All Welcome Here

Lively haiku pairs with vibrant art to showcase various facets of the first day of school. Cartoonlike, expressive mixed-media illustrations are an eye-catching blend of bright colors, patterns, and perspectives; the multicultural kids and adults further the sense of inclusiveness. With its reassuring and upbeat elements, this may also help alleviate first-day fears as it highlights the many positive opportunities that await

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. In the spirit of the title, a new friend defuses a girl's anxiety ("This morning she clung/ To her mother's knees, so scared./ Now look--a kind face!"), and name tags show students where to sit ("At every desk, / A chair with tennis-ball feet, / A place just for you"). The tempo accelerates when it's time to exercise ("We jiggle, wiggle, / Jump and stretch"), and imaginations soar on the reading rug ("She wrestles with bears, / Travels to faraway lands"). In mixed-media art featuring an array of vibrant colors, textures, and patterns, Caldecott Honoree Grandpré captures the day's variable moods in pictures of absorbed, interacting kids of various skin tones and abilities. Though references to a backpack full of "new stuff!" and binary "girls and boys" perhaps welcome fewer than the title's promised "all," the book offers a cheery take on the joys of camaraderie. Ages 4-7. (June)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 1--Loosely linked haiku poems tell the story of a child's first day of school, starting with packing new school supplies in the morning all the way through arriving home later that day. The unnamed child at the start and end is light-skinned with a straight brown bob. However, the poems quickly introduce--and then just as briskly move on from--diverse characters and topics, from playground games to library time. The mixed media illustrations show children and teachers of various skin and hair colors and hair types; one child is shown using a wheelchair and one adult wears a hijab. It's refreshing to see the adult at the school library present as masculine while the school bus driver presents feminine. While the book's title references a pro-diversity, pro-immigrant, pro-LGBTQIA message, the interior alludes to this message only subtly; it's not clear that anyone in the book is LGBTQIA or an immigrant. Overall the tone is cheerful and reassuring. VERDICT A pleasant addition to first-day-of-school literature that focuses on the some of the upsides of school.--Sarah Stone, San Francisco P.L.

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Caldecott Honoree Grandpré captures the day's variable moods in pictures of absorbed, interacting kids of various skin tones and abilities. ... a cheery take on the joys of camaraderie.—Publishers Weekly

Lively haiku pairs with vibrant art to showcase various facets of the first day of school. Cartoonlike, expressive mixed-media illustrations are an eye-catching blend of bright colors, patterns, and perspectives; the multicultural kids and adults further the sense of inclusiveness. With its reassuring and upbeat elements, this may also help alleviate first-day fears as it highlights the many positive opportunities that await.— Booklist

This is a back to school book, during a year when back-to-school is anything but normal. However, this year is the exception. Next year, or the year after that, back to school will be the same with dozens of eager young five-year-olds nervously getting on the bus, going to school and wondering the same things. This book is for them and it'll still help them this year as they go into the dining room or living room.—Daddymojo.net