PW Features ALL WELCOME HERE In Its Back-to-School Roundup

Well, gee, readers: Has there ever been a better time to come out with a back-to-school book?

Well, yeah, yeah, there has been a better time. Pretty much all other times would have been better.

Oh well!

Anyway, an aside: I thought this was funny in a funny-very-not-funny way.

 

The image was posted by a blogger, Christine Stevens, who teaches theater in a middle school. Click here for the full post that accompanies it. Or just stay for the headline: “Note from the Principal: This Fall Your Classroom Will be Equipped with a Lion.”

Ha, ha, oh crap.

The Lion is a Metaphor, Folks!

Good luck, my friends, and please take every precaution to keep yourself and your students safe. I’m worried about you.

Moving on to the real reason I invited you here . . . 

BACK TO SCHOOL BOOKS

That’s right! Regardless of how schools open, or not; regardless of how we teach and learn, online or in person; there are time-honored themes that feel especially appropriate for any school year — and, yes, maybe even especially for 2020.

Emma Kantor, writing for Publishers Weekly, put together a list of titles that she felt were particularly right for this time of year. I was happy to see All Welcome Here at the top of the (alphabetical) list:

While it remains uncertain if schools across the country will reopen for students this fall, we’ve gathered a selection of noteworthy books to get young readers back in the spirit of learning and connecting with teachers and classmates—in-person or at a distance.

Picture Books

All Welcome Here

James Preller, illus. by Mary GrandPré. Feiwel and Friends, June 16 $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-250-15588-7. Ages 4–7.

The creator of the Jigsaw Jones series switches creative tacks with this sequence of haiku that propels classmates through a busy opening day of school, highlighting their activities, personalities, and emotions. Caldecott Honoree GrandPré captures the day’s shifting moods in pictures of absorbed, interacting kids of various skin tones and abilities.

Here’s the full link, just stomp on it. Emma includes many books that look pretty great from where I’m sitting. Check ’em out.

Thank you very much, Emma, both Mary and I appreciate the support!

 

 

 

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