It’s not uncommon to find poetry picture books on evergreen topics, nonfiction matter, or collections of poems by others.  It is less common to find fictional collections of poetry.  It’s even LESS common to find this sort of thing in free verse (at least in my experience so far).

Today’s book not only caught my attention because of the buzz it was garnering, but because of its unique premise.  It focuses on six kids in different grades just starting a new school year.  They range from young (Kindergarten) to older (Fifth Grade).  The book is also divided up into three sections.  We meet each of the students-to-be before their first day of school, then on the start of their first day of school, and finish with the end of the first day of school.

I found the voices not only distinctive from each other, but incredibly realistic about the anxieties of each child before the start of a new year of school.  I found different moments that endeared themselves to me and really came to cherish this book as a whole.  It’s a great idea and stunning in what it accomplishes in such a brief format (picture book yes, but even more so with poetry!).  This is one I will add to my personal collection.

Here are a couple of snippets that I loved: