Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 06/01/2017 Ethan, Zach, Katie, Jackie, Carlos, and Mia prepare for the first day of school. Entering kindergarten through fifth grade, respectively, the children face uncharted territory and cope with their circumstances in different ways. The six kids are of various backgrounds and have a broad range of worries and habits, but they’re unified in their anxiety. Amid their uncertainty, the children are pleasantly surprised when their first days turn out to be better than expected. Neatly packed into four sections—“The Night Before”; “In the Morning”; “At School”; and “After School”—Derby’s poems guide readers through each child’s experiences during the 24-hour period. Designed as vignettes, Derby’s free-verse stories depict common themes, such as worry, hope, and wonder, which nicely evoke the common emotional struggles children preparing for their first days of school frequently face. Song’s muted watercolor illustrations capture tranquil snapshots of everyday life as well as evocative facial expressions conveying the many moods portrayed in Derby’s candid storytelling. Kids anxious about their first days will likely be comforted by this easygoing collection. - Copyright 2017 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 08/01/2017 K-Gr 3—The angst suffered by many youngsters contemplating the first day of a new school year is charmingly and realistically captured in this collection of 24 poems that express the thoughts and concerns of six children entering kindergarten through grade five. Each of the book's four sections—"The Night Before," "In the Morning," "At School," and "After School"—includes a first-person narrative by one of the children. In the first section, Ethan hides his teddy bear's fuzzy jacket in his pants pocket to bring him comfort on his first day of kindergarten. Zach wonders if first grade rules will be different from last year's, and Katie contemplates the news that her second grade teacher is a man. Third grader Jackie worries about having to arrive "a whole hour before school starts/so Mama can catch the bus to work." Carlos (grade four) fears being friendless at his new school, and Mia falls asleep fretting about fifth grade homework and whether to fix her hair to cover her hearing aids. Song's delightful large cartoon illustrations—brushed sumi ink outlines and detail filled with watercolor—show various ethnicities at home and in the classroom and concerned expressions that become relaxed and happy as children quickly adapt to school routines. Kids in grades four and five share the same round faces and short stature as the younger children. VERDICT Teachers will enjoy using this engaging collection as an ice breaker or as impetus for a first day writing project.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.