Picture Books About School

Preschool to the Rescue, David Goes to School, Class Two at the Zoo

Sep 5, 2009

Kick start the new school year with fun picture books about life at school, a class trip to the zoo and schoolyard mud puddle fun.

With the first day of school already completed or just around the Labour Day corner, many children and parents are thinking about school. The end of summer and the return to schedules and classrooms can bring down some kids, but Preschool to the Rescue, David Goes to School and Class Two at the Zoo can help. They offer bright and engaging views about school.

Preschool to the Rescue, by Judy Sierra and Will Hillenbrand, is a fun story about a “sleepy, creepy deeper-than-you’d-think mud puddle” in which a pizza van, police car, tow truck, backhoe and fire engine all get stuck. The only thing that can get them out is the students – dogs, moles, pigs and rabbits – from the preschool class, for, as the illustrations reveal, the vehicles are just toys.

David Goes to School is David Shannon’s 1999 version of a story he wrote as a boy, a story that featured two words: “David” and “no.” In David Goes to School, David’s teacher has many negative things to say to the wide-mouthed mischievous boy: “No yelling. No pushing. No running in the halls.” She corrects him and tells him what to do and even makes him stay after school, but in the end she rewards him for his efforts.

One of Julia Jarman’s more recent books, Class Two at the Zoo, tells the story of a class visit to the zoo where all sorts of things are seen and others are not. An anaconda wanders about unnoticed swallowing students and even the teacher until Molly finally sees the creature. She props open the snake’s jaws and, with the help of her classmates, pulls out seven students from class two, their teacher, and “a boy they didn’t know.”

Reviews of the Books

Preschool to the Rescue is cleverly illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. The scale of the first several pages allow for the surprise discovery that the vehicles are toys. The students are cute and full of happy expressions. The text, by Judy Sierra, is repetitive and accumulative, which makes the story fun for youngsters to read.

In David Goes to School David Shannon uses humourous pictures and a simple text to illustrate that there are rules and responsibilities at school. The book can be seen negatively, for the teacher always seems to be yelling, but the drawings show that David was in deed at fault. Mischievous students in particularly will enjoy David Goes to School and will want to read it and look at the pictures over and over.

Julie Jarman’s Class Two at the Zoo is a fun uncontrived rhyming tale that is wonderfully illustrated by Lynne Chapman. The children are humourous individuals and small details are seasoned throughout the pages to keep things visually interesting. The text is also engaging and will be requested time and again. Raffi's song "Goin' to the Zoo" would accompany the reading of Class Two at the Zoo very well.

About the Books

The copyright of the article Picture Books About School in Picture Books is owned by Melissa Morelli Lacroix. Permission to republish Picture Books About School in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.