Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Schultz
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
George makes school silly and fun.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
George is excited because he's been invited to help in a kindergarten classroom on the first day of school. The man with the yellow hat takes George to meet the teacher, Mr. Apple, who introduces George to his students as a "special helper." George holds a book during story time, and children count the monkey's fingers and toes during math. He tosses balls to all the children on the playground during recess. After lunch, the students receive painting supplies, and George mixes colors (for example, red and blue make purple, and yellow and blue make green). Then, George gets a little too excited and makes a big mess with lots of paint colors. He tries to borrow a mop and bucket to clean it up. A custodian chases the monkey who took his mop, and George slips and falls into a puddle of paints and soapy water. George is sad after his fall, but all's well that ends well when the children pitch in to help him clean up the mess.
Is It Any Good?
As with other George books, CURIOUS GEORGE'S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL offers a lot of cute moments, laughs, and adorable pictures of a monkey interacting with young children. This installment is especially nice because it has some great learning opportunities about blending colors, and it can help parents prepare young children for the first day of school.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the first day of school. Were you/are you excited about your first day?
What would happen if a monkey visited your classroom?
With a grown-up's help, mix paint colors the way George does to make new colors. What happens when you mix red and yellow? Or red and white?
Book Details
- Authors :
- Illustrator : Anna Grossnickle Hines
- Genre : School
- Topics : Arts , Animals ( Wild Animals )
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Publication date : August 1, 2005
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
- Number of pages : 24
- Available on : Paperback, Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate