Danbi Leads the School Parade

Summary

Danbi is a young girl starting school in America after moving from Korea. She bravely enters the classroom on the first day and encounters challenges. She doesn’t know the language, she doesn’t know the games, and no one wants to play with her. Danbi doesn’t give up. Through this book, she learns to navigate her two cultures and eventually shares her culture with her new classmates. They celebrate it together. By the end of the book, she’s made a new friend and is excited to go back to school.

Theme(s):

Friendship, Acceptance, Courage

Personal Response

Danbi Leads the School Parade is a heartwarming and sweet book with gorgeous illustrations. The author beautifully shows the challenges of being new, especially as a young child speaking a different language. However, it also shows how important it is not to lose one’s culture. I think this book would be relatable to my kindergarteners since they are all new to school on the first day, even if they didn’t come to a new country. This book reminded me a little of The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi.

Teaching Ideas

This book contains several themes that could be used in the classroom. This book could be used as a beginning of the school year read aloud. It shows how the first day may not go as planned, but how it still holds the potential for a great year together. It could also be used to talk about individual differences and how, through acceptance of these differences, we can learn new, interesting, and fun things.

BOOK.tique