Emily's First 100 Days of School

by Rosemary Wells

This must-have back-to-school classic from beloved creator Rosemary Wells not only reinforces counting skills, but commemorates all of the excitement and learning that happens in those first one hundred days.



Emily is ready for her first day of school. There's so much to learning the alphabet, singing, reading books, dancing, and counting, starting with the very first day. One hundred days feels very far away, but day by day, Emily and her classmates see they're getting closer. And as the lessons they learn begin to add up, their world expands. Chock-full of surprising discoveries, age-appropriate activities, and plenty of humor, Emily's First 100 Days of School supports growing skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic, with an emphasis on math skills.

Genres: Picture Books, School, Childrens, Counting, Mathematics, Animals, Number

64 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Rosemary Wells is an American writer and illustrator of children's books. She often uses animal characters to address real human issues. Some of her most well-known characters are Max & Ruby and Timothy from Timothy Goes To School (both were later adapted into Canadian-animated preschool television series, the former’s airing on Nickelodeon (part of the Nick Jr. block) and the latter’s as part of PBS Kids on PBS).

Reviews

[Emma Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
"The story captures Emily's excitement and growth as she navigates her new school environment. Each day, Emily encounters various challenges and milestones—such as making new friends, learning new things, and adjusting to the school routine. The book highlights her achievements and the small victories that mark her progress over these initial 100 days" (ChatGPT, July 25, 2024).

Commentary:
I personally like this book because it is an easy book to link with a math lesson. It also has a small paragraph of context for each number to help students understand where these numbers can be used in real-world scenario. I also love the colors and illustrations that they included within this book to grab the reader's attention.

Application:
In my classroom, I could use this story for the 100th day of school for my students. Some activities that I can do to follow are:
-Make 100th day of school crowns
-Fill bins with various collections of 100 items and include a task card for students to complete. Set your bins out in stations and let the kids play
-watch 100th day of school video

[Kandice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Mackers' favourite book this summer. We have a DVD collection of Scholastic books turned into videos and Emily's First 100 Days of School is a favourite as my son loves numbers. We found the book on disc edition at the library; it's about 30 min long and when I pop the CD into our relic boombox, I've got a baby-sitter! GLORY!

This book reads like a diary as Emily recounts her first 100 days of school. With her teacher, Miss Cribbage, and bestie Diane Duck, we see how Emily grows and learns how to read and write. Emily also reflects on family activities with her brother and grandparents, "You load sixteen tons and what do ya get? Another day older and deeper in debt!"

There is one downside... having these little ditties stuck in your head all day... "Tea for two and two for tea. Just me for you and you for me..." However, this is the book that started Mackers' love for Books on Disc! It makes long summer car rides much more enjoyable for the little guy!

[Betty Ortega · Rating 5 out of 5]

* Book Summary
Emily's first 100 Days of School is a counting book where Emily describes her first 100 days of schools, using each number to describe a different situation involving school.

*awards
None : but author has won many awards like the Children's Book Council Award

* Grade Level/ Interest level
prek- 1st Grade

* Appropriate Classroom Use
I would introduce this book on the first day of school and read each page according to the school day.
I would ask a different to read each day and have a project plan on the 100th day of school.

*Student Who Might Benefit From Reading
All students

* Small Group Use
I would group the students and ask them to describe their first day of school and how were they feeling

* Whole Class Use
I would start math class each day by reading about that school day this would hope promote literacy in math class.
*Related Book In Genre
100th-day worries
*Multimedia Connections
N/A

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long for before bed/before nap duty, but a good one for learning numbers since each one 1-100 is featured. DS is obsessed with numbers and recently has a love of 100, so this was an easy pick for me, although he lost interest somewhere in the 40s and I had to coax him to sit for the rest. Thank goodness he didn't want to count each and every page!

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is SO LONG. I think it could serve some very specific situations well, but as a general read aloud this is not one I’d choose. The premise of the book is that Emily will be learning to count to 100 during her first 100 days of school. Each day has a short (couple sentences) related to the number. Some of these are pretty creative and I like that it shows readers many ways in which they might encounter numbers in everyday life. I also appreciate that every number is included, since many counting books skip once they get into the twenties/thirties. But it definitely makes it one that might be better off being read it bits rather than all at once.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a cute little book to show 100 days of school. It shows that things add up and time passes before you know it even if you think it will be forever. Each number has something that a young child may relate to or learn as the year goes on. Each day is its own thing but they connect and build on one another just like in real life.
Teaching children numbers is important and children need a concrete way to fathom bigger numbers and this book does it well.

[Jessica Starzyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected it to be. It was too long for a simple picture book and it lacked any substance. The illustrations were cute and reminded me of my childhood watching the T.V. show "Ruby and Max". Overall, this is not a book I would every try to read in one sitting.

