THE NOISY CLASSROOM

Unconventional methods can help create a curious lifelong learner.

Shanté’s debut picture book focuses on a young child who is worried about entering the third grade. The second grade class is expected to be silent in the hallway, and their classroom is quiet and orderly. The narrator is apprehensive about entering Ms. Johnson’s “noisy” classroom, where the students listen to music! Taking a cue from Judith Viorst’s Alexander, the narrator tells Ma and Pa that having a job in Antarctica would be better than entering Ms. Johnson’s classroom and spends the summer preparing for the move. But when the time comes and third grade starts, the narrator finds that Ms. Johnson’s unconventional classroom, where lessons feel like play, isn’t so bad after all. Although the narrative text is filtered through this anxious child’s point of view, readers are likely to wonder why on earth this kid is so nervous about having a teacher who is manifestly so much more fun than their current one, but it does accurately represent a young child’s nervousness about change. Caregivers who are hoping to start a conversation on managing classroom fears would find this book a great place to start. Hawkins depicts a diverse school; the brown-skinned narrator is biracial and bicultural, with a Caribbean dad and Latinx mom. Both the second grade teacher and Ms. Johnson present black.

A noisy classroom turns out to be a delightful place to learn.