This Is a School

January 24, 2022
Making his picture book debut, librarian and book advocate Schu invites readers into a school community in which all voices are heard, each person learns, and everyone—and everything, including the plants in the school garden—grows. Starting with the school’s most basic unit (“This is a kid”), spreads pull back to reveal a brick building where children and adults of various abilities, ethnicities, and skin tones come and go, learning, talking, and working. Narration that spotlights “we” and mixed-media spreads by Miller Jamison (A Computer Called Katherine) focus on the communal rather than the individual. Learning means that things can be uncomfortable: “Sometimes we don’t have all the answers. Other days we just feel stuck.” In the spreads that follow, a child who’s “stuck” on a math lesson gets help from teachers and from a fellow student, too. Jamison’s palette uses a full spectrum of gently faded colors in friendly, sun-bleached spreads and vignettes. This introduction to school communities shows children what happens inside a classroom via a vision of school at its best—one that leaves readers with a sense of belonging and inclusion. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Molly O’Neill, Root Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary.

March 18, 2022

PreS-Gr 3-Librarian, blogger, and children's books superstar Schu gives young readers a glimpse into the community life of a school. The book opens with a single student, from a single class that goes out into a single hallway, and shows readers a school teeming with life. Students who sometimes feel as if they don't understand, get the help they need from a teacher or a friend. The student who is excited to learn something new gets to pass on that new knowledge to others. And the student who makes a particularly poor decision finds an adult who's ready to problem solve. Through all of the growth, celebration, and transformation, this is a school community that works together. Using simple, declarative sentences and patterning throughout, this text is well suited for both independent reading as well as a read aloud. The mixed media illustrations (watercolor, acrylic, and digital) are vibrant, showcasing students of multiple ethnicities, genders, and abilities. Dominated by muted or cool colors in the background, the active learning of students and teachers is brought to the forefront. Full spread illustrations showing the whole community mix with smaller, more intimate portrayals of kids and adults hard at work, providing strong movement throughout the story. VERDICT This is a solid choice for classrooms and libraries looking for updated beginning of the year or school stories.-Louie Lauer

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2022
A soaring panegyric to elementary school as a communal place to learn and grow. "This is a kid," Schu begins. "This is a kid in a class. This is a class in a hall...." If that class--possibly second graders, though they could be a year to either side of that--numbers only about a dozen in Jamison's bright paintings, it makes up for that in diversity, with shiny faces of variously brown or olive complexion well outnumbering paler ones; one child using a wheelchair; and at least two who appear to be Asian. (The adult staff is likewise racially diverse.) The children are individualized in the art, but the author's narrative is addressed more to an older set of readers as it runs almost entirely to collective nouns and abstract concepts: "We share. We help. / This is a community, growing." Younger audiences will zero in on the pictures, which depict easily recognizable scenes of both individual and collective learning and play, with adults and classmates always on hand to help out or join in. Signs of conflict are unrealistically absent, but an occasional downcast look does add a bit of nuance to the general air of eager positivity on display. A sad face at an apartment window with a comment that "[s]ometimes something happens, and we can't all be together" can be interpreted as an oblique reference to pandemic closings, but the central message here is that school is a physical space, not a virtual one, where learning and community happen. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A full-hearted valentine. (Picture book. 5-7)

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August 1, 2022

PreS-Gr 3-This book opens with a single student, from a single class that goes out into a single hallway, and shows readers a school teeming with life. A solid choice for classrooms and libraries looking for updated beginning of the year or school stories.

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2022
Preschool-Grade 1 *Starred Review* Schu's debut picture book salutes the school community and the positive role it plays in kids' lives. Beginning with a child (""This is a kid. This is a kid in a class""), everyone is welcomed to this place where one can look, listen, ask, learn, share, and help. Some days go well (creating, cheering, playing); others present challenges (when we fail or can't be together); but overall, school is a collection of important people, adults and students alike. Jamison's watercolor, acrylic, and digital-collage illustrations employ a sunny palette, well suited to the text's upbeat tone. A bright-yellow school bus delivers smiling students of different races and ability to this cheerful, well-cared-for building. Employing a pleasing mix of full-page spreads and smaller scenes, readers are transported to a variety of familiar settings: the library; the playground; art and music rooms; as well as science and math classes. Short sentences and recurring phrases give the story a subtle rhythm that works especially well for prereaders, who will undoubtedly be curious about what goes on behind a school's doors. Schu emphasizes the school as a community, where growth, celebrations, transformations, and work all occur, providing a reassuring introduction to this near-universal experience.Schu's debut picture book salutes the school community and the positive role it plays in kids' lives. Beginning with a child ("This is a kid. This is a kid in a class"), everyone is welcomed to this place where one can look, listen, ask, learn, share, and help. Some days go well (creating, cheering, playing); others present challenges (when we fail or can't be together); but overall, school is a collection of important people, adults and students alike. Jamison's watercolor, acrylic, and digital-collage illustrations employ a sunny palette, well suited to the text's upbeat tone. A bright-yellow school bus delivers smiling students of different races and abilities to this cheerful, well-cared-for building. Employing a pleasing mix of full-page spreads and smaller scenes, the book transports readers to a variety of familiar settings: the library, the playground, and art and music rooms, as well as science and math classes. Short sentences and recurring phrases give the story a subtle rhythm that works especially well for prereaders, who will undoubtedly be curious about what goes on behind a school's doors. Schu emphasizes the school as a community, where growth, celebrations, transformations, and work all occur, providing a reassuring introduction to this near-universal experience.

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