This Is My School

by Mark Weakland, Nina de Polonia - Nill (Illustrator)

How do I find my way around school? This Is My School gives young readers the grand tour through all the rooms and special areas that make up an elementary-school building. Featuring playful illustrations that embrace diversity, and led by a 1st-person student narrator, the tour takes kids to the front office, the library, the gym, the nurse’s office, and other rooms.

Genres: Picture Books, School

32 pages, Library Binding

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

While earning a degree in the sciences, author/educator/musician Mark Weakland played drums and percussion with scores of Pittsburgh-based bands. He then went on to earn multiple teacher certifications and a master’s degree in education.

Mark expresses his creative side through music and writing. He is the author of eighteen non-fiction children’s books. Upcoming books, written as collaborations between Warner Brothers, Sports Illustrated Kids, and Capstone Press, include a set of Scooby-Doo (and mathematics) books, a set of Wile E. Coyote (and physics) books, and a set of hockey (shapes and patterns) books.

Other kid projects include an award-winning audio book, a poetry collection, and Jack Attack, his first YA novel. Mark’s books have received outstanding reviews from Booklist and Library Media Connection and won multiple awards, such as the 2012 Green Award for Sustainable Children’s Literature and the 2011 Eureka Nonfiction Children’s Book Award.

His academic book for teachers and administrators, Super Core! Supercharging Your Basal Reading Program with More Reading, Writing, and Word Work, will be published by the International Reading Association in January of 2014.

As a musician and songwriter, Mark has written and recorded music for both kids and grown-ups. His songs have won Parents' Choice and Children's Web awards and finished as finalists in The John Lennon Songwriting and USA Songwriting contests. Performing on drums, guitar, and vocals, Mark still records and plays with various artists and bands in Western Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Laura]

On the surface, this is a sweet book, a tour of an elementary school, from the library, to the cafeteria, to the media room, to the gym. The place is well equipped. The students are multicultural, and there are able-bodied, and able-bodied students and teachers about.

It is a sweet little story, introducing children to what school will look like. It is gentle. It is resuring, and it has bright colors.

But, there is something that bothers me.

This might just be a mismatch between illustrator and author, but I have not been to an elementary school this well equipped in a long time. No elementary school I have seen has a cafeteria, and with such good food, and no public school, in the areas that I have lived in, require uniforms.

This is an amazingly well funded school, and it may be my view, from living in California, where the schools do not get the funding they deserve, but I look at the music classes, and the huge library, and the media center, with banks of computers, and I wonder what elementary schools have these things, these days.



If this is typical in the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, then disregard my hesitation in recommending this book, and pick it up.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Carla]

My grandson is in kindergarten so I read this book to and with him. He liked comparing it to his school. He wanted to know things like, "why are all the kids dressed the same?" and "can I get a lunch like that at my school?" so we had a discussion about different kinds of schools and what makes schools different. He immediately mentioned that they learn french at his school (he attends a french immersion school) so he was okay with the differences. I loved that the classes had students that were diverse in nationality as well as physicality. He enjoyed the story, but it is not one that he wanted to read again. The illustrations were well done, vibrant and large. They added to the text very well. This would be a great book to read to children who are beginning school and might be a bit apprehensive with the caveat that the idea that his/her school might not be exactly like this one. The publisher, Picture Window Books, generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

[Mehsi]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Meet Khushi, she wants to be a doctor, and also can I mention that I love that her birthday is just 2 days further from mine (I am a 5th February girl).

Our girl will tell us all about her school, a true American school. Yes, I would call it that, as my elementary school was quite a bit different. We didn’t have a library, just a few bookshelves on a wall. No cafetaria, you just bring your own sandwiches if you stay over for lunch and eat those in a selected classroom with a teacher who watches over the kids. Well, that is if you stay and eat at school, most kids choose to go home and eat lunch there (as it is often just a few minutes of walking or cycling). I would have loved a school mascot, I read a lot about them in books about England/US/Australia and they always sound so awesome. But even though it wasn’t that much relatable to me, I had fun reading about this girl’s school and what her favourite thing was.

This would definitely make a nice present for a kid who is about to go to school for the very first time. To show what is in a school, what kind of things you can expect, maybe easing the worries of the little one a bit more. Knowing that it is a fun place with tons of great activities.

At the end we also have a glossary, and I do like that it was added. Then on some pages there are also the Your Turn! bits asking kids about things that were mentioned on that specific page. Like with the gym the question was: “If you were a gym teacher, what sport would you teach to others and why?”

The art was really fun and cute, and I just loved the style of it.

All in all, a very fun book to read, and I hope that Khushi will return to show some other places as well, or maybe another character can tow us around other important buildings.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Julie]

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you have a child just starting elementary, this is a good book to help ease some of their worries about something new. Fun pictures and pretty good detail.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[joyce w. laudon]

Do you have a child who will be starting school soon? Would they like to know what to expect? If the answer is yes, this book is for you. Tour school with young student, Kushi. She goes through all of the important parts of the building, including important stops like lunchrooms and bathrooms. Classrooms, the office, library, gym and more are included in this reassuring visit. With its colorful, multicultural illustrations and additional resources, this story will be a welcome addition to the genre.

[Flocarine]

Description
How do I find my way around school? This Is My School gives young readers the grand tour through all the rooms and special areas that make up an elementary-school building. Featuring playful illustrations and led by a 1st-person student narrator, the tour takes kids to the front office, the library, the gym ... even the very mysterious teachers' lounge!

My opinion
.. for 5-7 years old readers! Well, I´m 42 and I really enjoy reading and looking at this book, very colorful and interesting. As a Mom of a disabled child I was very pleased to see that wheelchairs and "special needs" Kids and Teachers were in it - with lots of different skin tones ... sooooo important today! And Khushi also loves Outer Space - like me!!! =)) Love it!!!

Note 1-2 or a B