Dear Substitute

by Audrey Vernick, Liz Garton Scanlon, Chris Raschka (Illustrator)

Overview

When a substitute teacher named Miss Pelly comes to class, one student bristles at the change in routine—Miss Pelly doesn't follow the rules like Mrs. Giordano. But in time, our student learns that even though the substitute may do things a little differently, and she may be a bit silly, mixing things up might not be so bad.

Told in a series of epistolary poems, this funny, relatable picturebook is a great fit for classrooms and for any child nervous about new experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484750223
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	06/19/2018
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Liz Garton Scanlon is the author of many beloved books, including Caldecott Honor book All the World, illustrated by Marla Frazee, and her debut middle grade novel, The Great Good Summer. This is her second collaboration with Audrey Vernick—the first was Bob, Not Bob! illustrated by Matthew Cordell. Liz lives with her family in Austin, Texas and you can find her online at www.lizgartonscanlon.com.

Audrey Vernick is the author of over twenty books for young readers, including Unlike Other Monsters, Is Your Buffalo Ready for Kindergarten?, First Grade Dropout, and the co-written Bob, Not Bob!. She co-writes with Scanlon from her home in New Jersey and you can find her online at www.audreyvernick.com.


Chris Raschka is the Caldecott-Award-winning illustrator of The Hello Goodbye Window and A Ball for Daisy. He also received a Caldecott Honor for Yo! Yes? and has written and illustrated numerous books for children, for which he was nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2012. He lives in New York City.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/16/2018
In a witty epistolary narrative, Scanlon and Vernick (coauthors of Bob, Not Bob!) tackle the sometimes-unwelcome arrival of substitute teachers. “Dear Substitute,” the first letter starts, “Where’s Mrs. Giordano, and why didn’t she warn us?” The substitute, Miss Pelly, can’t pronounce her students’ names correctly (“Poor Charvi and Betje. Poor Eliandra”). She doesn’t clean the turtle tank even though it’s Tank Tuesday, and she’s casual about the rules (“Dear Class Rules, We have you for a reason”). Still, she somehow spots the narrator trading food at lunchtime (“Dear Miss Pelly, Now you care about rules?”). It’s a tense moment (“Dear Tears. Not here. Not now”). Yet Miss Pelly has some tricks (and great readalouds) up her sleeve (“It turns out that I really like poetry. Especially funny poetry”). The turnaround is as swift as it is warmhearted. Caldecott Medalist Raschka paints dreamy watercolor scenes with feeling and whimsy, imagining the class turtle looking exasperated and Miss Pelly with eyes in the back of her head. Each shift in the narrator’s emotions—from suspicion to anger to intrigue—rings true in this perceptive, probing series of observations from a child’s viewpoint. Ages 4–8. Agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Dear Substitute:
Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year
A Gryphon Honor Book
Horn Book Fanfare
A Junior Library Guild Selection
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Reading List
A Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award Nominee
A Great Texas Mosquito List Book 2020-2021
An Arkansas Diamond Primary Award Nominee 2020-2021

PRAISE FOR UNLIKE OTHER MONSTERS

"Jack's colorful, humorous art makes for active illustrations and engaging characters, aptly complementing Vernick's gently speculative text."

PRAISE FOR BOB, NOT BOB!

"Scanlon and Vernick's text is sweet without treacle, and . . . Cordell's artwork is terrific."

"Each shift in the narrator’s emotions—from suspicion to anger to intrigue—rings true in this perceptive, probing series of observations from a child’s viewpoint."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

PRAISE FOR BOB, NOT BOB!

* "[A] perfect cheer-up for a kid tucked up with a cold."—, starred review

PRAISE FOR BOB, NOT BOB!

* "Every page offers a giggle. . . . [T]his is read-aloud gold."—, starred review

PRAISE FOR BOB, NOT BOB!

* "The co-authors' narrative is satisfying beyond the funny gimmick, . . . offering depth and heart in addition to the silly misunderstandings."—, starred review

"Substitute teachers are a rite of passage for students; this narrator's change of heart provides a good example of handling it with aplomb."—Kirkus Reviews

"Kids will probably want to go back through the pages to follow recurring motifs such as the sun, the turtle, and the flowers as well as the progression of feelings from despair to exuberance."—Horn Book (starred review)

"Big print and simple vocabulary make this suitable for early reading as well as reading aloud, the concept will spur kids to create their own letters, and substitute teachers will embrace a book that finally celebrates their usually unsung labors."—BCCB

PRAISE FOR UNLIKE OTHER MONSTERS

"A quirky, fun friendship title sure to be a read-aloud favorite with children."

From the Publisher

08/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Just when you think you've got the school routine down pat, a substitute shows up and does everything differently. In a series of short poems, an unnamed narrator apologizes for the deviations from the norm: the roll call is mispronounced, the homework isn't collected, the turtle's tank isn't cleaned, and so on. Raschka's good-humored watercolors take all this disruption just seriously enough. The spread with Miss Pelly's "back-of-the-head eyes" gazing attentively through her red, cat's-eye-framed glasses is particularly effective. By the end of the day, the narrator has adjusted and even discovered something new: she likes poetry thanks to the anthologies Miss Pelly shares. All school children deal with substitute teachers somewhere along the line; this title will help them embrace a little flexibility. VERDICT Every elementary school library will want a copy and it won't be out of place in public libraries or homes, either.—Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Library, NY

School Library Journal

2018-05-14
A rough day with a sub slowly improves as the child narrator gets to know her and is introduced to new things. Each double-page spread is a letter addressed to some aspect of the day: "Dear Substitute, / Wow. This is a surprise. / What are you doing here? / Where's Mrs. Giordano, / and why didn't she warn us?" Opposite, Raschka's watercolor-and-gouache portrait is appropriately grim and forbidding. Other addressees include "attendance" (the sub can't pronounce some of the names), the homework the narrator labored over (a waste), and the class turtle (it's "Tank Tuesday," but it won't get cleaned today). But after admonishing the narrator for lunch-trading (an allergy risk), the sub gives the class extra storytime, only with "strange little poems" instead of their chapter book. It turns out the narrator loves them, even making one (with the sub's help) about the turtle, and just like that, the day is turned around. The narrator, depicted as a pale-skinned child with brown pigtails, has a new outlook on subs (and maybe new experiences): "Sometimes you've got to / mix things up a little." Raschka's characteristically splashy, modern-ish illustrations, while expressive and with colors that match the changing moods, are casually childlike and sometimes hard to decode. Substitute teachers are a rite of passage for students; this narrator's change of heart provides a good example of handling it with aplomb. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews