What does a child need to prepare themselves for kindergarten? I’m not talking about a new water bottle and a backpack, though certainly those come in handy.

I mean what it takes to try to make new friends, be brave, resilient, inventive and hopeful – no small tasks for anyone.

I am a children’s book writer and have been a professor of children’s literature and creative writing for more than 40 years. So you can guess that my answer to this question about school readiness involves books.

Reading lets children test out challenging, or frightening, situations in their imaginations.

It offers a path out of anxiety and into joy and adventure.

C. S. Lewis, author of the 1950 children’s book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” reminds people that a reader “does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods: the reading makes all real woods a little enchanted.”

Kindergarten is often an enchanted place, one which many children vividly remember all their lives. But it can seem scary to some children, simply because it is so new.

Here are a few important ideas that can fortify children who are entering this unknown land – as told through five engaging books that may help new students prepare for their journey ahead.

1. Hope and persistence pay off

Some of the happiest children are those who maintain a sense of hopefulness and possibility.

Children see these traits at play in Ruth Krauss’ 1945 classic picture book, “The Carrot Seed.” In it, an unnamed little boy plants, weeds, waters and then patiently watches over his carrot seed for a very, very long time. Doubters surround him.

His mother said,‘I’m afraid it won’t come up.’

And his big brother says,‘It won’t come up.’

What........

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