La Escuela de Elizabeti

Elizabeti #3

by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, Christy Hale (Illustrator)

It s the first day of school and Elizabeti can hardly wait. She puts on her new uniform and feels her shiny shoes. School must surely be a very special place! Shortly after arriving at school, however, Elizabeti begins to miss her family. What if Mama needs help cleaning the rice? What if her baby sister wants to play? What if her little brother wants to go for a walk? But soon Elizabeti is making friends and learning her lessons. Best of all, she shares her experiences with her family that evening and can apply what she has learned right away.

Genres: Picture Books, Africa, Childrens, Family, Realistic Fiction, School, Spanish Literature

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

See also S.A. Bodeen.

Reviews

[529_Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Elizabeti's first day of school in Tanzania. This is an excellent book to help compare schools in other parts of the world to theirs. There are good examples of how things are similar within different cultures. For example, Elizabeti plays a game that is similar to Jacks.

[Anne Mukendi]

Elizabeti's School is a fiction book written by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen and ilusrated by Christy Hale. The language in this book is very simple and easy to read for the audience. The book was about a young girl who was excited to go to school and then kind of overwelmed when she got there. She got used to it and learned some new things like how to do a dance and how to count to five. She really was homesick and decided she did not want to go back to school. Then she realized that she did like learning and decided to give it another shot. The illustrations in the book are in neutral colors. I believe this could evoke a calming feeling to its intended audience of anxious children. The book is cultually apropritate because it imitates the strict rules of uniform in the school system. I believe this book is intended for 3rd graders and they would be interested in reading the book, because they have probably had the same feeling about school.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeti heads for her first day of school. Stuve-Bodeen takes readers through the whole day and the surprise when she gets home (her cat has kittens). She shares what she learned with her family and decides she is excited to go back the next day.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeti’s School by Stepanine Stuve-Bodeen, Illustrator Christy Hale- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- the book narrates the story of a Tanzanian girl named Elizabeti who goes to school for the first time. Eliazabeti’s family consists of her parents her elder sister Pendo, her younger sister Flora, her doll Eva, her younger brother Obedi, her pet cat Moshi. Elizabeth wishes her parents and family and leaves for her school with her elder sister. Elizabeti is wearing her new school dress with new shining shoes. At school, she meets her friend Rehli. They go towards a group of girls kneeling on the ground and playing games of picking up stones from a hole in the ground. The game is similar to one played in USA by the name of Jacks. Elizabeti attend a class where they are taught writing and counting up to five. She learns and copies on her note book. During lunch hour, she Elizabeti learns a new dance steps from her friends. During the class, Elizabeti thinks that her mother, her brother and sister would need her help. After lunch they have a second class, where the teacher teaches her to write alphabets. After school, Elizabeti returns home. She finds that her cat is hiding with five kittens. She counts loudly. Her mother is happy. Elizabeti plays Jacks with her mother. Elizabeti first thinks that her family needs her help more than her going to school, but at night Elizabeti decides that she must give one chance to school tomorrow. Coloured pictures help the reader to relate to the story. I have read the Hindi language translation of this book.

[Tiara Gist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade Level: K-2

Summary: It is Elizabeti's first day of school and she cannot wait to get there. However, when she arrives, she is shy and wishes she had stayed home. During the school day, she starts thinking about thinking about helping her mom around the household, take her brother for a walk, and how much she missed them. With the help of her friends, she makes it through the day, but she rather be home. When it was time to come home from school, Elizabeti is excited to see her family and realizes she learned a lot from school but, decides home is the place she rather be.

Theme: The theme of the story are over diversity and helping students who are nervous or shy deal with the first day of school.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book for teacher's to read on the first day of school. It can serve as a mirror to children who are nervous and shy on their first day of school. Also, it depicts other students first day of school in another country (Tanzania) and can also expand students global knowledge. In addition, the illustrations were nice.

Personal Response: What I appreciated about the book was how the author included the pronunciation of the Swahili words used in the text. In addition, it was interesting to go through a Tanzanian students school day and compare and contrast how it is different than the schooling system here. I rated this four stars because even though the story was cute and relatable, it was very simplistic.

[Kara Pushay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated everything in this book! This story talked about how Elizabeti felt for her first day of school. At first she was excited, like most kids, then started worrying and overthinking about everything as soon as she got to school. This is a relatable topic because many kids go through this same thing. I remember when i was going into middle school i was so excited, until the night before. Its scary when you don't know what to expect. But, as the book went on she ended up loving school and learning new information to bring home and share with her family. The illustrations in this story were almost hard to see due to the fact that they looked blurry, but i think it added age to this story,, which i loved! This is a great story for children to relate to and may even calm the nerves of some children for their first day.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeti was so excited about her first day of school, but when she got to school all she could wonder about is her family and her cat that did not play with her this morning. She found that odd because her cat always will play with her. As she went through out the school day she learned how to count to five and also how to write her letters. When she got home he was so excited to be back with her family and cat. She started to help her mom with chores and then started to look for her cat. She found him under the bed with five new kittens. after a fun night with her family she said that school was fun but home will always be more fun. I thought this was a great book. I would read this in my future classroom. Definitely a book I would want for my classroom library.

[Margaret Keller]

Again my students loved this book great way to introduce school. The young girls looking forward to going to school for the first time. But when she’s at school she starts to miss Home and her family. She decides that she doesn’t like school and she doesn’t want to go back. There’s a particular part in the book where her cat has babies my students really liked that page. But in the end she teaches her parents all the new things she learned and realize that she wants to go back.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Welcome to the 3rd story for Elizabeti -- a young Tanzanian girl. In this story, Elizabeti goes to school for the first time and learns what it feels like to leave home. This was my favorite of the Elizabeti stories thus far. Definitely reminded me of my time teaching in TZ and made my heart happy to see Elizabeti learn the importance of school and the joy that can come from learning. Cute series that reflects aspects of Tanzanian culture.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be just another nice 'first day of school' book, but the fact that it'll teach 'western' schoolchildren so much about Tanzania makes it worth another star. Elizabeti is a darling, and I'd love to read more books about her.

