School days, school days --- they're just around the corner. Don't you just love getting ready for the first day of school? And picture day? You've probably already begun shopping for notebooks, pens, folders, and new clothes, right?
Well, in honor of the season, we've gathered some books that can help you out with ideas for turning your bedroom into the perfect place to do homework or de-stress from a test, decorating your locker, staying healthy and rested during the school year, making great friends, and looking your best when you head to class (no $$$ required). Check 'em out --- and have a great year!

   --- Shannon Maughan

HELLO KITTY'S LITTLE BOOK OF BIG IDEAS: A Girl's Guide to Brains, Beauty, Fashion, Friendship, and Fun!
by Marie Y. Moss
illustrated by Sandra Higashi and Byron Glaser
Harry N. Abrams
ISBN: 0810941589
Ages 10-up
80 pages

You'll be stylin' with this collection of fun and helpful tips for staying on top of schoolwork, getting organized, creating your own fun fashion sense, making and keeping friends, hosting a great party and more. And how can you go wrong with the adorable and totally cool Hello Kitty??

CLEVER LETTERS: Fun Way to Wiggle Your Words
by Laura Allen
illustrated by Valerie Coursen
Pleasant Company
ISBN: 1562475282
Ages 8-up
96 pages

Don't worry --- this is not a grammar guide on how to write formal letters. It's a cool collection of ideas for making your letters and notes super-fun creations. Suggestions for doodles, clever ways to dot your "i" and nifty ways to fold a note (to fit into a friends locker, perhaps?) are among the neat things you'll find here.

MY SCHOOL SLAM BOOK!: School According to My Friends
by Anne Kaufman
Grosset & Dunlap
ISBN: 0448425793
Ages 9-15
64 pages

Here's a nifty way to learn more about your friends and yourself as you head back to class. Each page in this book contains a question like "What is your favorite back-to-school outfit?" or "If you were in charge, what is the first thing you would change about school?" Then there's lots of space for each of your friends to add her own answer to the question along with a doodle or a sticker (250 of them are included). Find out what your pals are really thinking...you just might be surprised.

THE GROOMING OF ALICE
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Publisher
ISBN: 0689826338
Ages 10-14
224 pages

It's the summer before ninth grade and Alice and her friends are getting ready to embark on a whole new world --- high school. And according to Alice's best friends Elizabeth and Pamela, that means getting in shape. The girls embark on a strict diet-and-fitness routine and even attend a seminar on female health and nutrition. But Alice also volunteers as a candy striper at the hospital and spends time with her boyfriend Patrick. Is there any time left for a dip in the pool? And in the middle of all this summertime action, Alice helps her friends handle some big crises and gets some big news from her dad. Whew!

WHAT A GIRL WANTS: The Ultimate Survival Guide for Beauty, Health and Happiness
by Karen Cooper
Chicken House
ISBN: 0439296382
Ages 8-up
160 pages

Get tips on fitness, skin care, hair care and makeup as well as the dos and don'ts of dealing with parents, friends and boys in this jam-packed guide. Do-it-yourself beauty recipes, ideas for chasing away stress are included too. The combination of advice from experts and opinions from real-life girls will have you trying new things in no time.

HEY, DAY!: Super-Amazing, Funk-Da-Crazing Ultra-Glazing Things to Do, Make and Ponder Every Day of the Year
by Super Clea and Keva Marie
HarperTrophy
ISBN: 0064462412
Ages 10-up
384 pages

Kick boredom to the curb with this collection of 365 ideas for super-cool activities and projects designed by wildly creative authors who happen to be the imagination behind Foxy.com, two 'zines, and a clothing line. Some of the ideas in this book include making a sarong or jean bag, planning a fabulous party, learning key foreign-language phrases and jotting your plans and ideas in a "Future File."

THE POWERPUFF GIRLS 2001-2002 STUDENT PLANNER
Cedco
ISBN: 0768345200
All ages

Let the kindergarten superheroes from the Cartoon Network --- Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles, otherwise known as the Powerpuff Girls --- help you keep track of homework assignments, test dates and extracurricular activities in this hip planner.

HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE MOVIE POSTER BOOK
by J.K. Rowling
Scholastic
ISBN: 0439286239
Ages 8-up
32 pages

Turn your locker into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with the tear-out, full-color posters in this book, which feature scenes from the forthcoming Warner Bros. feature film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

MAKE COOL GADGETS FOR YOUR YOUR ROOM
by Amy Pinchuk
illustrated by Teco Rodrigues
HarperCollins
ISBN: 0688177271
Ages 9-14
64 pages

With some inexpensive tools and supplies, you can become a pro at fashioning cool things for your room. How about creating a See It, Hear It Doorbell, or an Alarm in a Box? You can whip up those items, a Secret Code Machine, and more using this easy-to-follow guidebook.

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