What Did You Do Today?: The First Day of School [Hardcover]

Toby Forward (Author), Carol Thompson (Illustrator)

Book Description

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

There’s a lot to do on the first day of school: meet new friends, practice writing, eat lunch, and run around. But it’s not only children who do these things—parents do, too. This charming story follows the day of a young boy and his working mother. Even though they’re in different places, the soft, lively illustrations show that they’re never far from each other’s thoughts. And when it’s time to go home, they’ll both be ready for a hug and eager to ask, “What did you do today?”

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–Told from a child's point of view, this story is sure to quell those first-day-of-school jitters. Though mother and son are apart for the day, they are never far from one another's thoughts. Spreads feature the child's activities on the left page and his mother's comparable work routine on the right. From enjoying a morning snack to listening to stories, eating lunch, and getting ready to go home at day's end, their movements are similar. Every now and then a thought bubble of the loved one's smiling face appears. Each page contains at least one central watercolor framed on a pastel-colored background and surrounded by items featured in the picture. For example, "I sat down and tried hard to do my very best writing" reveals the child (pencil in mouth) concentrating at perfecting his letters while his mother (pencil in mouth) is shown "writing" on a computer. Each of these illustrations is surrounded by the alphabet; the boy's letters are printed and the mother's are typed in a computer font. The charming artwork shows the happy camaraderie in both the multicultural classroom and workplace. This day-in-the-life tale is a delightful introduction to the school experience and dispels the mystery of what a working parent does all day.–Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* PreS-Gr. 2. The parallels between a child's day at school and his mother's day at work are shown with insight and love in this cleverly designed book. After making and packing their lunches, the little boy and his mother head out: "At school we had one last hug . . . At first, I was so busy, I forgot about missing you for a while . . . I had my sandwich for lunch, and I thought about you all the time I was eating it." Art on the facing pages shows the boy and the mother doing remarkably similar things: when they sit down to write, one on paper, the other at a computer, both bite their pencils and concentrate. By day's end, they reconnect, eager to ask, "What did you do today?" Much of the book's charm comes from the chunky, curly-haired mother and her Everychild son, both comfortable with themselves and their surroundings. Thompson varies her pen-and-watercolor illustrations in surprising and eye-catching ways. All sorts of things break into the artwork's jellybean colored borders: splats of paint, letters of the alphabet, pictures of cookies--even cartoon balloons showing each character's thoughts. A nicely designed, reassuring read. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; American ed edition (August 23, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061849586X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618495863
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,409,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good book for first day of school., November 10, 2006

By 

Shelli Miller (Hilliard, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Did You Do Today?: The First Day of School (Hardcover)

This book was recommended to me as I was having mixed feelings about my daughter's first day of kindergarten. The text isn't extraordinary, but the pictures and story give parents a conversation to start about going to school. It illustrates that while your child is at school and you are at work---you each think about each other all day long. It hits an emotional issue of "letting go" and our children growing up for that big step at age 5 or 6---going to school. It's also appropriate for older children and first day of school at any grade.

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy, December 4, 2011

By 

psychologistneedingbooks - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Did You Do Today?: The First Day of School (Hardcover)

The book was exactly what they said it would be. It. Shipped quickly. It fit the purposes I needed it for.