This Is My Home, This Is My School

Bean (Big Snow) offers a humorous and informative view of a homeschooling household. The boy who narrates--inspired by Bean himself, as family photos at the end make clear--stands amid a flock of chickens and addresses readers. "This is my home," he says. When the page turns, he's still there. "And this is my school." Bean's scribbly pen-and-ink style is perfectly suited for the liveliness of a home in which the living room is both a place to relax and a classroom, the kitchen is the cafeteria, and the family car is also the school bus. The living room is packed with papers, animals, plants, and furniture; it takes some effort to locate the teacher (his mother) and her pupils (the boy and his sisters). Bean shows the children canning fruit, playing music, and doing field biology in a creek: "We have a lot of classrooms," he explains. Children whose classrooms are heavily regimented and lit with fluorescents will envy the family; it's clear that it's easier to learn in a place that feels like home. Ages 3-6. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Oct.)

Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

PreS-Gr 1--In his second semi-autobiographical picture book, Bean introduces young audiences to one family's homeschooling experience. The well-paced narrative draws clear connections between the details of a traditional school environment--with a teacher, a cafeteria, and classrooms--and a homeschool setting--Mom and Dad are the teachers, the kitchen becomes the lunch room, and the house, the yard, the nearby pond, and the garage are all used as classrooms. In Bean's depiction of homeschooling, every moment of the day becomes a chance to learn, from outdoor art classes to evening star-gazing to the "homework" of helping out with farm chores. Watercolor illustrations with loosely defined borders perfectly capture the jumbled chaos of a dual-purpose household, while pen-and-ink lines and plenty of white space provide definition and space for viewers to take in the many details. In this home, towering piles of books, scattered papers, and canning jars share space with butterfly nets, chemistry beakers, and art supplies, reinforcing the family's philosophy that every experience has educational possibilities. The simple sentence structure and vocabulary make this a great choice for emerging readers, and the strong sense of place, anchoring the school experience to a family's beloved home while also opening it up to embrace the wider world, will resonate with young children just beginning to navigate the home/school divide. VERDICT Bean's introduction to a free-spirited yet structured homeschool lifestyle offers a warm and accessible perspective on an increasingly common educational choice rarely seen in children's books. A first purchase.--Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"This is no ordinary back-to-school tale." —USA Today

"A great choice for emerging readers, and the strong sense of place, anchoring the school experience to a family's beloved home while also opening it up to embrace the wider world, will resonate with young children just beginning to navigate the home/school divide." —School Library Journal, starred review

"Homeschooling families rejoice! This warm, uplifting, and hilarious book will delight kids who wonder if other families live just like they do. My family laughed, nodded, and smiled all the way through—from the first illustration to the last. Sure to become a classic on homeschoolers' bookshelves all over the world." —Sarah Mackenzie, Creator, Read-Aloud Revival and author of Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace

"Warmhearted . . . Capture[s] the coziness as well as the frenetic pace of the homeschooling day." —The Horn Book

"The family from Building Our House returns, but this time their son tells readers all about life as a home-schooled kid . . . Home sweet school." —Kirkus Reviews

"Humorous and informative . . . Bean's scribbly pen-and-ink style is perfectly suited for the liveliness of a home in which the living room is both a place to relax and a classroom, the kitchen is the cafeteria, and the family car is also the school bus." —Publishers Weekly