This class gets an A.
Ring the bell! A class of anthropomorphized animals assembles for their first day of school.
At Hazelwood Elementary, Mr. Wolf, the new fourth-grade teacher, is looking forward to meeting his class. As the buses roll in and the children arrive, he meets new student Margot, a tawny rabbit; Aziza, a violet duck in a hijab; Penny, a sleepy, apricot-colored pig; and Sampson, a lime-green frog with a beloved shell collection; and more. The narrative lens bounces cheerily around the classroom, from various students to their teacher, encompassing authentic elementary school experiences including embarrassing bathroom moments, cutting in line, silly fart jokes, purloined classroom items, and playground shenanigans. Steinke’s character-driven graphic offering pays keen attention to its cheerfully colored denizens, keeping them centered in his cleanly rendered panels and utilizing close-ups to highlight emotion and expression. Young readers should easily self-identify with fifth-grade teacher Steinke’s varied and sharply observed characters and wryly perceived classroom minutiae. Although none of the notably diverse characters are explored with any great depth, they are all given enough attention to be memorable, creating anticipation for further meetings in this promising new series.
This class gets an A. (Graphic fantasy. 6-10)Pub Date: June 26, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-04769-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Bland pictures and superficial presentation sink this problem-solver. Feeling slighted by new neighbor Jeremy, the aggrieved young narrator accepts his father’s offer to make an “enemy pie.” Dad insists on doing the baking, but tells the lad that the recipe also requires spending a day playing with the enemy—after which, predictably, the two lads sit down as newly minted friends for pie à la mode. Though the narrator speculates about the pie’s ingredients, the promisingly gross worm-and-weed dishes on the cover never materialize in the illustrations inside, nor are any of Jeremy’s supposed offenses depicted. Instead, King shows the boys in a series of conventional, static scenes, throwing water balloons at girls and other fun activities. Meanwhile, Dad’s fixed, knowing smile invites viewers to share the conceit—even though his naïve son never does catch on. And is Jeremy really so hostile? He displays so little individual character that it’s hard to get a read on him; he just seems to be going with the flow. Invite readers to order up a bowl of Betsy Everitt’s Mean Soup (1992) instead, or a slice of Margie Palatini’s Piggie Pie (1995). (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8118-2778-X
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
Lesson learned: Read for fun, not for competition.
Can a third-grader like to read too much?
Principal Boone throws down the gauntlet: He will shave his beard if the students at Franklin School read 2,000 books in a month. Kelsey Green is excited. After all, she is the best reader in her class. Kelsey doesn’t care if the winning class wins a pizza party or if the principal shaves his beard or kisses a pig, but she does care if she beats classmate Simon Ellis, therefore securing her name on a plaque. Kelsey’s competitive nature exposes the dark side to such contests: She figures out that short books (poetry, Junie B. Jones, etc.) will move her closer to her goal, even though they are not the books she usually reads. She assumes that Simon is cheating and sets off to prove it. She begins to dread family events since they take time away from reading for the contest. But Cody, a boy in her class, is not reading. Kelsey finally discovers what is really important when she helps him learn to read. Though Kelsey is borderline unlikable for most of the contest, Mills allows for redemption when Kelsey realizes that Simon is not cheating and that Cody has a lot to offer the class. Sprinkled with titles even new readers will likely recognize, this new series shows a lot of promise.
Lesson learned: Read for fun, not for competition. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-374-37485-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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