On the First Day of Grade School [Hardcover]

Emily Brenner (Author), Bruce Whatley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

On the first day of grade school, the students love their teacher so much that they give her a python -- one that doesn#146;t squeeze her. On the second day, they give her two buzzing bees. On the third day she receives three fat rats, on the fourth four burping goats, on the fifth... and the days and presents just keep coming! Emily Brenner#146;s clever classroom take on the classic "Twelve Days of Christmas" song and Bruce Whatley#146;s hilarious illustrations will have kids and teachers caroling all year long! Emily Brenner is the author of several children#146;s books. She lives in New York with her husband and children. Bruce Whatley is the illustrator of numerous picture books, including all things bright and beautiful by Cecil Frances Alexander, here comes santa claus by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman, and the night before christmas by Clement C. Moore. He is both the author and illustrator of wait! no paint!, and he collaborated with his wife, Rosie Smith, on detective donut and the wild goose chase and captain pajamas. Mr. Whatley lives with his family on a farm in Australia.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2–In this spin-off of the "Twelve Days of Christmas," a teacher receives a wide variety of animals from her enthusiastic students, starting with the first day of school and a rather large, green python, and culminating on the 12th day when 12 zookeepers arrive to reign in the wild menagerie. The illustrations are comical, and the looks of amusement, horror, and bewilderment that appear on the teacher's face are especially entertaining. The animals are easy to identify (mice, skunks, gorillas, toads, and pigs, to name a few), and overall the illustrations are stronger than the text, which is awkward at times ("six screaming chickens"?) and sounds forced whether sung or read aloud.–Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 1. In this clever picture book, Brenner recasts "The 12 Days of Christmas" as a back-to-school anthem. The premise is a cross between Steven Kellogg's classic Can I Keep Him? (1971) and Judy Finchler and Kevin O'Malley's books about long-suffering Miss Malarkey: Grateful students celebrate the first dozen days of school by bringing their teacher "gifts" of animals in quantities from 1 to 12. Whatley manages to rescue a somewhat flat-footed text ("On the first day of grade school, my students gave to me / a python that didn't squeeze me") with crisp, at times almost photorealistic watercolors against white backgrounds--a clever design choice that emphasizes the gradual change from pristine emptiness to jam-packed hullabaloo. Particularly noteworthy are the elastic expressions on the teacher's face as she wrangles her unexpected classroom pets. Wild and woolly (and scaly, feathery, and slimy) sing-along fun. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (June 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060280131
• ISBN-13: 978-0060280130
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,414,823 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, August 2, 2006

By 

teacher (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On the First Day of Grade School (Hardcover)

I am a second grade teacher who read this aloud multiple times in my classroom last year. All my students loved it. It was a crowd pleaser every time. The students were so eager to read it themselves that our classroom needed multiple copies! It can carry you from the first day of school to the last.

4.0 out of 5 stars Silly fun for kids, July 15, 2010

By 

DeeDee Fox "Dee Dee Fox" (Rapid City, SD, US) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: On the First Day of Grade School (Hardcover)

On the First Day of Grade School by Emily Brenner, Illustrated by Bruce Whatley
This children's picture book, written in the style of the popular Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is sure to enchant young readers as they envision young students gifting their teacher with a crazy variety of unusual creatures which eventually take over their classroom. Starting with a python, moving on to snoring pigs, and finally ending with zookeepers, this fantastically illustrated picture book will certainly delight grade school children.

~DeeDee Fox, Author and Illustrator, The Ruby Red Slippers

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is GREAT!, August 28, 2009

By 

Kiki "Kiki" (Texas) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On the First Day of Grade School (Hardcover)

We checked this book out of the library and my grandson LOVED it. He is 4 and we had memorized many parts of it in just 2 readings. We had such great times reading this book. I used different voices for the characters and he mimicked me. It is a great teaching tool also for counting and memory work. I am buying it now for him to keep!
Hey Grandma's get and read this book to your grandchildren. They will never forget it! What great memories it has given us! It is a keeper!