School's First Day of School

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy Library, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 10, 2017

Review

This book offers the reader so, so much. From the wonderful cover with smiling structures, with School in the center, of course, to its chalky endpapers to its historic name (Frederick Douglass Elementary) to its ability to identify and articulate its feelings, readers will find much with which to identify and study in the pages. Young readers will relate to the nervousness of a first day with unknown things. Librarians, teachers, and parents will love using the book to explore those feelings with their students or children. Adult readers would be struck by the nostalgia of their own first day of school. Rex nails the jitters of a first day and the shaky excitement that there will be a second day. But he also captures the sadness of rejection when children express their dislike for School and the need for quiet time after a hectic day of children using its floors/lockers/water fountains, etc. Robinson's illustrations, one to a double-page spread, are excellent. All types of children are drawn here, a girl in glasses, another in a wheelchair, many shades of skin colors, and the pictures match the story perfectly. Even the font is appealing in this well-crafted picture book that should be on every library shelf.

Overall Book Score: excellent