Genre: Modern Fantasy
Grades: PreK-1

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily journals her first one hundred days of school by writing about the different numbers in her life while counting up. A really cute idea that highlights all the different ways we use numbers in our lives.

Read on the one hundredth day of school.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would be a fun book to read aloud in sections - visit throughout the first 100 days of school. My only complaint is that it gets to the holidays too fast and then spends too much time there.

[Brooke Sherrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read on the 100th Day of School

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Made it all 100 days without stopping with my 7 year old! So there.

[Adrianne Rosal · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a lot to do the first 100 days of school. We will find out what they are!

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the idea of this book.

[Miss Leinbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasy Picture Book (talking animals)
K-2

NOT a book to read straight through in one sitting, since it goes through all 100 days. Would be good weekly or as mentor text daily if young students are also keeping and writing/drawing a number journal.

Text sets: Counting; number sense; community

[Jodysegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think Emily's First 100 Days of School is a great counting and number concept book and is a wonderful choice, too, for all those little collectors out there! Rosemary Wells makes numbers interesting, relevant and dynamic in a book on the first 100 days of school. For the number eight, for example, eight cards illustrate a game of crazy eights the little rabbit Emily teaches her younger brother; the numbers 30 and 31 become part of her teacher's lesson on the number of days in a month; 35 represents the 35 centino stamp on a postcard from Costa Rica; 67 is her street address; 94 is the number of rings and age of an old tree that fell down in their back yard; and 100, well, that's her surprise!
In addition to being instructive and lots of fun, the book features Wells' ever- appealing artwork. Reading Emily's First 100 Days of School as a class or at home provides a wonderful way to transition into and celebrate the start of the school year.

SLJ: The text alternates between the child's life at home and at school, providing a wonderful example of how families are a child's first teacher and how they can supplement the classroom teacher throughout a child's academic life. The characters are beautifully brought to life through Wells's pen-and-watercolor illustrations, showcased by a combination of full-page spreads, detailed borders, and smaller panels.

Hornbook: Skeptics may doubt Wells can find fresh, engaging presentations for that many numbers, but overall she manages beautifully... Alive with color and thematically relevant decoration (e.g. a border of all fifty-two cards in the deck on day 52, when Emily plays hearts with her grandmother), the oversized pages are sometimes divided into several panels, but they never feel too busy.

[Johna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I were a pre-k or kindergarten teacher, I would love to have “Emily’s First 100 Days of School” in my classroom’s library. It really is an amazing book that incorporates counting in a variety of ways. Emily’s teacher, Miss Cribbage, decided that for the first 100 days of school she would teach the class how to count to 100.Not only was she teaching the students how to count, she taught them how to read and write the number words. I like how everyday Miss Cribbage taught them a different number and linked it with something relatable. For example, on the ninth day of school, the students learned the nine planets in our Solar System. Finally, on the one-hundredth day, Emily’s teacher gave the class a party to celebrate counting to 100.
As a teacher, I would read this story in the beginning of the year because this story could take away any butterflies the students may have about being in a new class. One of my goals is to make students feel welcome as soon as they step into my classroom. I believe the most important part of the first day is helping students feel comfortable and enthusiastic about attending school.

[Lauren Grosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily's First 100 Days of School is a counting book. It's about a bunny named Emily and her class. They are given a number journal on the first day of school and the teacher tells them when they reach 100 days they can have a party. Emily records all of the numbers she sees like playing crazy eights with her brother, playing 20 questions, baking 84 cookies and cleaning up 94 bottles and cans. When the class gets to 100 days, each kid represents 100 however they want. Some kids wear 100 buttons or do 100 cartwheels but when they ask Emily what she did she says it's a secret.
The bordered cover is really colorful and has a picture of Emily at her desk. The border gives some hints as to what could happen in the book with different numbers and pictures. My favorite part of peritext in the book is the authors note before the story starts. She says she was never good at math and she never liked numbers but now she realizes they're everywhere, in songs and games. She says all the numbers in the book are equally important and fun. Overall, I thought Emily's First 100 Days of School was a good book!

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 4 stars. It's hard to decide. It's a good book, goes through each number individually when counting books tend to start generalizing. For my little guy still getting the hang of reading numbers - he often reads 12 and says twenty one - it's good practice.

It also introduces things you can talk about as you go through; friends moving away, best friends changing, card games, gardening, cooking, measuring, a new thing for each page really. So you'll get something out of it each time if you choose.

But because there are 100 numbers, even though each one is concise, it's a long book. I've read the whole thing through for bedtime twice, and because it's so long it doesn't leave a lot of time to discuss all those things if you intend to hit the end before midnight.

