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Reviewed by:
  • Sophie’s Squash Go to School by Pat Zietlow Miller
  • Deborah Stevenson, Editor
Miller, Pat Zietlow Sophie’s Squash Go to School; illus. by Anne Wilsdorf. Schwartz & Wade, 2016 32p
Library ed. ISBN 978-0-553-50945-8 $20.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-553-50944-1 $17.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-553-50946-5 $10.99 R 5-8 yrs

In Sophie’s Squash (BCCB 10/13), Sophie’s comfort object was a squash she named Bernice, who eventually got planted underground and resulted in a plant bearing new baby squash. It’s presumably those two squash, now named Bonnie and Baxter in this outing, that Sophie takes to school on her first day. School doesn’t go well, with stressed little Sophie clinging to Bonnie and Baxter rather than making friends, even with friendly and vegetable-informed Steven Green, who clearly is ready for a squash-inclined buddy. Sophie’s pretty miserable when it’s time for Bonnie and Baxter to take their autumnal dirt nap, but Steven eventually manages to cheer her by coming up with a plant project she can share with the class and their friendship flourishes. First day of school books are legion, but this one maps out the steps with painful clarity and offers respect for the time it can take to bond with new acquaintances (“Sometimes growing a friend just takes time”). Sophie’s focus on her squash is believable, while her parents and the book share a deft touch with her unusual predilection, recognizing it as a safety zone but encouraging her to expand her perspective. The art is as easygoing as the text, with school and home comfortably overcrowded in cheerful colors; the contrast emphasizes the poignancy in the twilit spread where a lonely Sophie sits huddled by the garden bed where Bonnie and Baxter were planted. Kids skeptical of school-start stories where everything’s great by the end of first day will find Sophie a brave and sympathetic model, and all viewers will want a peek at the endpapers, which feature a multitude of different small vignettes of Sophie goofing around with her squash friends.

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