The First Week of School

May 1, 2024
An extraplanetary, extraordinary first week of school. The first day begins with a line of cars in a drop-off queue and a group of racially diverse kids making their way into the building. Inside we see the ambitious Inventor, the self-critical Artist, a group of friends who refer to themselves as the "SPORT KINGS," Pat, the classroom bearded dragon, and, notably, an empty desk: "Nobody sits here, but a new student is coming next week." Nothing seems amiss until recess. There's a strange sound, and a beam from outer space appears, but no one notices...except Pat. The beam is carrying Nobody, a one-eyed sea-foam green extraterrestrial who, despite Pat's impressive attempts to alert everyone, integrates seamlessly into the classroom. Nobody is curious and observant, befriending a trepidatious Pat, discovering the Artist's discarded work, and noticing that there's "a problem with the vortex calculator on the Inventor's machine." In a charmingly guileless way, he calls attention to the Artist's work, thus turning the class into art aficionados, and quietly leaves a necessary part for the Inventor's machine before slipping away. The pictures have tremendous crayon-colored kid appeal, and the text is clever and funny. Observant readers will find many delicious surprises, and the twist at the end is a genuine delight. An inspired and strikingly original riff on the back-to-school experience. (Picture book. 5-9)

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Starred review from May 1, 2024

Gr 2-4-This book begins on the first day of the first week of school. The kids are perhaps in third or fourth grade, so they have been through this before. Some of the kids are nervous, some are excited to be back, some feel inadequate. The teacher has eight cups of coffee before lunch. Just a normal first week. But when Pat, the class's pet bearded dragon, pushes a button on a science project, an alien visitor is summoned to the school. The alien is blue, one-eyed, and tentacled. The text calls him Nobody. Nobody changes everything. Each page or spread is a different day or a different class. Monday: Show and Tell. Thursday: PE. Readers can follow the students as they navigate the week. The artist is newly insecure about her artwork. The students who call themselves "the sport kings" don't listen to the teacher and get electrocuted (humorously). The teacher forgets her lunch and eats an old box of cereal she finds in a cabinet. Even the bearded dragon, who likes the noises that "humans shoot out of their head holes," has its own plotline. When Nobody, the alien, arrives, people can see it, but no one ever acknowledges its alien appearance. Nobody is just another new kid. The text is clear and concise, allowing the myriad characters space to breathe and grow. The school is vibrant and full of life. Beckmeyer creates detailed images in crayon. His talent for storytelling, illustration, and formatting coalesces into a tale that readers can experience again and again, as if they're anticipating (or reliving) their very own first weeks of school. VERDICT Captures both the magic and the mundanity of the first week of school. Must purchase.-Chance Lee Joyner

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 13, 2024
A classroom’s first week launches a dynamic change in this inventive picture book. Monday reveals a clique of sports buffs (“They call themselves the SPORT KINGS, but nobody else does”), an artist worried about showing their work, an inventor frustrated with a malfunctioning satellite, a teacher buzzing on eight cups of pre-lunch coffee, and Pat, the class’s lonely bearded dragon. On Tuesday, a spaceship deposits a one-eyed extra-
terrestrial just outside the classroom. Attired in abandoned clothing, the alien, called “Nobody,” seamlessly joins the crew, and as the week progresses, becomes a catalyst for creating genuine community—even Pat feels seen. Before rejoining their own kind, Nobody makes a change that resets the week, leaving the Earth-siders blissfully unaware of what has happened. Using crayon-styled bird’s-eye-view illustrations, straightforward captions (“This is Show and Tell. This is Recess”), and emotionally observant text that communicates multiple perspectives, Beckmeyer invites readers to root for the transformation of a classroom culture. Ages 4–8.

July 1, 2024
The cover of this back-to-school picture book appears to show an ordinary class photo, with some kids smiling, others posing, still others jostling, a frazzled teacher...and one space alien. The front endpapers and title-page spread whoosh readers far into outer space, then (on the copyright and dedication pages) back toward our upper atmosphere, then down to Earth to hover above an elementary school. "This is the first day of the first week of school," begins the text, as a line of cars at drop-off snakes around a pleasant-looking building. Once inside, and all day Monday, we get to know a class of students by their interests and peculiarities: the Inventor, the Artist, the Sport Kings, plus the Teacher and Pat, the class-pet bearded dragon. Then on Tuesday a spaceship appears, and a new classmate -- Nobody -- joins the group. The story takes us through the days of the week, along with key activities (show-and-tell, recess), with readers following the characters' simultaneous actions, which continue and build with every page-turn. The cheerfully busy crayon illustrations offer many satisfying details to notice and track. There's lots of humor -- Pat, at first alarmed, grows attached to the alien -- and moments of poignancy: the Artist suffers a creative crisis that's resolved by Nobody; a social studies lesson by the Teacher about her family's immigrant experience makes the alien miss "his own gelatinous family" and then beam back up. It's a quirky story with way-out details that are ultimately grounded in home. Elissa Gershowitz

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
The cover of this back-to-school picture book appears to show an ordinary class photo, with some kids smiling, others posing, still others jostling, a frazzled teacher...and one space alien. The front endpapers and title-page spread whoosh readers far into outer space, then (on the copyright and dedication pages) back toward our upper atmosphere, then down to Earth to hover above an elementary school. "This is the first day of the first week of school," begins the text, as a line of cars at drop-off snakes around a pleasant-looking building. Once inside, and all day Monday, we get to know a class of students by their interests and peculiarities: the Inventor, the Artist, the Sport Kings, plus the Teacher and Pat, the class-pet bearded dragon. Then on Tuesday a spaceship appears, and a new classmate -- Nobody -- joins the group. The story takes us through the days of the week, along with key activities (show-and-tell, recess), with readers following the characters' simultaneous actions, which continue and build with every page-turn. The cheerfully busy crayon illustrations offer many satisfying details to notice and track. There's lots of humor -- Pat, at first alarmed, grows attached to the alien -- and moments of poignancy: the Artist suffers a creative crisis that's resolved by Nobody; a social studies lesson by the Teacher about her family's immigrant experience makes the alien miss "his own gelatinous family" and then beam back up. It's a quirky story with way-out details that are ultimately grounded in home.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)