YOU BE TEACHER

Be prepared to have fun when you enter Ms. C’s room.

Digitally edited gouache and oil pastel illustrations feature eye-popping colors in what appears to be a lively preschool or kindergarten classroom. (The students are learning their ABCs and still take an afternoon nap.) Even Ms. C dresses to dazzle with big green glasses, bright clothes with geometric designs, and pink hoop earrings. Well-chosen rhymes throughout the story add to the spirited fun. The class learns about colors, numbers, and shapes and creates art inspired by the seasons. Ms. C zips up jackets, calms a child about to have a meltdown, and bandages a boo-boo, all before noon. But when Ms. C announces that she’s tired and invites the children to be the teacher, they confidently step up to the role. It’s clear that Ms. C loves her students, and they love her right back. She gives her students “an A for a job well done,” and readers will give this book high marks for its energetic portrait of a fun-loving, compassionate classroom headed by a creative teacher. Brown-skinned Ms. C’s small, racially diverse class includes a student who uses a wheelchair, one who relies on forearm crutches, and one wearing what appear to be noise-canceling headphones.

A playful story championing a caring learning community that empowers all its members.