Going to School - Anna Civardi

...There is a lot going on in the pictures, but they are not 'too busy'.

There are also some nice touches, such as we find out that Polly is a bit shy, so in the picture she is holding onto her mum's leg (something that I can relate to with my little one); another is when they are having break time someone tips their squash and is getting some kitchen towel to mop it up. These are not the main parts of the picture, just something that ...
...are plenty of different things going on in each picture if you are prepared to look.


MY OPINION

This is the first of the 'Usborne First Experiences' books I have seen and I really enjoyed reading it with Gareth.

It tells your child what is going to happen on their first day of school in a nice gentle way, which will ensure they understand.

This book also goes some distance I think ... more

BACKGROUND

As some of you already know, my little boy attends nursery. Once a week they give him a book to bring home to read through with parents. If I get chance, I try to write a review on the book before it goes back.

PRODUCT

One book he brought home was entitled 'Going to School'. It is one of the Usborne first experiences book. The price on the back of the book is £3.99, but both Play.com and Amazon have it for sale on their websites for between £1.00 to £2.50. The book is written by Anne Civardi and illustrated by Stephen Cartwright. The ISBN for this paperback is 0 7460 4125X.

THE STORY

The story centres on the Peach family, or to be more precise, Percy and Polly Peach. Percy and Polly are due to start school for the first time, along with Millie, whose family (the Marsh family), live next door to the Peaches.

The story continues with the children waking up on the first day of school and getting ready to go.

It then goes on to tell what happens when the children get to school and all the fun activities they can do on a typical day there.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

The illustrations in this book are lovely. All the pictures are well defined and brightly coloured. A great amount of attention has been paid to detail, such as a parent wiping their child's nose. This is something that did not necessarily have to be included to have any impact on the story, but is something that makes it all the more realistic of what happens when young children are in school. There is a lot going on in the pictures, but they are not 'too busy'.

There are also some nice touches, such as we find out that Polly is a bit shy, so in the picture she is holding onto her mum's leg (something that I can relate to with my little one); another is when they are having break time someone tips their squash and is getting some kitchen towel to mop it up. These are not the main parts of the picture, just something that is going on in a corner, but it shows there are plenty of different things going on in each picture if you are prepared to look.

MY OPINION

This is the first of the 'Usborne First Experiences' books I have seen and I really enjoyed reading it with Gareth.

It tells your child what is going to happen on their first day of school in a nice gentle way, which will ensure they understand.

This book also goes some distance I think to alleviate a child's fear about going to school. For example Polly is shy at first, so the teacher says that her mum could stay with her for a while. I think that this is encouraging for a child who may be scared about the initial going to school and being left on their own.

The books shows all the fun activities children can do in school like drawing, painting and dressing up. It can also reassure children that they will have a drink and something to eat as the day progresses, even though they are away from mum and dad.

I liked that they didn't put lots of writing on every page. This book only has about three lines of text per page. I feel that children can sometimes feel slightly intimidated if they are having a book read to them that has a dozen or so lines of text per page.

The book also allows the child to get involved, by asking questions about the story - for example one of the pages says about the activities the children are doing. The story asks you what Polly and Percy are doing. Your child then has to look at the picture and find the children to see what they are doing. It uses this basic questioning several times during the book, which means your child has to be looking at what is going on.

Another nice touch is that on every page there is a yellow duck hidden, which your child has to find. This again I think helps with their observation skills.

Gareth really enjoyed having this book read to him. He had lots of fun trying to find the duck on every page, and seemed to get a sense of achievement when he found it. He also enjoyed answering the different questions that were in the book.

In the week that we have had the book, we have read it together quite a few times. In fact it is a bit of a shame that it has to go back to school.

There is no age recommendation on this book, but I would say it is ideal for any child aged three to four.

Other titles which are available in the Usborne first experiences are;
Going to the hospital
Going to the dentist
Moving house
The new baby
Going on a plane
The new puppy
Going to the doctor

For further information you can visit their website, which is www.usborne.com

WOULD I RECOMMEND

Yes - it's a nice, gentle book which explains to a child what happens when they go to school.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review, Cath. xx 

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