THE HUTCHINSON BOOK OF SCHOOL STORIES
(Publisher - Random House Children's Books)
This is a wonderful book for children who are ready to go to school for the first time. I would like to quote what is given at the back of the book here - "This beautiful collection is the perfect gift for a child's first days at school. From deciding what to wear to making friends, dealing with bullies or simply having fun, there is a story for every occasion". I completely agree with this. My son got this as a gift from my brother, when he was about to start school.
Lot of these stories have little animals as the main characters. That definitely gets the attention of the kids.In the story "Bad Boris goes to school" it talks about a little elephant who detests the very thoughts of a school. The illustrations bring out the elephant's imagination of the school to be a jail house where he will be chained all day long :-). But once he is taken to school, his perception begins to change as he starts having fun with his class mates and teacher ! By the end of the day you can see a smiling and jumping elephant who can't wait to share his day's fun with his kitten friend. This is one of my son's favourite stories.
The other story which I really enjoy and can empathise with is "Leaving Mrs. Ellis". It is the story of a little boy named Leo, who is nearing the end of his current academic year and getting ready for the next class. What upsets him most, about this change, is that his dear class teacher Mrs.Ellis would not be coming to his class the next year. He also feels terrified about Miss Lyons who is to come for the higher class. How his mother and teachers help him to get over his fears and feel good about the change form the rest of the story. The illustrations for this story are excellent paintings with a soft hue.
The other interesting stories in this book are -
"I hate Roland Roberts", a story about the feelings of a little girl towards a boy who sits next to her in her class. It is a hate to love story :-). "You are all animals" addresses the issue of how children always want to have a friend who is just like them and then gradually discover that it is possible to be best friends with someone who is completely different from you !
There are totally eight stories in this book, each written by a different set of authors and having a different theme.
2 comments:
hThat's an excellent theme you've picked for parents dealing with first time school-goers. In fact, my daughter will be starting Kindergarten this August in a new school, although she has been in preschool the last two years.
I was thinking of looking for books addressing moves and new schools too.
Your selection of stories with animals going to school is indeed cute! Will look for more books in this category, and hopefully can post all of those this summer. Thanks for the idea!
Praba
Wow. I shall save this up for when Akhil goes to school next year! Sounds like a wonderful resource to have for transitioning.
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