On the Town: A Community Adventure – A Picture Book About a Walk Exploring People and Places for Kids

by Judith Caseley

Charlie's homework was to explore the people and places in his community. "What is my community?" he asked his mother. So they took a walk to find out. With the bounce and humor that have characterized all her popular books over the years, Judith Caseley once again proves that when it comes to the primary school world, there is very little that she doesn't know. Charlie and his mother take a walk that can be taken by anyone with a keen sense of fun -- and open eyes and an inquiring mind.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 26, 2002

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author/illustrator Judith Caseley delivers another 'slice of life' story here, but rather than it being a story of a child's school life, or a family's home life, it is the life of a community that she explores. When Charlie is given a homework assignment to visit the places in his community and record what he finds, he and his mother take a walk around town, observing all the different places and workers that together make up their world. From librarians to police officers, firemen to diner waitresses, everyone has a role to play...

I really appreciated On the Town: A Community Adventure, even though there was nothing about it, from a textual or artistic standpoint, that particularly stood out to me. It offers a comforting and affirming vision of what community is, and shows that while everybody has a different job to do, together they all benefit from the efforts of other individuals, and of the whole. I particularly liked that Charlie himself, when he finds a lost wallet, does the honest and civic-minded thing, in turning it in to the police, as this shows young readers that they too have a part to play, in the wider community. Given the unrest here in the states right now, and the way in which violence is being condoned by many in the media and in positions of political power, it is easy to get discouraged, and to think our culture is being irretrievably damaged. Now more than ever, we need the vision of community put forward here, in which every person has a contribution to make to the welfare of the whole. Now more than ever, we need to be asking if our actions are contributing to that welfare, or harming it. I'd recommend this book to parents and educators looking to have healthy conversations with their children about the issue of community, civic-mindedness, and playing our part.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this book to teach kindergarten students about community workers/ helpers and suggest it. An obvious activity would be to assign something similar to what the character did which is to go around one's community and write down CW that are in the community (I didn't actually do this).

I love the illustrations in this book too!

[Brianna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great way for children to learn about their environment!

[Sandy]

I'm not sure you can replace What Do People Do All Day?, but this book was a great supplement for describing the value of different community services and professions.

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teacher issues a challenge to students to explore their communities, and a student and his mom walk around town as the boy records what he sees in his notebook. Aptly describes the makeup of a community for young readers, but the story is not at all compelling.

[Mariah Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the idea of the book, but felt it could've been written better. It was just ok to me. My 4 year old wasn't too into it.

[Jeani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good resource for introducing community helpers to young children.

[Felicity The Magnificent · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book, Charlie's teacher gave the class note books. They had to write the community workers that they saw. Charlie found all of the community workers in one day. There were the pizza man, the train conductor, there was the hair cutter, there was the garbage collector, there was the restaurant waiter, there was the person who worked at the bank, there was the police officer, there was the librarian, there was the pharmacy guy, there was the flower shop person, there was Charlie's teacher, there was the post office worker, there was the fire fighter, and there was his family. I liked this book because he found community workers. - by Felicity

[Taylor Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a story about a boy named Charlie who had a homework assignment to write all about his community. Throughout the book Charlie and his Mom go run errands throughout their community. Charlie writes each location down with a hand-drawn picture. The book very quickly explains all of the different locations as well as the jobs and activities you do at each. This would be a great book to assist with exploration of community and the jobs one can have.

[Amber Basinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for a kindergarten classroom that is introducing theme of community. This book is from a child's prospective as he discovers his community with his mom. Children will join them on their journey and learn about different community workers. Students will easily relate to the pictures and community members and make personal connections.

[Takeisha Hannor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It was great...it defines community and includes daily tasks so children can learn about their community helpers. It would be great for kindergarten and shows examples of police officers, firefighters, mail clerks..all doing their job. Very helpful book to build community skills in student's expeditons.

[Deanna Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read for students when they begin to learn about the community. Its a great story to have students explore the community they live in. After reading this book, I would have my students take a community walk looking at our actual community just as Charlie did in the book;

[Taylor Troncin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was read for Wesley’s summer reading club. Wesley is my (soon to be five year old) son. This review is what we used for his reading club.
***

Wesley really liked this story. We might check it out again to get some ideas for school projects later.

[Kyle Greenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great for all students learning about the different types of communities. A young boy goes out for the day with his mother and learns how everything he sees and the places he goes to in his environment are all parts of a community.

[Leah Lemon]

This is a really cute book. It's a really good way to introduce community helpers!

[Kara Curtin · Rating 5 out of 5]

very realatable for kids, about a kid. I study communities in 2nd grade and this is a project that my kids could do! Infomational

[Erienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this for LuLu's Community study. It does a good job of explaining the role of various community members.

[Heather Ligman · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a super cute book. I would definitely use this book for teaching about community. it would probably be better in the younger grades.

[Josianne Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. Very obvious teaching, but perhaps that's what we need to teach/review the content.

[Aneesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about community helpers (if you like that sort of thing).