This School Year Will Be the BEST!

July 26, 2010
On the first day of school, every student shares a wish for the upcoming year. Some wishes are quotidian (“I’ll look good in my school picture”; “I won’t lose things in my desk”) while others are more whimsical: “The principal will do something crazy!” “We’ll have a chocolate fountain at lunch!” There’s no plot to speak of, but Andriani’s paintings lend humor and heart to even the most mundane wishes, helping elevate this from just a catalogue of hopeful sentiments. Ages 4–8.

June 1, 2010

On the first day of school, this primary-grade teacher encourages her students to share their hopes for the coming year. In one- or two-page spreads, the wishes unfold: for the best seat on the bus, a chocolate fountain at lunch, to kick the ball into the right goal, not to be a vegetable in the school play. The quotidian-but-nevertheless-marvelous ("at least one snow day") mixes with the slightly ridiculous ("We'll have Skateboard Day") to provide a kid-level survey of anticipated fun. Andriani's line-and-watercolor cartoons likewise mix the fanciful (one little boy brings his giant purple boa constrictor for show-and-tell) and the realistic (two girls jump double Dutch as one of them imagines making friends in her new school). A catalog more than a story, this agreeable book could act as a fruitful springboard for class brainstorming. (Picture book. 4-7)

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August 1, 2010
K-Gr 3—-n this ode to the school year, children will delight in discovering the wishes of a class of students for the days ahead. On the very first day, the teacher asks her students to share a hope for the year. These are printed in varying fonts and range from the expected, "I'll look good in my school picture" to the fantastical, "We'll have a chocolate fountain at lunch!" Readers will recognize their own experiences in dreams that reflect kicking the ball into the right goal, of not being a vegetable in the school play, and of making friends. Each time a hope is expressed, the font switches, ranging from script to bold and block letters. Each hope (20 in all) is illustrated with whimsy and movement. Pair this book with Jamie Harper's "Miss Mingo and the First Day of School"(Candlewick, 2006) for a read-aloud that sets a fun tone for the year.—"Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2010
Grades K-2 On the first day of school, the teacher gathers her students into a circle to share their wishes for the coming year. Some are negative (I wont be a vegetable in our school play), some rosy (Ill look good in my school picture), and some perhaps overly optimistic (Well have SKATEBOARD DAY), but as a group, they reflect a great many facets of the elementary-school experience. The text concludes with the teachers wish to get to know each one of you, which falls a bit flat. The final, wordless double-page spread, with happy children holding crayon pictures emblematic of their wishes, creates a more satisfying ending for this picture book. And, in the classroom, it could lead straight into the years first art project. The short text leaves plenty of space for Andriani to work in, and she uses it imaginatively, creating upbeat and sometimes comical ink-and-wash illustrations. A good discussion starter for the beginning of the school year.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)