Thank You, School

K-Gr 2–As the day progresses, a diverse group of elementary-age children take turns giving thanks for the many people who help their school “tick like a perfect clock.” They are grateful for the “brave crossing guards” and the custodians who fix everything and “polish all the floors…/ for us!” They thank the office staff, who “do seven jobs at once” and “know which teachers we belong to.” Classroom teachers and librarians are not overlooked, nor are art teachers, gym teachers, cooks, or nurses, “who wipe our tears with their magic tissues.” Borden captures these childlike sentiments in economical, free verse poems. Keiser takes a dazzling stylistic leap from her previous charming picture books and enchants with outline-free illustrations full of texture and punctuated with pops of glowing turquoise, red, orange, and fuchsia, sometimes layered on top of one another with spongey dabs. Her winsome people have dainty hands and feet, pin-dot eyes, pert noses, little smiles, and easy postures that show them to be utterly content and engaged with the school day.