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is not overly impressive, and the illustrations are lacking

Only giving the second star because of the use of language, although it is only six words (the numbers one through five and the name of a game in Swahili)

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations and seeing how Elizabeti adjusted to school.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Tonya Hardin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book! It was a great way of seeing how a young kid views life and school.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little children's book about Elizabeti's first day at school.

[Kristen Mcmahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was such a wonderful and necessary addition to the children's book world. Elizabeti's School is the story of a little girl and her family in a small town in Africa. The story follows Elezabeti as she gets ready and goes to her first day of school. We follow Elezabeti from early in the morning when she is super excited to when she arrives at school and finds herself very nervous and homesick, all the way back home when her reflections to her family make her realize that it isn't so bad after all. We follow and relate to Eleizabeti through all the trials that a first day can bring.

The element of craft that really stood out to me in this picture book is what Fletcher calls A Sense of PLace, also catagorized as setting. This book takes place in Tanzania where Eleizabeti and her family live. The book includes lots of rich pictures that depict this foriegn town, however, it is the story itself that conveys it best. As we follow Elizabeti readers get a good sense of what life would be like if you live here. We read about the games that the boys and girls play everyday, what chores are expected of Elizabeti and her friends, and we read about what family life looks like in Tanzania as well. All these details give readers a clear picture of this particular setting. While the setting will be completely foreign to most American readers, the author makes everything very relatable at the same time. All children around the world play games, go to school, and have certain routines with their families. Children from anywhere can understand Elizabeti's tribulations and they can all rejoice with her when she feels comfort.

While this book would make for a wonderful book to read for a social studies lesson, it would also be very useful in the study of setting. I could teach children the importance of place through all the details. These details can be depicted through the writing to make readers really understand the place they are reading about. Also how it is important to make sure that the setting is relatable and not so unfamiliar that readers no longer care about the characters in that world.

[Dani Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that is great for English Language Learners or children going to new schools in a different area. The author does an awesome job with portraying the feelings of nervousness a child or anyone might have when going to a new place and not knowing anyone.

Character development is huge here. You get to know Elizabeti and her family in great detail and you are able to understand why she wouldn't want to leave her baby brother and sister at home to go to school in an uncomfortable place that she's never been before. There is no way not to love Elizabeti, even after reading this short children's book.

The author does a great job with the ending because all along, Elizabeti is dreading going to school and leaving all of her family at home, including her cat. When she actually gets there and starts learning, this makes her really excited and at the end of the story, she shows her parents what she has learned and that she is actually happy. I can only imagine what this must feel like, both for the little girl and her parents.

The author definitely has a love for words, and not just English words. This book includes several Swahili words that really add a lot to the story. This is a great book for children from other countries because it is definitely written from the "I" of the author and is easily relatable for both children and adults alike.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Day of School 3

I loved this book, it showed the perspective of a child who is beginning school for their first time. I like that it has her count to five in Swahili, it also places the reader in her shoes because many readers will feel disoriented with the pronunciation of the numbers until they get some practice. I like that they had the note and the pronoun citation guide at the front of the book. I love the illustrations. I like that she didn't think she liked school until she got home and realized she liked how much she had learned. I feel like this is a common experience for many children. This book would be one of my too choices to read on the first day of school.

Interest Level http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Grades K - 2
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: 3.7
Lexile® Measure: AD590L
DRA: 20
Guided Reading: L
Genre
General Fiction

Awards
I could not find any awards from this book, but I saw that the author, "has won numerous awards for her Elizabeti series." https://www.leeandlow.com/books/2388

[Lauren Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It was about a young girl who was excited to go to school and then kind of overwelmed when she got there. She got used to it and learned some new things like how to do a dance and how to count to five. She really was homesick and decided she did not want to go back to school. Then she realized that she did like learning and decided to give it another shot. I think every child goes through the same thing. They are homesick at first, but then get used to school life. I would reccommend this book.

[Christaia Houser]

This is a picture book about Elizabeti, a girl who lives in Tanzania and her first day of school. Richly illustrated, Elizabeti's story follows her struggle with leaving her family and wondering how they are getting along without her. Students can relate to that struggle on a basic level but this book also has the additional considerations of typical chores in an Tanzanian family which Elizabeti does.

I would use this book either for a read-aloud or during a unit on specific cultures and expanding global knowledge.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story that every child can relate to. It describes Elizabeti's first day of school. Though the setting isn't identified, the story obviously takes place in another country. ( We know from the book jacket that the setting is Tanzania.) Students could compare and contrast Elizabeti's surroundings and experiences with their own.

[Laura Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizatbeti's School is a great book for teachers to read to their students on the first day of school. It discusses how children get excited to attend school on the first day and learn new information.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is another adventure for Elizabeti, a young Tanzania girl. She is ready for her first day of school-until she gets inside and feels nervous. This would be great for reading aloud to students on their first day. This is a great set of books and one I would love to have in my classroom.

[Nick Cherry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would share this book with my students on the first day of school, or even if we were learning about different cultures. It makes students aware of the differences all around them.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeti lives in Tanzania and this picture book is about her first day of school.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third in a series of titles featuring Elizabeti, a young (growing) girl and her family in Tanzania.

[Kathy Garner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story about a girl's first day of school,can explore how your day and school compare.

[Leyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, it talks about family and school - my daughter could relate!

[Cheyenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for talking about school in other countries.

[Cana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly read this to me. I wish I could have a kitty.