Still, as a Teacher Appreciation Day gift, it's a mighty nice alternative to an apple.
A young girl sporting dreadlocks addresses readers directly, telling them all about her teacher in an attempt to explain why the elderly woman continues to teach in her school rather than retiring or teaching “across town, where the sun always shines.”
The standard elements are all here: She encourages their talents, teaches a love of reading, addresses their concerns, shows off their progress, seizes the teachable moment and, most especially, helps them make their dreams come true. Readers will find the typical classroom activities here (journal writing and reports, among others) but also some that may be new to them: dancing to jazz records, collecting food for needy neighborhood families and hearing stories about prior students. Readers will certainly appreciate the exceptional qualities of this teacher, but they may not respond to the manner in which her praises are sung. Ransome leaves no room for doubt that this is an underprivileged school in a predominantly minority neighborhood. His watercolors depict a kindly teacher with a loving face and her diverse bunch of studious students, whose expressive faces practically show the growth and learning that are taking place. Although children may benefit from seeing a rather different classroom than that usually portrayed, this is one of those picture books seemingly aimed more at adults than kids. The dedication says it all: “To all the dedicated teachers who come in early, leave late, and give a little something extra for the students.”
Still, as a Teacher Appreciation Day gift, it's a mighty nice alternative to an apple. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 26, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3259-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2012
An all-day sugar rush, putting the “fun” back into, er, education.
A young visionary describes his ideal school: “Perfectly planned and impeccably clean. / On a scale, 1 to 10, it’s more like 15!”
In keeping with the self-indulgently fanciful lines of If I Built a Car (2005) and If I Built a House (2012), young Jack outlines in Seussian rhyme a shiny, bright, futuristic facility in which students are swept to open-roofed classes in clear tubes, there are no tests but lots of field trips, and art, music, and science are afterthoughts next to the huge and awesome gym, playground, and lunchroom. A robot and lots of cute puppies (including one in a wheeled cart) greet students at the door, robotically made-to-order lunches range from “PB & jelly to squid, lightly seared,” and the library’s books are all animated popups rather than the “everyday regular” sorts. There are no guards to be seen in the spacious hallways—hardly any adults at all, come to that—and the sparse coed student body features light- and dark-skinned figures in roughly equal numbers, a few with Asian features, and one in a wheelchair. Aside from the lack of restrooms, it seems an idyllic environment—at least for dog-loving children who prefer sports and play over quieter pursuits.
An all-day sugar rush, putting the “fun” back into, er, education. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-55291-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Teachers will certainly find themselves wishing for their own arsenal of supplies to help them with their grading, and...
Obviously inspired by "The Little Red Hen," this goes beyond the foundation tale's basic moral about work ethic to explore problem solving, teamwork and doing one’s best.
Nighttime at school brings the Little Red Pen out of the drawer to correct papers, usually aided by other common school supplies. But not this time. Too afraid of being broken, worn out, dull, lost or, worst of all, put in the “Pit of No Return” (aka trash), they hide in the drawer despite the Little Red Pen’s insistence that the world will end if the papers do not get corrected. But even with her drive she cannot do it all herself—her efforts send her to the Pit. It takes the ingenuity and cooperation of every desk supply to accomplish her rescue and to get all the papers graded, thereby saving the world. The authors work in lots of clever wordplay that will appeal to adult readers, as will the spicy character of Chincheta, the Mexican pushpin. Stevens’ delightfully expressive desk supplies were created with paint, ink and plenty of real school supplies. Without a doubt, she has captured their true personalities: the buck-toothed stapler, bespectacled scissors and rather empty-headed eraser.
Teachers will certainly find themselves wishing for their own arsenal of supplies to help them with their grading, and students may take a second glance at that innocuous-looking red pen on the teacher’s desk. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 18, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-15-206432-7
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: April 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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