Does a Panda Go to School?

Children's Literature - Kimberly O'Meara

Children ask lots of questions about going to school, one of which may be, do animals go to school? This book focuses on answering that question by describing the things that children do at school, of which animals would have no interest. The chimp however, is described as having many talents but few social skills. Entertaining as this book may be, I was confused by the several pages devoted to describing the chimp where other animals had but one. I also felt more comfortable with the other titles in this series when the premise of the text or central question was generalized back to people or children, making it easier for young listeners to understand and gain some meaning from the text. This "Early Experience" book could easily be used in a childcare or preschool classroom to help dissuade fears of school attendance, and as part of the series, would be a good addition to classroom or library shelves.