Review of "I Know What You Do When I Go to School" by Siona Talekar

Score: 91/100 (9.1 out of 10)

What do our parents do when us kids are at school?
While we're slaving over math, language arts, science, and social studies?
While we're huffing, puffing, and sweating in P.E.?

I Know What You Do When I Go to School is a cute, lighthearted, yet thought-provoking children's book by young prodigy Siona Talekar, who wrote AND illustrated this book!

In fact, she started working on this book at the age of SEVEN!

What were you doing at the age of seven? Probably not working toward publishing a book. Probably not illustrating, writing, or putting ideas together this well.

What Talekar has accomplished at such a young age is nothing short of inspiring.

A lot of credit needs to go to Talekar for putting this all together—what an achievement in and of itself!

The concept behind this book is also genius. As adults, we often take for granted how children think and interpret the world around them. It's a bit of a mystery how they view and/or understand certain things versus how you (an adult) view and/or understand them.

For example, remember being a kid and hearing for the first time that someone was "FIRED"? To a kid, that might actually mean that someone was burned, not terminated from their job.

Remember hearing for the first time about "potty training"? Maybe to a kid, potty training has nothing to do with toilets and more to do with the TRAIN cars they love playing with.

It's a really fascinating and funny matter of perspectives.

Talekar captures that well.

She takes a question every kid has secretly wondered—what do grown-ups do when we’re not around?—and turns it into a whimsical, laugh-out-loud, and surprisingly touching journey through the eyes of a child.

Each page flips between Siona’s school day struggles and her colorful (and hilarious) guesses about her mom’s “secret life”—which includes eating cake in bed, watching movies, partying with unicorns and dragons, and devouring all the best snacks on Earth. But what truly elevates the book is the twist: her mom isn’t lounging around—she’s a pediatric oncologist, hard at work helping kids fight cancer.

This powerful contrast between imagination and reality doesn't just entertain—it grounds the story in real-world appreciation. It celebrates the quiet strength of working moms, the boundless creativity of kids, and the universal desire to feel connected to the ones we love.

Let's just stop a moment to discuss the book's trailer (produced by Story Monsters) and how it captures the inspiration and interesting history behind the book. Perhaps the most amazing thing about the trailer is seeing some of the original artwork that Talekar produced when she was just seven. It was discovered years later and prompted renewed interest in the project.

Talekar, thirteen and in seventh grade at the time of the book's publication, describes how proud and excited she is to finally be an author--to finally have an opportunity to see her book on shelves! It's sobering and inspiring to think about how far she has come to bring this story to life! The trailer, interestingly enough, also shines in ways which may have been great to see in Story Monsters's documentary series, Hiding in Holland. In contrast to the documentary series, this book trailer effectively incorporates music, graphics, and even footage of things like the aforementioned first-grade artwork. It's dynamic and fun (just like this book)!

Talekar is a prodigy whose ability to illustrate and tell stories will only get better and better with time and practice. She is proof that children are capable, competent, imaginative, insightful, and utterly fascinating!

I Know What You Do When I Go to School is heartfelt, hilarious, and packed with personality. And knowing it all came from the mind and pen of a first grader? That just makes it unforgettable.

Check it out on Amazon!