When I was visiting Poland last June, my daughter received this amazing book as a gift. I thought it will be worth writing a little bit about it. I have been flipping through this vintage Elementarz — a Polish children’s first reader and it brought back all my memories…Pictures and everything in it is still the same as it was when I was in the first grade!

It is Poland’s original elementary primer written in Polish and used around the world to introduce young learners to the Polish alphabet and basic sentences.

The illustrations by Janusz Grabiański are fantastic — just lovely. Leafing through them brings me right back to the classroom of Polish School, to the anxiety I felt when called on to speak. How I wished I could escape into those pages with young, fictional Ala, play hopscotch with her and her friends, relax in her family’s cozy living room where her mother would feed us tea with milk and sugar…

I love books and my daughter does too, so books are usual gifts she gets. Today this elementarz belongs as a classical examples of the Polish first reader textbook. Though the primer is no longer used in schools, it makes a very nice vintage gift for those familiar with the book.

You can get it on Amazon!

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)