It's Back to School We Go!: First Day Stories From Around the World

Author Ellen Jackson and illustrator Jan Davey Ellis, who have collaborated on a number of other picture books, here explore what the first day of school is like for children from eleven countries around the world. Each two-page spread features a child from six to nine years old, and describes how they prepare for school, and what customs and celebrations are observed on that day in their country. A series of facts about children in that country then follows. The countries included are: Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Peru, Germany, India, Russia, and the United States...

I enjoy books like It's Back to School We Go!: First Day Stories From Around the World, which offer a comparison of childhood experiences and lives around show more the world, as I think such titles are an engaging way to explore the cultural side of geography, and to teach both about our similarities and differences, as members of the larger human family. The example that immediately springs to my mind is Children Just Like Me, which was published in 1995 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of UNICEF, but other examples would be titles like My Librarian Is a Camel: How Books Are Brought to Children Around the World and My School in the Rain Forest: How Children Attend School Around the World, both by Margaret Ruurs. This title from Jackson and Ellis is nice because it addresses a specific experience—the first day of school—that is an important one to many young people, and highlights how it plays out in a diverse range of children's lives. The information it presents in interesting, and the illustrations appealing. Recommended to picture book audiences who are curious about the world around them, and how children in different parts of the world experience their first day of school. show less

I had an overall liking to this book. It was fun to read about other countries around the would and how they feel about the first day of school.In this interesting and carefully crafted book the author looks at first days of school in Canada, the United States, Peru, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kenya, India, China, Russia, Japan, and Australia. For each child she tells a short story. She then goes on to describe some of the customs, foods, and school facts that exist in the countries in which the children live. Readers will discover that though there are big differences between the lives of the children, there are also similarities. Many of them feel nervous or excited. Many of them do something special for the first day of school. Children show more will be warmed to find so many lines of connection between themselves and children who live so far away. This book can be used as the bigger picture to show kids that they are not alone in feeling nervous about the first day of school. show less

This was another one of my favorites that I read. I loved this book for a few different reasons, and one being that each section included a mini story of the first day of school for children from different parts of the world. The sections also included interesting facts about the region in which the child was from. Another feature that enhanced this books quality was the map in the front that showed the regions where each child in book was from.
I believe the main message of this book was that although we are all from different places we still experience some of the same things and feelings.

An informative book about first day of school traditions all over the world. This book delicately addresses topics such as some children not having money for books, while still celebrating the native cultures of all the children.

It's Back to School We Go! is a narrative informational text that shares first day of school stories from all around the world. It talks about traditional things that the children do on the first day of school, and shares a piece of their language with the students. The style of the book is a short two page spread for each child and place that are introduced, which makes it suitable for reading in one sitting or several (maybe at morning meeting for the first week). Because of the simple, yet interesting language, this book is appropriate for sharing with children in kindergarten to fifth grade. I highly recommend it.

I like to use this book to get to know my students. The book features about 13 places around the world and the traditions children follow for the school day. I have the kids look at the narrative for mat and the expository format of the writing. I have them write their own page about what traditions and customs they follow during a typical day--at school and at home.

In easy-to-read text, describes what the first day of school might be like for a child in Kenya, Kazakhstan, Canada, Australia, Japan, China, Peru, Germany, India, Russia, and the United States.