All About Starting School by Felicity Brooks Ill by Mar Ferrero

Starting school can be an exciting but often challenging time for young children and their families. Not knowing what to expect, what to do, where to go and how to find a friend are real concerns for both children and adults who care for them. Usborne has produced an all-in-one guide that might help allay some of those nagging worries and provide reassurance.

The delightful front cover shows a diverse range of children partaking in all sorts of familiar activities with the front page sharing some important questions and comments. The contents page has chapters with simple questions including, What is School?, Why do you need to go to school? What will you do at school? and the all-important Making friends.

Each chapter is a double page spread, clearly set out with large font, simple colourful illustrations surrounded by plenty of white space. There are speech bubbles, maps, labelled images plus questions at the end. For example, on the Getting to school page are the questions: How will YOU get to school? Do you know how long your journey will take? Who will go with you?

While the book does not always reflect the general Australian school system and uses terms such as Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, School Cooks etc, it does provide generic answers to questions that may be universal for children across the world. The Making Friends chapter is particularly valuable and provides simple strategies to share with children to support them in finding a friend. The Different kinds of schools chapter mentions refugee school, forest school, boarding school and School of the Air in Australia.

At the end of the book there is a page of useful school words plus some notes for grown-ups. This book will be a useful resource for parents to read with their child to help them with the transition to school.  

Themes: Starting School, Questions & Answers, Friends, Family, Emotions.

Kathryn Beilby