The Exceptionally, Extraordinarily Ordinary First Day of School

July 26, 2010
When the librarian asks a new student about his old school, John describes a place full of wild characters and even wilder adventures. Inside the castle-like building, teachers eat students, animals run rampant, history class involves a time machine, and the field trips are out of this world. Bordering each page are often hilarious “definitions” of items featured in Lorenz’s frenetic scenes (“School bus—A terror-filled nightmare on wheels.... Life only gets worse from here on out”), which are sprinkled with speech bubbles. There’s a dizzying amount of text and art on each spread—no shortage of fodder for readers whose tastes gravitate toward the strange and surreal. Ages 6–9.

November 1, 2010

Gr 2-4-John, the new kid in school, is looking for an unexceptional environment because his old one was just the opposite. "My old school was really, really old. And kind of a hangout for ravens. It could be sorta messy." John's definitions of "Extraordinary facts" related to the various scenarios he describes are listed in glossary panels on the right-hand edges of the fantastical spreads. The pictures were created with watercolor, color pencil, pen-and-ink, and airbrush. Humanlike animals-"Anthropomorphism-The practice of thinking that your pet cat (or rat or rhino) has human qualities"-appear in the detailed visual feasts, which beg for inspection. Eerie surprises exist in the illustrations, and the glossary includes bathroom humor, outrageous comments on teachers, dark humor, and slang. The book's format adds to its appeal with varying fonts for the artwork, a consistent font for the story, and speech bubbles. An unusual picture book, for most libraries.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.