My First Day at School

My First Day at School by Rosie Smith & Bruce Whatley (Scholastic Press)

HB RRP $16.99

ISBN 978-1-74362-296-4

Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

Sparsely worded, My First Day at School by the popular team of Rosie Smith and Bruce Whatley, is a colourful, bright and cheerful picture book. The illustrations offer a fun twist to the words, each page showing a different baby animal on their first day of school. ‘I dress myself’ has a picture of a centipede with socks on all his feet while ‘finger paint’ has a picture of an octopus.

Each double spread has a different coloured background - all soft pastels with adorable baby animals - showing the action of the text with no extra detail to confuse the sentiment of the words.

This is a gentle, sweet and cohesive story which will engage young children. It may also help with any anxieties about child care or pre-school by presenting a sense of the fun and friendship.