From the Publisher
Achieng: An Eight-Year-Old Girl from Kenya
Jambo! Hello. I, Achieng, am a Luo girl from Kenya. My parents gave me a name that means “sun” because I was born at midday. Today I walked to school and met my teacher and classmates for the first time. Everyone was busy with chores. The girls swept the floor, while the boys cut the grass with pangas, or machetes. Afterward, we sat on a straw mat and began our lessons. I will learn health, arithmetic, and to read and write in Kiswahili. At noon it began to rain. The noise of drops hitting the tin roof was so loud that we began to giggle. The teacher stopped talking. When the storm was over, we went outside, and I ate mandazi, or fried bread, for lunch. I love sports, so I played soccer with some of the other children after school. We used two termite nests for goalposts.
Anton: A Seven-Year-Old Boy from Kazakhstan
Salam Aleikum! I send you greetings from Almaty, Kazakhstan, where I live with my mother, father, sister Marina, and Grom the dog. Today, September 1, was my first day of school. How excited I was! After a breakfast of yogurt, cakes, and tea, I got dressed, putting on my good jacket and my boots. My father presented me with a bag of candles, pencils, and sweets in honor of this important day. At school I will learn to read and write in Kazakh and Russian, the main languages spoken in Kazakhstan. I will also learn to use a computer. When it was time to go, the whole family walked to my new school, No. 115. On the way, my mother gave me a coin to buy a bouquet of flowers at the bazaar for my new teacher.
Kendi: A Six-Year-Old Inuit Boy from Nunavut, Canada
Asujutilli! My name is Kendi, and I live in the territory of Nunavut, Canada, a land of ice and snow. My mother made me a parka and caribou mitts for the cold weather. But today was sunny—so I wore jeans, a jacket, and a baseball cap. I went to my classroom and met Mr. Anawak, my new teacher. Then all the students gathered on the tundra for a special outdoor picnic. The teachers built a fire, and we roasted hot dogs, fish, and caribou meat. I like caribou the best— except when it sticks in my teeth. Some of the children picked blueberries and blackberries and shared them with the rest of us. Later, we played an Inuit blanket game. A group of older children held a blanket and bounced the smaller ones by pulling the blanket tight. Each child tried to bounce the highest. My show-off sister won the game.
Jessica: A Nine-Year-Old Girl From Australia
G’day! My name is Jessica, and I live in Sydney, Australia, with my mum and dad. It’s the first day of the new term, and I’m in year four. That means I’m old enough to join the debating team and sing in the choir. After breakfast, I put on my school uniform, including a hat for the sun. Then I walked to school. Our class lined up in the yard. My new teacher, Mr. Elton, had us sit outside and make up some classroom rules. Briana said she thought chewing gum shouldn’t be allowed in the classroom—just as I blew a big bubble. The teacher read us a funny story about cow-dung custard, by a famous Australian writer. Then we worked in the school bushland doing some serious weed busting. I especially love the blue flax lilies and the Mickey Mouse plants that grow here.
Publisher : Millbrook Press ™ (August 1, 2003)
Language : English
Library Binding : 32 pages
ISBN-10 : 0761319484
ISBN-13 : 978-0761319481
Reading age : 5 – 9 years
Grade level : Kindergarten – 3
Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
Dimensions : 9.3 x 0.6 x 12.2 inches
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