Ollie's School Day: A Yes-and-No Story

by Stephanie Calmenson, Abby Carter (Illustrator)

Overview

Would you like to read an Ollie story? YES!

From the very first line to the final page, Ollie's School Day begs to be read aloud— and together.

What will Ollie wear to school? A bathing suit? NO! A space suit? NO! A police officer's uniform? NO! Will Ollie wear pants, a shirt, socks and shoes? YES!

Call-and-response text in a simple pattern— three increasingly outlandish NO! options followed by a resounding YES!— model social skills and positive classroom behavior, pairing the subtle message with high-energy illustrations of Ollie's ridiculous rejected options. Readers will be quick to catch on and shout out the next answer— if they can stop laughing, that is.

Will kids love Ollie's School Day? YES!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823445219
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Stephanie Calmenson, a former kindergarten teacher, has written many books for children, including Ollie's School Day. She lives in New York City.

Abby Carter illustrated Scooter in the Outside by Anne Bowen and Ollie's School Day by Stephanie Calmenson. She lives in Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

* "Will this be a popular and raucous first-day-of-school favorite? YES!"—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
 
"gently humorous . . . would-be model pupils will enjoy the call-and-response."—The New York Times Book Review
 
"Carter's watercolors play with the text and add hilarity . . . This gentle tutorial in school behavior effectively employs call-and-response to engage listeners."—School Library Journal
 
"Besides being fun, this book subtly but clearly introduces playground and classroom etiquette, making it a good choice for both home and the classroom."—Booklist

From the Publisher

PreS-K—Madcap cartoons embellish a series of questions about a young boy's day at school. Will Ollie's breakfast be a bowl of bubblegum, fishy-flavor ice cream, a sour pickle, or a bowl of cereal? From waking to story time, riding the bus and coming home, children are offered three amusing options at each juncture, followed by sedate reality. Calmenson cleverly ends the day with Ollie being met at home by "someone who loves him," accommodating an audience's variety of after-school greeters. Carter's watercolors play with the text and add hilarity with wee portraits like a fish wearing boots and a squirrel lounging under a beach umbrella. This gentle tutorial in school behavior effectively employs call-and-response to engage listeners.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

An interactive look at a young boy's school day teaches those new to school about routines and manners. Calmenson, a former kindergarten teacher, savvily encourages the youngest listeners to chime in and be part of the reading process, inviting them in from the very first page: "Would you like to read an Ollie story?" From there, the text takes on a question-and-answer format, with three outlandish questions followed by one realistic one. For school today, will Ollie put on "A bathing suit?...A space suit?...A police officer's uniform?" Each of these questions is punctuated by a "NO" in large and colorful type. A page turn asks, "Will Ollie put on pants and a shirt, socks and shoes? YES!" Readers are sure to catch the pattern and relish shouting out the answers…after they finish giggling at the silly scenarios, which Carter plays up in her watercolor vignettes and one-page spreads. Ollie is an adorable, rosy-cheeked, blue-eyed blond who ping-pongs between the mischievous imp who practices playing the kazoo during storytime and the perfectly mannered little boy who teaches readers how to behave when meeting friends, answering a teacher's questions, and getting ready to go home. And when he does get home, he finds not a whale, a juggler or a robot waiting, but someone who loves him. Will this be a popular and raucous first-day-of-school favorite? YES! (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

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