It's My School - Hardcover

Sally Grindley has known she wanted to be a writer her whole life. Sally lives in England with her partner, three boys, two cats, a hamster, a few woodlice, and too many spiders. She has written 38 books.

Margaret Chamberlain divides her time between London and Lyme Regis in England. She is the illustrator of many books for children. This is her first book for Walker & Company.

Starred Review. Kindergarten-Grade 2–Older children have much to get used to whenever a younger sibling enters the mix, and these lessons are often ongoing. Alice is entering kindergarten and is nervous, while big brother Tom is unhappy about the fact that he now has to share his school with her. When asked by his parents to keep an eye on her, he grimaces, growls, and tries his best to ignore her. At the same time that Alice is acclimating to her new situation, Tom is seen trying to find his sister's yellow curls in a line of children or looking for her on the playground while he is supposedly playing with his friends. When he hears a cry and realizes that another child has taken her beloved teddy bear away, Tom swoops in to save it and comfort her with a kiss. The large illustrations evoke thoughts of Helen Oxenbury or Jan Ormerod's work, and are depicted in soft pastel hues, capturing the siblings' facial expressions and the varying degrees of emotion that they experience throughout the day. This is a new take on first-day-of-school stories, and a realistic choice to help children share their lives with a younger sibling.–Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY
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