It is the first day of school in Chad, Africa. Children are filling the road. "Will they give us a notebook?" Thomas asks. "Will they give us a pencil?" "Will I learn to read?" But when he and the other children arrive at the school yard, they find no classroom, no desks. Just a teacher. "We will build our school," she says. "This is our first lesson." James Rumford, who lived in Chad as a Peace Corps volunteer, fills these pages with the vibrant colours of Africa and the spare words of a poet to show how important learning is in a country where only a few children are able to go to school.
Reviews
"While serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, Rumford was a teacher in Chad, and the authentic details illuminate the spare text and beautiful artwork. On double-page spreads, the colored-pencil, ink, and pastel images echo the words' elemental rhythms as they contrast golden-hued portraits of the children happily learning with dark, rain-drenched scenes of the school disappearing. The building eventually vanishes, but "it doesn't matter. The letters have been learned and taken away by the children."...Without a heavy message, this spare and moving offering will leave kids thinking about the daily lives of other young people around the world." (Booklist, starred review)"


Awards
Commended for Parents Choice Awards (Fall) (2008-Up) (Picture Book) 2010. Short-listed for Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Grades K-2) 2012 and Volunteer State Book Awards (Primary) 2012 and Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award 2013.



Book Information
ISBN 9780547243078
Author James Rumford
Format Hardback
Page Count 32
Imprint Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company