on Amazon.

GET YOUR FREE BELONGING ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES!

This free SEL Belonging unit is packed with editable lesson plans, belonging activities, student journal pages, belonging questions and discussion prompts, self-reflections, belonging bulletin board materials, and more. YES! Everything you see below for the belonging theme is FREE!

Free Morning Meeting suggested read alouds and lessons (Copy) (Copy)

morning meeting bulletin board - belonging (Copy) (Copy)

morning meeting student notebook pages - belonging (Copy) (Copy)

If you need digital resources, I’ve got you covered with Google Slides versions of each theme set. Grab your FREE slides for belonging here.

My morning meeting routine is based on themes in literature. My morning meeting model is a routine classroom experience that allows students the opportunity to develop personally, academically, and socially through the use of self-reflection, read alouds, songs, videos, quotations, key vocabulary, classroom discussions, and the teacher as a trusted guide.

Each element of the framework works to create a theme-study while at the same time teaching social-emotional learning skills, character education, and strengthening the classroom community. The 5 phases of the framework include:

Exposure/Launching the Theme (without coming right out and telling students what the theme is)
Introducing the Theme, Self-Reflection, and Goal Setting
Student Discussion
Building the Theme
Consolidating Learning, Reflecting, and Creating Closure

Materials and resources for each of these components are included in each SEL unit.

SEL THEMES TO GUIDE YOUR MORNING MEETINGS ALL YEAR

If you’d like more social-emotional learning theme units with a focus on encouraging students’ social, emotional, and academic success, you may be interested in the SEL Morning Meeting Mega Bundle of 17 theme units. With units focused on kindness, compassion, growth mindset, gratitude, perseverance, responsibility, managing emotions, and so much more, your engaging morning meeting activities and plans are done for you and your students will love them! You can save 10% on the Mega Bundle of all 17 themes with the code MM10.