Back to School Around the World 2023

Children all over the world typically go back to school following their summer holidays. This means that school starts in August or September in the Northern Hemisphere, and January or February in the Southern Hemisphere. But even though many kids start school at the same time, what it means to go back to school may be very different.

In Caracas, Venezuela, children can take a gondola to school. In a remote region of Colombia, children get to school by riding a zip line. In the Philippines, there is a schoolhouse made almost entirely of recycled soda and water bottles. There are floating boat schools in Bangladesh and a school shaped like a giant cat in Karlsruhe, Germany.

To celebrate Back to School Month 2023, here are some great books about different ways to go back to school!

The Amazing Students of Venezuela by Claudia Bellante

9 Kilometers (Stories from Latin America) by Claudio Aguilera

Yenebi's Drive to School by Sendy Santamaria

On the Way to School by Vikki Conley

Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World by Susan Hughes

Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown

One Wish: Fatima Al-Fihri and the World's Oldest University by M O Yuksel

My First Day by Phung Nguyen Quang

Where Kids Go to School Around the World (Kids Around the World) by Stepanka Sekaninova

Milloo's Mind: The Story of Maryam Faruqi, Trailblazer for Women's Education by Reem Faruqi

We Want to Go to School!: The Fight for Disability Rights by Maryann Cocca-Leffler

When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl's Story of Virginia's Lost Generation and the Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka Decision by Yolanda Gladden

School Days Around the World (Around the World) by Margriet Ruurs

This Is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World by Matt Lamothe

Mermaid School by Joanne Stewart Wetzel