Author: Various; Poems Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins
Illustrator: Ellen Shi
Genre: Picture Book Poetry Collection
Target Ages: Early Elementary School
Publisher: Wordsong
Publication Year: 2018
It's that time of year again: outfits and uniforms are laid out, backpacks are filled with the necessary supplies, lunchboxes and bags are filled with snacks, and hearts and minds wonder what the new school year will bring! And for those children experiencing the classroom for the first time, school can be a placed filled with mystery— Who will teach them and what will they be like? What's in all of those rooms, and what will they be learning in them? Where is the cafeteria, the playground, the gym? Will I like school?
School People is a wonderful collection of poetry selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins that introduces kids to the different people they will meet on the school staff, everyone from the bus driver to the principal to the custodian. And like the variety of the faculty, the poems come in a variety too, featuring both formal and free verse poetry. Ellen Shi's colorful illustrations compliment the poems well, making the school staff and their work in their spaces welcoming to both the students on the pages and the students who are reading about them. Children and parents and guardians will enjoy School People, and so will the teachers, administrators, and school staff the collection poetically celebrates!
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