Official Review: Aniyah’s First Day of School

[Jagiine]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Aniyah’s First Day of School" by Rachel Tully.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Change can be a scary thing, especially to young children who aren’t very experienced with big changes. That is why Rachel Tully, a teacher and mom in New York, wrote Aniyah’s First Day of School.

Readers peek in on Aniyah and her mom as they talk the night before her first day of school. While Aniyah should be drifting off to sleep in anticipation of her first day, she keeps insisting that she’s “not ready.” Mom tries to encourage Aniyah with things she can look forward to, but in the end, Aniyah needs a unique idea to give her the confidence she needs to start school.

When reading the book, the first thing I noticed was how colorful the illustrations are. As a child (and even as an adult), I most enjoyed images with bright colors, so I think the publication’s palette is perfect to hold the attention of its target market. Additionally, the illustrations show a mixed-race family, which I appreciate. Interracial families are common, and I believe that everyday depictions of them help to establish them as normal. Each assurance by Mom is accompanied by an illustrated thought bubble showing how Aniyah thinks things could go wrong, which I found to be cute. However, all of Aniyah’s imaginings of her future classmates depict only white children (perhaps one child of Asian descent, but I cannot be sure). I find this discouraging whether this was the actual experience of Tully’s daughter (the book’s muse) or the artist falling into a limited view of ordinary.

I also had an issue with the text, as the font seemed surprisingly small. It might look better in a physical copy, but it was not affected by changing my reader's font size. Thankfully, aside from this small issue, the written content is very impressive! The work is very well edited, with only one punctuation error sticking out to me. Tully wrote with simple sentences, which should be easily understood by preschoolers and kindergarteners. Additionally, she used a variety of synonyms, which can help encourage language development. The repetitive sentence structure may help children connect synonyms they previously had not recognized.

Overall, I found Aniyah’s First Day of School to be a great little book. In fact, it is one I would like to come back to when I have a child approaching school age. In light of how well the book was written, edited, and illustrated, I feel confident awarding it 4 out of 4 stars! Any family with a child who will soon be attending school for the first time may find this book useful in alleviating the child’s anxiety. If a child is not worried about school but is highly impressionable, I suggest avoiding the book simply to prevent accidentally embedding concern.

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Aniyah’s First Day of School
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[Becca Olsson]

This is so sweet, all children need a little encouragement to get them going. Thanks for the great review

[Jagiine]

This is so sweet, all children need a little encouragement to get them going. Thanks for the great review

Definitely! Thanks for stopping by

[SweetSourSalty AndSpicy]

It is great to have books that explore the concerns of children. Likewise, I hope the issue with the fonts gets fixed to improve the digital-format reading experience.
Thanks for the insights.

[Jagiine]

It is great to have books that explore the concerns of children. Likewise, I hope the issue with the fonts gets fixed to improve the digital-format reading experience.
Thanks for the insights.

Yes, I believe this book has great potential, and that small change would make it better for sure. Thanks for dropping by!

[MsTri]

Sounds like a cute read for children starting school; it's a shame about the small fonts, but it sounds like that's only a minor negative, anyhow. Thanks for the intro!

[Eddy E]

This sounds really warm and cute. I have seen kids that throw serious tantrums on their first day.
The nerves and all, but it would be nice to recomend to kids who are just starting school.

[cd20]

Might be a cute book for teachers to read to their preschoolers or kindergartners as well. It sounds like a perfect first day of school book so all the students can see they are all on the same page with nerves and anxiety. Would make a great group discussion and help to alleviate those first-day jitters. Thanks for a great review!

[Jagiine]

Sounds like a cute read for children starting school; it's a shame about the small fonts, but it sounds like that's only a minor negative, anyhow. Thanks for the intro!

Yes, definitely just a minor fault. Thanks for reading!

[Jagiine]

This sounds really warm and cute. I have seen kids that throw serious tantrums on their first day.
The nerves and all, but it would be nice to recomend to kids who are just starting school.

Yes, I can see a lot of kids using this story to remind themselves that everything will be OK when they go to school. Thanks for your input!

[Jagiine]

Might be a cute book for teachers to read to their preschoolers or kindergartners as well. It sounds like a perfect first day of school book so all the students can see they are all on the same page with nerves and anxiety. Would make a great group discussion and help to alleviate those first-day jitters. Thanks for a great review!

Thank you for your thoughts. Reading this book in school is a great idea that I had not thought of!

[Medhansh Bhardwaj]

It's wonderful to see how day-to-day concepts are being incorporated into children's books nowadays, like the first day of school! The language used is simple and fun, and the illustrations are amazing.

[Jagiine]

It's wonderful to see how day-to-day concepts are being incorporated into children's books nowadays, like the first day of school! The language used is simple and fun, and the illustrations are amazing.

For sure! I think a lot of families will find this story relatable. Thanks for coming by.