20 Great Graduation Picture Books for the End of the School Year

When May rolls around, it’s time to think about graduation picture books as gifts, as well as titles to read aloud to students who are graduating to a different grade level or even a different school building. The amazing librarians in our Facebook group recommend these great picture books, to not only focus on growing and changing, but also to pull at the heartstrings:

• Maybe: A Story about the Endless Potential in All of Us by Kobi Yamada: Yamada invites readers to reflect on the possibilities within themselves and to stay resilient in the face of adversity. This is more of a gift/inspirational book than a read-aloud story with a plot, but it’s a great read to remind students of their unbounded potential.
• The Blur by Minh Le: Meet a child with superhero-like abilities and the parents who are racing to keep up with her in this sweetly funny picture book about the blur of childhood. A perfect gift and read-aloud to celebrate special milestones.
• The Very Last Leaf by Stef Wade: The last leaf on the tree is anxious about the new experience of letting go. He learns to be comfortable with himself and lets go of his fears.
• What the Road Said by Cleo Wade: It’s okay to be afraid or to sometimes wander down the wrong path. This graduation picture book encourages us to lead with kindness and curiosity, remembering that the most important thing we can do in life is to keep going.
• Be You by Peter Reynolds: A joyful reminder of the ways that every child is unique and special, this graduation picture book offers life advice for readers who want to be themselves while meeting life’s challenges.
• Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems: Looking for laughs in your graduation picture book? Then don’t miss this familiar pigeon and his dramatic personality facing the nerves, excitement and uncertainty that come with graduation.
• I Wish You More by Amy Krouse Rosenthal: Full of endless good wishes to a child, this inspirational book will wish your graduates “more ups than downs’ and “more will than hill.”
• Little Tree by Loren Long: This story of the seasons and stepping stones focuses on Little Tree who hugs his leaves as tightly as he can until he can finally take the leap and move past what is familiar.

• The Path by Bob Staake: This inspirational journey takes the reader over gentle, grassy hills, through fields of wildflowers, over raging rivers, up steep mountains, and even through a dark, chilly cave, with a message about choosing your own path through life’s twists and turns.
• The Boy and the Banyan Tree by Mahtab Narsimhan: A young boy discovers a magical banyan tree that doesn’t grant wishes, but instead encourages the boy to learn how to do things for himself. This book is often mentioned as an alternative to The Giving Tree.
• The World Belonged to Us by Jacqueline Woodson: It’s getting hot outside, hot enough to turn on the hydrants and run through the water–and that means it’s finally summer in the city! Released from school and reveling in their freedom, the kids on one Brooklyn block take advantage of everything summertime has to offer, just as your students are about to do.
• What is Love? by Mac Barnett: A boy sets out to find someone to answer a question that he asks his grandmother, and eventually his quest leads him back home. When he arrives home as a grown man, possessing some wisdom, and reunited with his grandmother (whom he lifts tenderly into his arms), he feels like he has found his answer.
• Yay, You! Moving Up and Moving On by Sandra Boynton: Boynton’s familiar characters encourage readers to make good choices as they enter the world. This book is often mentioned as an alternative to Oh the Places You’ll Go.
• Courage by Bernard Waber: This book will help prompt conversations with children about how to face difficult situations with courage and what that might look like. It focuses on both the big and small actions of ordinary people, like being the first to make up after an argument.
• Wherever You Go by Pat Zietlow Miller: Illustrations and rhyming text follow a young rabbit as he leaves home on a journey, discovering the joys of different kinds of roads and what they may bring, including a way back home.

• You Will Do Great Things by Amerie: A young boy’s imagination takes off as he gazes at family photos, whisking him off on a fantastical journey. Along the way, the boy tries exciting and bold new things, ventures into unexplored worlds, and forms deep connections with his multicultural heritage and the ancestors who imbue him with the strength and courage to make a difference.
• After the Fall: How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat: In this graduation picture book, Humpty Dumpty is an avid bird watcher whose favorite place to be is high up on the city wall, until after his famous fall. Now terrified of heights, Humpty can longer do many of the things he loves most. Will he be able to get back up again?
• If I Never Forever Endeavor by Holly Meade: Safe inside his cozy nest, a young bird considers whether or not to give his new wings a try. What if he tries and the wings don’t work, and he flails, plummets, and looks foolish? Then again, what if his wings take him swooping and gliding, sailing and flying through a great big wonderful world?
• Ready to Soar by Cori Doerrfeld: Riley’s paper airplane is ready for take-off, but criticisms from all the birds threaten to ground the plane, until Riley meets a more supportive friend and rediscovers the joy of soaring.
• The Sky Is the Limit by Lisa Swerling: This rhyming picture book celebrates the many delightful, triumphant, silly, sweet, life-changing experiences that lie ahead. “Lessons to learn / and books to be read… / each holding a glimpse / of what lies ahead.” 

Whether you tuck one inside a gift bag or share it aloud on the last day of school, a graduation picture book has a quiet power that lingers long after the final page is turned. The best ones don’t just mark the moment; they give children language for the feelings they can’t quite name yet: the bittersweetness of leaving something beloved, the nervous flutter of what comes next, and the deep-down knowing that they are ready. As teachers and librarians, you already understand that the right book at the right time is a gift that compounds with age. So as backpacks get emptied and bulletin boards come down, consider sending your students forward with a story in their hands … and a few of its words tucked quietly in their hearts.

Happy reading!