September Starts

As seasons change, fall becomes time for school. In a rhyming text a girl reminds her reluctant brother of all the fun and learning that it will bring. From history to mystery, arithmetic to astronomy, the pair heads to school.Swirling, bolding colored illustrations fill the pages with autumn images and what the children will see and study.

Time to get up, get dressed, brush teeth, and more, all in preparation to open the door and go! Young children will recognize the broad forms of everyday clothing and objects as they feel their varied textures. The sturdy format holds up to rough little hands as they touch and look and begin the day.

Zara’s dog, Moose, loves hellos but not goodbyes. In spite of all efforts, he continues to follow Zara to school until the day Moose graduates from Therapy School. Now every day is a “hello” as Moose accompanies Zara, to her delight and that of her classmates. Soft lines and gentle colors depict the faithful pet and his loyal girl.

Getting your teacher ready for school means starting out with a big smile, then being able to show her how to find iguana books during library time and reminding her where the bathroom is if she doesn’t know. The gentle humor in this turnaround tale is sure to remind children of typical school routines and that everyone may have worries.

In school, Little Plane practices his writing but he finds the loopity loops really tough. He doesn’t give up though and continues to try — until at last, he completes his words! Children will see themselves in the tenacious, child-like airplane with expressive eyes. Brightly colored, digitally created illustrations add to the simple text.

Six children, one in each grade from kindergarten to 5th, share their thoughts and anxieties as the new school year starts. Short, sensitive poems combine with lightly colored illustrations to introduce each individual. The voices and concerns of the children from diverse backgrounds are both relatable and plausible.

The narrator and his friend Tyler will soon start 2nd grade. Will his new teacher and the more advanced grade be as bad as the boys’ older sister warn? Happily, the younger siblings catch on to the teasing when they acknowledge that they are no longer as gullible as first graders! The funny narration is accompanied by jaunty, expressive ink and wash illustrations.

What’s in a book? For one bespectacled mouse, this book is dull, dull, dull. That is, until the mouse meets a “Word-Eating, Flying Whale” that brings a “Glow-in-the-Dark Kung Fu Worm” into the picture. Dry wit and outrageous scenes remind readers of the pleasure in a tall tale told (or read!).

The teacher asks her students what a compound word is. They know that it is two little words put together to make a new word. Now their homework is to come up with more. Where the children find compound words, throughout the day and all around, is presented in cartoon art in panels to illuminate meaning.