This Is My Home, This Is My School by Jonathan Bean (review)

A homeschooled young boy introduces readers to the ways in which his house (that resembles the house in Bean’s Building Our House, BCCB 2/13) is both home and classroom to his family: “See, this is my mom and my sisters. And these,” he says as he gestures to the same people, “are my classmates and my teacher.” The family’s “classroom” is a cheerfully chaotic living room, filled with plants, books, art supplies, pets, a woodstove, and a lot of activity—but the kids also learn in the basement, the kitchen, and the great outdoors. Particularly buoyant is the spread about art class in which the brief, simple text (“This is our art room. This is the world!”) is stunningly amplified by a spacious depiction of a cloud-studded sky bordered by a strip of landscape featuring the boy, his family, other students, and an art teacher instructing in plein air fashion. Bean certainly paints an appealing picture of what homeschooling can be at its best, and his note at the book’s end describes his own homeschool experience, complete with youthful photos. The art here is looser, and sometimes chaotically so, than Bean’s previous outings (The Big Snow, BCCB 11/13) but overall the lively figures and detailed backgrounds are joyfully engaging. The simple text and large size would make this an effective addition to a school-themed storytime, as well as a useful title for library collections and both home and public schools.