From Amazon:
Fifteen poems selected by acclaimed poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins celebrate all of the grown-ups that children encounter during the course of a school day.
Welcome to school, a building of brick “full of soul and heart,” eager for students and staff to fill its halls with sounds. This anthology of fifteen poems celebrates the grown-up people that children encounter throughout the course of their school day: the school bus driver with her morning smile, the teacher who inspires imagination, the rarely seen, yet caring custodian, and the nurse who heals hurts, big and small. There’s even a poem about the school building. Award-winning poet and anthologist Lee Bennett Hopkins has compiled this marvelous collection featuring a variety of brand-new works by well-known poets and beautifully imaginative artwork by illustrator Ellen Shi.
So nice to be able to review the finished copy of SCHOOL PEOPLE.
Even nicer to be able to tag a book that is a celebration of schools and teachers. And then tag it again because it is a new collection of poems brought together by Dear One, Lee Bennett Hopkins and they are all about the people we see each day at school.
Fifteen new poems feature poetic looks at school, the bus driver, the crossing guard, the principal, the lunch lady, the custodian, and a host of teachers that make each school come alive: the Spanish teacher, the art teacher, the music teacher, the theater teacher. The librarian The coach. The nurse. They are all here in accessible verse that introduces the person and his, her, or their work within a school.
Celebrated poets we have come to look for within a Hopkins curation are here: Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Matt Forrest Esenwine, J. Patrick Lewis, Alma Flor Ada, Charles Ghigna, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, and, of course, the Dear One himself.
Ellen Shi’s illustrations are the perfect compliment to the verse within this collection. If you are already a fan of Dear One’s collections, you will not want to miss this one. And, if you have a teacher friend and you are looking for a gift book. . .this one is it (but don’t worry about me; I have mine already).
Hopkins’s newest poetry collection is a slim picture book that highlights a baker’s dozen of the people who work within and around an elementary school: bus driver, lunch lady, coach, librarian, nurse, art teacher, and others. The verse of several well-known poets—Alma Flor Ada, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, J. Patrick Lewis, and Hopkins himself—interweave beautifully with that of many less familiar voices, resulting in a collection that is fun to read and to listen to. There’s the crossing guard who “guides us/like hatchlings/safely/to the other side”; the custodian who’s “caring, helpful, smart, and kind.”; the principal who can “teach a bully how to be humble.” The digital artwork is bright and eye-catching; the cartoon people animated and upbeat. Most illustrations have painted backgrounds and detail; some faces and clothing look like they’ve been clipped from colored paper, then detailed with paint or colored pencil. The depicted children range in grade level from kindergarten to about sixth grade; however, most of the poems’ vocabulary is geared toward older elementary school students. VERDICT Used to kick off a writing assignment or to brighten up a gloomy day, these entertaining poems will hit the spot.—Susan Scheps
Vital … for a back-to-school collection and good for reading aloud