Top 5 Books about inspirational teachers that everyone must read to understand the teaching profession

September 5, the birth of the country’s former President, scholar, philosopher, and Bharat Ratna awardee, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan marks Teacher’s Day in India. This day is celebrated with great pomp and show in schools all over the nation to honor and recognize our teachers. Dr. Radhakrishnan was of the opinion that “teachers should be the best minds in the country” and so when his students approached him to seek permission to celebrate September 5 as a special day, he instead made a request of them to observe it as ‘Teachers’ Day’ to recognize their contribution to the society.

Teachers are indeed the building blocks of every society and nation. World Teacher’s Day is celebrated on October 5, but every country celebrates the day on different dates. Even though we should respect and love our teachers every day, a special day just for them is a great way to make them feel loved and appreciated. Their effort and hard work are very valuable for the development and progress of students all around the globe.

Last year, owing to the covid-19 pandemic, the schools and colleges were heavily disrupted and so was the teaching. The teachers endured quite a lot of difficulties in effective teaching. They had to adapt to a completely new method of teaching but, they managed it very efficiently so that our studies wouldn’t get affected. Hence, this year since things are a little better and back to normal, we should make it our goal to give them the respect and appreciation they deserve. 

Try out these amazing books written by great teachers to learn and understand a bit more of their revolutionary work for society. What better way to celebrate Teachers’ Day than wishing your teachers warmly and reading about them with a warm mug of coffee?

Do share more recommendations, reviews, and thoughts with our community at merrative.com!

To Sir With Love by E.R. Braithwaite

“There’s no corporal punishment here, or any other form of punishment for that matter, and the children are encouraged to speak up for themselves. Unfortunately, they’re not always particularly choosey about the things they say, and it can be rather alarming and embarrassing.”

This is a modern classic about a dedicated teacher in a tough London school who slowly and painfully breaks down the barriers of racial prejudice, this is the story of a man’s integrity winning against the odds. Mr. Braithwaite, the new teacher, had the first to fight the class bully. Then he taught defiant, hard-bitten delinquents to call him “Sir,” and to address the girls who had grown up beside them in the gutter as “Miss”.

“E.R. Braithwaite’s postwar novel about a black teacher fighting to win the respect of white pupils in a school in the East End of London is a milestone in the campaign for racial equality.”  —  Guardian

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines

And that’s all we are Jefferson, all of us on this earth, a piece of drifting wood. until we — each of us, individually- decide to become something else. I am still that piece of drifting wood, and those out there are no better. But you can be better.

A Lesson Before Dying is set in a small Cajun community in the late 1940s. Jefferson, a young black man, is an unwitting party to a liquor store shootout in which three men are killed; the only survivor, is convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Grant Wiggins, who left his hometown for the university, has returned to the plantation school to teach. As he struggles with his decision whether to stay or escape to another state, his aunt and Jefferson’s godmother persuade him to visit Jefferson in his cell and impart his learning and his pride to Jefferson before his death. Ernest J. Gaines brings to this novel the same rich sense of place, the same deep understanding of the human psyche, and the same compassion for people and their struggle that have informed his previous, highly praised works of fiction.

“With raw, unflinching honesty and a brilliant depiction of time and place, this is the story of a young, black man sentenced to death for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A white man was shot to death, the other two perpetrators dead, someone must be held accountable.” —  Goodreads Review

Schooled by Anisha Lakhani

“You’re making how much an hour”
“Two hundred dollars.”
“Do you ride in on a pony”

Landing a job at an elite private school in Manhattan, Anna finds her dreams of chalkboards and lesson plans replaced with board families, learning specialists, and benefit-planning mothers. Not to mention the grim realities of her small paycheck. All she wants to do is teach. For Anna Taggert, an earnest Ivy League graduate, pursuing her passion as a teacher means engaging young hearts and minds. She longs to be in a place where she can be her best self, and give that best to her students. Turns out it isn’t that easy.

“Schooled easily finds itself to the head of the class”.― Miami Herald

11/22/63 by Stephen King

We did not ask for this room or this music. We were invited in. Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces to the light. Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty. We have been given pain to be astounded by joy. We have been given life to deny death. We did not ask for this room or this music. But because we are here, let us dance.

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students — a gruesome, harrowing first-person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.

“The pages of 11.22.63 fly by, filled with immediacy, pathos, and suspense. It takes great brazenness to go anywhere near this subject matter. But it takes great skill to make this story even remotely credible. Mr. King makes it all look easy, which is surely his book’s fanciest trick.” — New York Time

Thank You, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco

[Honey is sweet] and so is knowledge, but knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to chase it through the pages of a book.

Patricia Polacco is now one of America’s most loved children’s book creators, but once upon a time, she was a little girl named Trisha starting school. Trisha could paint and draw beautifully, but when she looked at words on a page, all she could see was a jumble. It took a very special teacher to recognize little Trisha’s dyslexia: Mr. Falker, who encouraged her to overcome her reading disability. Patricia Polacco will never forget him, and neither will we.

“Polacco’s tale is all the more heartfelt because of its personal nature. Young readers struggling with learning difficulties will identify with Trisha’s situation and find reassurance in her success.” — Publishers Weekly

Hope you enjoy this list! If you have more recommendations or have read any of these books, share your takeaways and review them with the community at — merrative.com!