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MR. S

Name: MR. S
Author: Monica Arnaldo
ISBN: 9780063003958

by Monica Arnaldo ; illustrated by Monica Arnaldo ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2023

Far from stale and ripe for repeat reading.

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One dreary day in room 2B, a class of kids embraces a sandwich as instructor.

On the first day of school, a light-skinned man carefully writes the words Mr. S on the blackboard and then, noticing that a tree has crashed on his car, dashes out to the parking lot, leaving behind a stack of papers and a sandwich. When a dozen or so big-eyed students arrive, they argue about what to do in the absence of their teacher, but when a ruler falls to the floor with a mysterious “THWACK!” the kids come to a conclusion: The sandwich is their instructor. Held together with a toothpick pierced through two green olives, Mr. Sandwich appears to glare at them, so they get to work, with a day of learning centered on (you guessed it) sandwiches. Attentive readers will delight in following the parallel plot through the classroom window as a series of disasters continue to befall the car and will enjoy the satisfying and creative twist. Salmon-colored walls invoke an appropriately unsettled feeling. Everything about the narrative is playful, and readers will be sucked in by a seriously funny question: Can a sandwich be a teacher? The students are racially diverse; one uses forearm crutches, while another uses a wheelchair. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Far from stale and ripe for repeat reading. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 13, 2023

ISBN: 9780063003958

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MUSEUM OF VERY BAD SMELLS
by Monica Arnaldo ; illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LAST SLICE
by Melissa Seron Richardson ; illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

- BOOK REVIEW
ARE YOU A CHEESEBURGER?
by Monica Arnaldo ; illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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BUDDY'S NEW BUDDY

From the Growing With Buddy series , Vol. 3

by Christina Geist ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2022

Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient.

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How do you make a new friend when an old one moves away?

Buddy (from Sorry, Grown-Ups, You Can’t Go to School, 2019, etc.) is feeling lonely. His best friend just moved across town. To make matters worse, there is a field trip coming up, and Buddy needs a bus partner. His sister, Lady, has some helpful advice for making a new pal: “You just need to find something you have in common.” Buddy loves the game Robo Chargers and karate. Surely there is someone else who does, too! Unfortunately, there isn’t. However, when a new student arrives (one day later) and asks everyone to call her Sunny instead of Alison, Buddy gets excited. No one uses his given name, either; they just call him Buddy. He secretly whispers his “real, official name” to Sunny at lunch—an indication that a true friendship is being formed. The rest of the story plods merrily along, all pieces falling exactly into place (she even likes Robo Chargers!), accompanied by Bowers’ digital art, a mix of spot art and full-bleed illustrations. Friendship-building can be an emotionally charged event in a child’s life—young readers will certainly see themselves in Buddy’s plight—but, alas, there is not much storytelling magic to be found. Buddy and his family are White, Sunny and Mr. Teacher are Black, and Buddy’s other classmates are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Making friends isn’t always this easy and convenient. (Picture book. 4-7)