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Item Barcode | Collection | Call Number | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33607003088492 | Picture Books | BEAN | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Drawing from his own childhood experiences, Jonathan Bean takes the autobiographically inspired family he introduced in Building Our House through the special rhythms and routines of a homeschooling day in This is My Home, This is My School.
For young Jonathan and his sisters, Mom is the teacher and a whole lot more, and Dad is the best substitute any kid could want. From math, science, and field trips to recess, show-and-tell, and art, a school day with this intrepid, inventive family will seem both completely familiar and totally unique.
Includes a selection of family snapshots and a note from the author.
Author Notes
JONATHAN BEAN received an M.F.A. from New York's School of Visual Arts and now lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A two-time winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, for At Night and Building Our House , he is also the illustrator of Big Snow , two picture books by Lauren Thompson, and Bad Bye, Good Bye by Deborah Underwood.
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-In his second semi-autobiographical picture book, Bean introduces young audiences to one family's homeschooling experience. The well-paced narrative draws clear connections between the details of a traditional school environment-with a teacher, a cafeteria, and classrooms-and a homeschool setting-Mom and Dad are the teachers, the kitchen becomes the lunch room, and the house, the yard, the nearby pond, and the garage are all used as classrooms. In Bean's depiction of homeschooling, every moment of the day becomes a chance to learn, from outdoor art classes to evening star-gazing to the "homework" of helping out with farm chores. Watercolor illustrations with loosely defined borders perfectly capture the jumbled chaos of a dual-purpose household, while pen-and-ink lines and plenty of white space provide definition and space for viewers to take in the many details. In this home, towering piles of books, scattered papers, and canning jars share space with butterfly nets, chemistry beakers, and art supplies, reinforcing the family's philosophy that every experience has educational possibilities. The simple sentence structure and vocabulary make this a great choice for emerging readers, and the strong sense of place, anchoring the school experience to a family's beloved home while also opening it up to embrace the wider world, will resonate with young children just beginning to navigate the home/school divide. VERDICT Bean's introduction to a free-spirited yet structured homeschool lifestyle offers a warm and accessible perspective on an increasingly common educational choice rarely seen in children's books. A first purchase.-Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Bean (Big Snow) offers a humorous and informative view of a homeschooling household. The boy who narrates-inspired by Bean himself, as family photos at the end make clear-stands amid a flock of chickens and addresses readers. "This is my home," he says. When the page turns, he's still there. "And this is my school." Bean's scribbly pen-and-ink style is perfectly suited for the liveliness of a home in which the living room is both a place to relax and a classroom, the kitchen is the cafeteria, and the family car is also the school bus. The living room is packed with papers, animals, plants, and furniture; it takes some effort to locate the teacher (his mother) and her pupils (the boy and his sisters). Bean shows the children canning fruit, playing music, and doing field biology in a creek: "We have a lot of classrooms," he explains. Children whose classrooms are heavily regimented and lit with fluorescents will envy the family; it's clear that it's easier to learn in a place that feels like home. Ages 3-6. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.