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  • Ollie's School Day: A Yes-and-No Book
  • Hope Morrison
Calmenson, Stephanie . Ollie's School Day: A Yes-and-No Book; illus. by Abby Carter. Holiday House, 2012. [24p]. ISBN 978-0-8234-2377-4 $15.95 Reviewed from galleys R 5-7 yrs.

A playful question-and-answer format leads viewers through Ollie's day at school: "What will Ollie eat? A bowl full of bubblegum? No! Fishy-flavor ice cream? No! A sour pickle with mustard? No! Will Ollie eat a bowl of cereal with milk and fruit? Yes!" The structure of three jokey answers to each question, which continues throughout, will be familiar to audiences who encountered it in Margaret Miller's similarly humorous titles (such as Guess Who?) in their younger years, and youngsters will find many of the alternative responses laugh-out-loud funny. Silliness aside, there is also a strong understory here about appropriate school behavior, making this a great selection for reviewing classroom expectations. The line and watercolor illustrations are vibrant and playful, with Carter's rumply lines and carefully chaotic touches adding accessibility to the images; pages swoop between broad class-scapes and closeup vignettes of Ollie engaging in the various absurd suggestions, visually matching the rhythms of the text. Because there is a lot of literal text to image matching, non-readers have the option of retelling the story by following the pictures. Readers aloud will find ample opportunity to improvise and add in other silly suggestions throughout the reading, making this as adaptable as it is amusing. [End Page 77]

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