A New School Year [hc]
Stories in Six Voices
Written by Sally Derby [OH] & illustrated by Mika Song
In a unique narrative, readers meet a diverse group of six children ranging in age from Kindergarten through fifth grade. With nerves and excitement each child gears up for a new school year by hustling in the morning, meeting new teachers and new classmates during the day, and heading home with homework and relief by day’s end.
Simple, bright illustrations focus on each child and his/her worries, hopes, and successes on the first day of school. 48 pages
"The collection presents readers with snapshots of first days across the spectrum of grades, from stomach butterflies and new-teacher worries to class jobs and making both mistakes and new friends... Diverse in so many ways, this could be a springboard to readers' own poems about school." -Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review (Ages 4-10)
"Children of every grade can read this and empathize with children both younger and older than themselves, while simultaneously looking forward to the days when they’ll fill the older grades... Honest and diverse, touching and good, this book’s a keeper." -Elizabeth Bird, Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system
"Designed as vignettes, Derby's free-verse stories depict common themes... [that] children preparing for their first days of school frequently face. Song's muted watercolor illustrations capture tranquil snapshots of everyday life as well as evocative facial expressions conveying the many moods portrayed in Derby's candid storytelling." -Booklist (Kindergarten-Grade 3)
2018 Cooperative Children's Book Center choice, Poetry
June 27, 2017
Signed Edition; Can be personalized
