As the season changes from summer to autumn, the intensity
of students returning to classes energizes many opportunities available for
educational adventures. Read and savor this first-class fiction, remembering
that it takes a village to make learning available to everyone. May we do all
we can to make school a tantalizing, absorbing experience that summons every
person to lifelong learning.
The Invisible Boy
by Trudy Ludwig
illustrated by Patrice Barton
Brian is
shy and feels invisible. Children with “volume control” issues get the
teacher’s attention, the best players and their friends are chosen first for
the kickball game, even lunchtime conversation about birthday parties shows
that Brian wasn’t included. However, during Choosing Time Brian does what he
loves: drawing fire-breathing dragons, space aliens, greedy pirates, and
tellingly, “superheroes with the power to make friends.”
When a new boy, Justin, joins the
class and is teased, Brian thoughtfully puts a note in his cubby. Pencil
sketches painted digitally show Brian in blacks and grays initially. This
contrast highlights his separation from the other parts of his world painted in
vibrant colors.
As Justin includes Brian on his
team for a special project and at the lunch table, Brian is no longer gray, and
his colors begin to change and glow. This clear and uncomplicated story,
complemented by direct and skillfully expressive illustrations, is reassuringly
universal.
Questions for discussion are
included, along with recommended reading for both adults and kids, at the end.
Alfred A. Knopf,
$16.99
Interest Level:
Kindergarten – Grade 2
All Are Welcome
by Alexandra Penfold
illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman
The
diversity and strength of an inclusive community are evident and honored in
this lyrical, rhyming picture book. Wearing hijabs, a yarmulke, turbans, and a
Sikh patka, characters also include a blind child and a child in a wheelchair.
Both children and adults in this welcoming story show a rainbow of skin tones,
hair colors and styles.
World maps in both the classroom
and on the playground emphasize cultural variety. Talented students learn from
and teach each other, and celebrate the Lunar New Year with a dragon dance.
The lilting rhymes in the text -
with the final line in each four-line stanza repeating the title - demonstrate
the cheerful images. “We will learn from each other. / Special talents we’ll
uncover. / There’s a big world to discover. /All are welcome here.”
Families with single parents, parents
of the same gender, and parents of different races are all featured and clearly
valued in both text and brightly illuminated illustrations, which were created
using acrylic paint, ink, crayon, collage and Photoshop. The final double-page
spread unfolds into four panels to showcase a festive observance (including
potluck) of shared discovery and celebration. To be read and re-read, this book
is a profound and vital tribute to individuality, diversity and acceptance, as
the interactions so lovingly demonstrate.
Alfred A. Knopf,
$17.99
Interest Level:
Pre-Kindergarten – Grade 3
Ready and Waiting for
You
by Judi Moreillon
illustrated by Catherine Stock
Starting in
a new school? This sunny picture book is about welcoming, from the bright
yellow school bus and its driver, to the crossing guard, the principal, the
school secretary and the attendance clerk, “Come in. Come in. Come in through
this door. Are you new? We’re ready and waiting for you.” The “open door”
foldout concept, designed by the author, delivers the same message of welcome,
inviting the readers into each scene.
If you’re a
preschooler, a homeschooler, or simply a second-grader moving to a new school,
the librarian, computer tech, gym, art, and music teachers, cafeteria cooks and
workers, custodians, playground monitors, parent volunteers, and classroom
teacher are all at the doors to greet you. The rhythm and rhyme of the
repetitive text accompanied by colorful torn-paper illustrations together
stimulate excitement for beginning the school year and propel the story.
The exuberant hospitality of school
employees and students with a variety of skin tones and kind-hearted bustle is
a promising beginning for any student transitioning to an unfamiliar school
setting. “Come in through this door . . . We won’t be a whole school till you
do. Everyone’s waiting for you!”
Eerdmans, $17
Interest Level: Kindergarten
– Grade 2
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