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OLU'S TEACHER

Name: OLU'S TEACHER
Author: Jamel C. Campbell
ISBN: 9781536231465

A STORY ABOUT STARTING PRESCHOOL

by Jamel C. Campbell ; illustrated by Lydia Mba ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Both an encouraging first-day-of-school read and a tribute to the power of representation.

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Early-childhood educator Campbell makes his picture-book debut with the story of a boy conquering back-to-school jitters.

Olu, a young Black boy, is nervous about starting preschool. His mother reminds him that his friends will be there. “But what about the teacher?” Olu wonders. He peppers his parents with questions: “What do teachers LOOK like?” “Where do teachers LIVE?” “What if my teacher has big, sharp teeth like a T. rex?” Mom and Dad’s reassurances don’t stop Olu’s tummy from wobbling all the way to school. But when he arrives at his classroom, his teacher isn’t what he expected. Instead of a ferocious monster, he meets a hip, smiling Black man with a gold tooth who invites Olu to call him Jay. Jay shows Olu around, gives him some crayons, and encourages him to draw a picture; later, he tells the class a story about a princess and a dragon. Jay reminds Olu of someone…but who? Gazing in the mirror as he gets ready to go home, Olu realizes: “He looks like me!” Told in a realistic, appealingly childlike voice, this loving book emphasizes how important it is for children of color to have educators in whom they can see themselves. Mba’s bright, homey illustrations set the perfect tone to welcome youngsters to the classroom. In a note for adults, Campbell offers tips for helping kids get excited about preschool.

Both an encouraging first-day-of-school read and a tribute to the power of representation. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: May 7, 2024

ISBN: 9781536231465

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: March 16, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)