Time for School!

PreS-Gr 1—There are no schoolyard scuffles in Tinyville, where everyone shares, everyone helps, and the cafeteria crew creates delicious meal for students—and Ellie, the new girl in town, is welcomed into class with a "We've been expecting you." Through minimal text, the author introduces children to some of the routines and staff they will encounter when they begin school. There's also mention of what some of those people do. For example, Ms. Parker, the principal, makes sure "things run smoothly," while it's the bus driver's job to "get her riders home on time." Short sentences and dialogue bubbles featuring large black font may even tempt emergent readers to give the text a try. Biggs's distinctive illustrative style—also seen in Gets To Work and the other "Tinyville" titles—features colorful outdoor scenes packed with detail and action, or alternatively, interior scenes with large figures framed by plenty of white space. Bright, luminous tones and playful patterns demand attention, while the button-nosed, occasionally googly-eyed figures with goofy expressions elicit smiles.