Stanley at School. Linda Bailey. Illustrated by Bill Slavin. Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2015. 32 pp., hardcover, $18.95. ISBN 978-1-77138-096-6. Preschool-grade 1 / Ages 4-6. Review by Kate Hachborn. ***1/2 /4

excerpt:

Stanley knew he wasn’t supposed to go into the school. School was for kids. Dogs had to stay outside.

But the school was right there! ON Stanley’s street! Every morning, the kids walked past his yard to go in. Every afternoon, they walked past again to go home.

And every day, Stanley got more and more curious. What do the kids do in that school all day?

The sixth title in the popular Stanley series, Stanley at School takes Stanley and his dog friends inside the mysterious place where children go each day. Though they are scared at first, Stanley boldly leads Alice, Nutsy and Gassy Jack through the school to discover a large stash of lunches, a big collection of balls and lots of space to run around. When the dogs run into the school’s “Top Dog”, they realize they may be in for some trouble.

      Readers will enjoy comparing their experiences with school to the dogs’ interpretations of familiar situations and places. The dogs have a generally positive experience of school and ultimately understand why kids would want to return every day. The “scary” principal turns out to be anything but as she gushes over the pets before commanding them successfully out of her school.

     Bill Slavin’s illustrations are colourful and continue the style readers will expect from previous titles in the series.

Highly Recommended.

Kate Hachborn is a library technician at the W. Ross Macdonald School in Brantford, ON.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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