Description

Kindergarten can be scary, wherever you go to school. Spend a day with a kindergarten class in Beijing, China, and another in Schenectady, New York. Lunches might be different, but those feeling of going off to school are very much the same!

Reviews

"There is an old saying in the United States of America, ‘If you dig a hole deep enough, you’ll reach China,’” begins this colorful story-in-photographs about two kindergarten classes, on two sides of the world, in exact opposite time zones (separated by 12 hours). The “Flip-Me-Over” presentation is perfect for this look at how kids in two very different countries go to school every day."
- Bookdragon, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program

"Half of this book narrates a day at a kindergarten in Schenectady, NY; when flipped, it details a day with Chinese children in Beijing. Although there are some differences between the two classes, the book focuses on illustrating their similarities. Both groups learn reading in their respective languages, draw pictures, eat lunch, celebrate a classmate’s birthday, play outside, witness a disagreement mediated by a teacher, and enjoy friends. The minor differences mostly involve language and food, although American kids will be happy to see that the Chinese kindergarteners also eat birthday cake, albeit with chopsticks. At the end of each half, the class wonders what kids are like on the other side of the world. The Chinese section includes one Chinese word per page. Additionally, a text box on the first page explains pinyin transliteration. Large, bright photographs and a limited number of words per page make this a good choice for storytime. The focus on similarities between the kids doesn’t teach much about Chinese culture, but it does give a nice lesson on the universality of the kindergarten experience."
- Jennifer Rothschild, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, Oxon Hill, MD