So really good, just long, and I'll read it with him a few more times as he gets ready to start school. It doesn't bear much resemblance to what his school experience will be like I imagine, but it will reassure him nonetheless.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Counting 4

I mostly liked this book, it got more interesting as it went along. I like that it talks about Girl Scouts and her friends moving to and away from her school. You have to be careful from this book because there are 3-4 Christian references and it just barely brushes over the other winter holidays. I like that they made the numbers count by talking about something in her life that related to that number. I probably wouldn't use this in my classroom because of the holiday issue and because I want to teach older students, but I did I would start my kindergarteners on the project on the first day of school then read this book on the 100th day of school.

Interest Level http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Grades K - 2
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: 2.7
Lexile® Measure: AD470L
DRA: Not Available
Guided Reading: NR
Type of Book: Counting and Number Book

[Amber McFarland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought Emily's First 100 Days of School is a great book for young readers. It is a counting book who's story is told by Emily and her adventures through the first 100 days of school. It does a great job of keeping the readers attention with every day/number having its own story. The colors and illustrations are also all unique to the certain story which I thought was very helpful as well. Some pages were boarded while others were not. I also liked how some pages were dedicated to just one number/story and others had multiple numbers/stories. This book would be great in the classroom because you can do a similar activity with your students by having them do their own 100 days of school. Overall, I thought this book was great and children reading this will definitely not get bored reading it!

[Karina Arroyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was an okay book i guess it just depends on the age the book is meant for. I personally did not think that the book would be a good bedtime story because it just keeps on going. I also do not think that it is much of a story but more of a list of numbers with an example of how much that number is. At the beginning i thought it was a perfect example of how to demonstrate and teach numbers to children however even after a while i myself got tired of reading it, it became too long. I would have preferred for the book to concentrate on only a small amount of numbers this way children are learning and it is not just a list that keeps going. I think i would recommend this book for children who are a bit bigger who are still having difficulty learning their numbers.

[mRose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this for teaching my Kindergartener to count to 100. It was interesting and the number of the day was BIG. The way we read was I would read the blurb and when it was time to say the number I'd point to it and my son said it. We did the book in increments of 20 (so it took us several days) so that it wasn't overwhelming for him. My copy from the library came with an audio cd of the story. So as review, I waited a week later and played the cd. I thought he'd be uninterested because of how long we went over the story. Him and his younger brother LOVED the audio. I will be borrowing this book again when my younger son is ready to count that high.

[Jasmine Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Emily’s First 100 Days of School is a GREAT book to incorporate Mathematics and Language Arts together. It allows the children to be able to see the connection between the two subject areas. The reading level/ skill of this book may be great for K-2nd grade to read, but Pre-k can listen to the book while it is being read to them and engage in activities. This book also portrays quality of journaling and recoding things daily. I would definitely have this book in my classroom. I would have many different activities for my students to do with this book.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it's certainly long...

After that, I had difficulty understanding Emily's age. On the one hand, she is learning to count to 100 and does not know the basics of reading and writing. These factors, combined with the title suggest she is brand new to school. On the other hand, she knows that five dozen plus one is sixty-one and eight dozen is eighty-four, is able to convert to metric, understands taking a temperature, and knows about driving down Route 66. The skill sets do not mesh.

Not a bad book but a bit strange too.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun counting story that counts all the way up to 100. Good introduction to the first 100 days of school, an event our girls' school celebrated this week. It took us at least 4 reading sessions to get through the whole book.

Our girls love Rosemary Wells' books and they've borrowed this a couple of times from the library. I can't bear to read through the whole thing again, though, so we mainly just talk about the pictures and the numbers.

[Kayla · Rating 2 out of 5]

It surprised me to see that this book is only 12 years old because it seems sort of outdated. I suppose Rosemary Wells was probably drawing on her own childhood experiences. The book is also more of a journal than a story, and it wasn't super entertaining for my son. He's a Max & Ruby fan, so he enjoyed the illustrations of the different animal friends, but overall not one we would read again and again.

[Isela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the colorful pictures that this book provides, the numbers from 1 to 100 and the connection between home and school life. This book can be used to integrate Language Arts and Mathematics and the 100 days of school. However, this book would take too much time if it is used as a read aloud to children.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with fun references (see Music Man's 76 Trombones, which one can't help but pull up on YouTube later, to my kids' delight) you could choose to explain or let be, this is a wonderful book for preschoolers and kindergarteners to listen to. It's long, so having the accompanying CD is a big plus.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an adult I found this book really long. I can't imagine a child in the first year of school sitting down to listen to this in one reading. With that said, I can see that this book would make a great serial read for parents and teachers. It addresses many issues faced by children in their first year of school and could lead to some interesting discussions.