  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 05/15/2020 Lively haiku pairs with vibrant art to showcase various facets of the first day of school. Beginning with “New Stuff” and a packed backpack (“All the bright new things / Smell like sunrise, like glitter— / I am dressed, let’s go!”), scenarios throughout a brightly decorated building and titled poems portray students’ assorted activities and experiences. A classroom includes “Name Tags” (“at every desk . . . a place just for you”), standing for the “Pledge, and the class hamster. Students visit the library (“the school’s heartbeat”) and the lunchroom, with playful, lighthearted moments (pretending to be pirates at recess) interspersed among a supportive recognition of potential kid fears, such as getting lost or meeting new people. Ultimately, the day concludes with a cheerful “May we come back tomorrow?” Cartoonlike, expressive mixed-media illustrations are an eye-catching blend of bright colors, patterns, and perspectives; the multicultural kids and adults further the sense of inclusiveness. With its reassuring and upbeat elements, this may also help alleviate first-day fears as it highlights the many positive opportunities that await. - Copyright 2020 Booklist. School Library Journal - 07/01/2020 PreS-Gr 1—Loosely linked haiku poems tell the story of a child's first day of school, starting with packing new school supplies in the morning all the way through arriving home later that day. The unnamed child at the start and end is light-skinned with a straight brown bob. However, the poems quickly introduce—and then just as briskly move on from—diverse characters and topics, from playground games to library time. The mixed media illustrations show children and teachers of various skin and hair colors and hair types; one child is shown using a wheelchair and one adult wears a hijab. It's refreshing to see the adult at the school library present as masculine while the school bus driver presents feminine. While the book's title references a pro-diversity, pro-immigrant, pro-LGBTQIA message, the interior alludes to this message only subtly; it's not clear that anyone in the book is LGBTQIA or an immigrant. Overall the tone is cheerful and reassuring. VERDICT A pleasant addition to first-day-of-school literature that focuses on the some of the upsides of school.—Sarah Stone, San Francisco P.L. - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. School Library Journal - 07/01/2020 PreS-Gr 1—Loosely linked haiku poems tell the story of a child's first day of school, starting with packing new school supplies in the morning all the way through arriving home later that day. The unnamed child at the start and end is light-skinned with a straight brown bob. However, the poems quickly introduce—and then just as briskly move on from—diverse characters and topics, from playground games to library time. The mixed media illustrations show children and teachers of various skin and hair colors and hair types; one child is shown using a wheelchair and one adult wears a hijab. It's refreshing to see the adult at the school library present as masculine while the school bus driver presents feminine. While the book's title references a pro-diversity, pro-immigrant, pro-LGBTQIA message, the interior alludes to this message only subtly; it's not clear that anyone in the book is LGBTQIA or an immigrant. Overall the tone is cheerful and reassuring. VERDICT A pleasant addition to first-day-of-school literature that focuses on the some of the upsides of school.—Sarah Stone, San Francisco P.L. - Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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