Parents' Guide to

This Is the Way We Go to School: A Book About Children Around the World

By Mark Nichol, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Mildly charming but unspectacular book.

Book Edith Baer Transportation 1992
This Is the Way We Go to School: A Book About Children Around the World Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

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age 6+

Based on 1 parent review

THitesman
THitesman Adult
November 6, 2012
age 6+

Super Cultural Book!

This is a excellent book for the beginning of the year and for social studies. It is a splendid book because it shows how students around the world go to school just like them, but in different ways. Also, it's a fantastic book to show students the different characteristics of different cultures.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

How kids get to the schoolhouse door often depends on where on the planet they happen to live. This mildly charming but unspectacular book takes readers around the world, showing them a slice of children's lives from various locations in the United States and abroad.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

This book has a winning concept: Let's take a look at all the ways children around the world travel to and from school! But the presentation leaves much to be desired. A poorly designed world map requires readers to flip from the map to a list of names to a page featuring a particular child. Also, nearly half the locations are in the United States, an excessive sampling for a book with "Children Around the World" in the subtitle.

The book has not been updated, so errors such as a reference to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics persist. The Spanish-English bilingual edition, Asi Vamos a La Escuela, published in 1999, which may be more up-to-date. The illustrations set a cheerful mood but don't provide useful information: When Akinyi sprints for the train that'll carry her across a mountain chain, the area that springs to mind is Japan -- that she's Kenyan comes as a surprise.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the different ways kids go to school around the world. What seems most unusual to you? Do you think the way you go to school would seem strange to those kids?

Book Details

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