SMILE! Click!

Oh, yes...it's a day unlike any other.  It's a day filled with distractions in the classroom.  It's a day of long waits in line and the wearing of dress-up, sometimes uncomfortable, clothing.  For parents it's remembering to fill out the form, including the proper amount of money and hoping this will be THE year.  Truth be told, for teachers, it's a day unlike any other, filled with distractions in the classroom, long waits in line and students fidgeting in clothing they don't normally wear BUT it's also a day filled with interesting insights and unexpected surprises.

Neat and clean, wearing their favorite shirt, maybe even a tie, pants, blouse, skirt or dress, boys and girls arrive ready to rock school picture day. At least one hundred times they've been told to sit up straight and smile, but be natural and relax at the same time.  They, of course, are wondering at the improbability of those things occurring together.  Picture Day Perfection (Abrams Books for Young Readers) written by Deborah Diesen with illustrations by Dan Santat follows the singular efforts of one boy to achieve greatness on this very important annual occurrence.

I'd planned for months. 
This was going to be the year
of the perfect school picture.

But some days, not everything goes 
according to plan.

 It happens to all of us, despite the precautions taken the night before and our best efforts to sleep soundly without tossing and turning.  We wake up, look in the mirror and see the dreaded bedhead.  Well, perhaps a favorite article of clothing will compensate for the overabundance of unruly hair.  It's not looking exactly tidy from being in the dirty clothes basket but it will have to do.

Now it's on to a pancake kind of breakfast.  Yikes!  It's a maple syrup eruption!  The bus ride to school is less than stellar.  What's that?   The background box checked on the form just so happens to be the same color as that favorite shirt?!  At the moment this is looking like the farthest thing from a perfect kind of school picture day.  It's like this dude has been zapped by the Master of Disaster

Trouble is following this boy around like a shadow, even when practicing smiling.  Paint seems to go everywhere but on his project in Art.  When it's finally time for the picture taking, hearing the photographer say "Cheese" umpteen times, makes his stomach churn and gurgle.

Yes! Oh no! Yes! There's always next year.


Deborah Diesen knows how to build a story sentence by sentence.  With a practiced preciseness she gives each calamity a little more comedy than the one before by placing emphasis on certain words, words added to create exaggerated drama.  We readers turn the pages in anticipation,  wondering what new mishap will befall our protagonist, when the first unexpected twist is thrown our way, quickly followed by another.  Readers won't know whether to laugh at themselves or the guy who has plotted and prepared for 365 days.  Here's a sample, which is great to read to yourself but even better read aloud.

Then it took me quite some time to unearth my favorite shirt.
I finally found it at the very bottom of the hamper.

You might call it "stained."
You might call it "wrinkled."
You might even call it "smelly."
You wouldn't be wrong.


Taking the picture options, the mixture of sizes you get in a typical school picture package, illustrator Dan Santat divides them up, placing the largest on the front jacket, sets of the two smaller choices on the back jacket.  For each of the eleven images the boy's face assumes a different expression, each one more hilarious than the other.  (You have to wonder who the model was for these.)  The front and back cover highlight illustrations from within the story.  Opening and closing endpapers mirror a single and two partial rows of pictures like in a yearbook, leaving an empty frame in the back for your personal photograph.  All the guys and gals are sporting their own unique grins.

Prior to the title pages we are given a hint, Santat style, of possibilities in the narrative; a red, hand-drawn smiley face wearing a mischievous look.  This particular drawing does appear several more times in the book.  Each set of double pages zooms in on an entire image, a group of smaller images opposite a single picture, or large close-ups over fainter elements in the background.  The photographic theme is found in the attention to details; the eyes, nose and grin formed on the pancake stack with fruit, butter and bacon, four-printed snapshots of bedhead, student pictures as slides, publication and pricing information on a photographer's background with camera equipment placed nearby.

The bright, bold colors and definitive lines of these illustrations rendered in Adobe Photoshop, bring the text to life with the same energy as the main character's unfortunate moments throughout the day.  No one portrays humor exactly like Dan Santat does;  the looks on the boy's face alone are enough to have readers exploding with laughter.  From covered in syrup, to walking dismally down the hallway, to the shock of blending into the background, to goofy grin, painted splattered and rascal supreme, we see a person brimming with personality.  It seems pretty perfect to me.


Without a doubt you are going to want to have a copy of Picture Day Perfection written by Deborah Diesen with illustrations by Dan Santat in your personal, classroom or school library.  This team has depicted the misadventures of a boy bent on bringing a bold plan to fruition with the sure knowledge of firsthand experience. I know you will be hearing "read it again" over and over.

If you want to discover more about the work of either Deborah Diesen or Dan Santat follow the links embedded in their names above to access their websites.  Enjoy the book trailer below.

Have No Fear, Alligator Is Here

Year after year I've stood outside the school watching the buses arrive on the first day of school, outside the library doors in the hallway or inside the library on open house night as parents and their sons and daughters arrive excited, anxious and for new students, wondering and wide-eyed.  No matter what they have read or been told, the experience is a change.  It's the not knowing, the never-been-here-before and never-done-this-before feeling, which can be overwhelming.

Each person, no matter their age, has a method in place for dealing with stress.  Quite frankly, children have the best idea of all---carrying their favorite toy with them, a friend that never fails.  The first day of school ever, starting kindergarten, is shown to be less intimidating in Oliver and his Alligator (Disney Hyperion Books) written and illustrated by Paul Schmid.  Oliver's alligator is different, very special and...agreeably hungry.

Oliver sometimes felt his brave 
wasn't nearly as big
as he needed it to be.

He decides to pick up an alligator at the swamp on his way to school for the first day.  As soon as Oliver arrives at his classroom door, the fear grows.  His mom isn't there for starters.  She has been replaced by a unknown woman who wants to know his name.  A name which escapes him at the moment.

All he can think to say is "Munch, munch!"  These two words turn out to be a code communication between he and his reptile pal.  The stranger disappears into the stomach of the alligator.  Walking into the classroom is clear now but there are new children in the room.

One, a little girl, has the misfortune to approach Oliver asking him about his favorite animal.  Overcome by shyness the only two words he can utter are..."Munch, munch!"  The belly of the gator is getting noticeably bigger.  Maybe school isn't going to be so bad after all when you've got a buddy like Oliver has.

There were more boys and girls.  Alligator is getting huge.  There are inviting educational patterns and designs on the walls.  Alligator is now ginormous.  Ah, yes...that's more to Oliver's liking, peaceful and quiet and...wait...could it be...boring?

There's a sound.  Oliver wants to be a part of the sound.  There's only one thing for Oliver to do and he does it.


The simplicity of the text, the ease in which it flows, all contribute to the appeal of this title.  Paul Schmid writes specifically for his intended audience, knowing the heart of a child on the first, very first, day of school.  In using two, single syllable words repeatedly to alleviate any problem Oliver encounters, readers can feel, like Oliver, the same sense of relief and finally a sense of belonging.

Using pastel pencil and digital color Paul Schmid creates pages where readers can be comfortable stepping into Oliver's world.  On the book's jacket the cool, soft minty green, the textured dusty blue of Oliver's sweater, the rosy red of the apple in his hands appear again on the jacket's spine.  On the front we see only the tail and the back portion of the alligator's body.  His nose and the rest of his body are on the back of the jacket looking at Oliver. When you remove the jacket the cover unfolded is all white except for three stripes of green (including the spine).  An upright alligator is on the front.

The opening and closing endpapers, in lavender with a partial circle of lighter turquoise in the lower right and left corners, respectively, are actually part of the story, as is the dedication page (For Maurice) with Oliver forlornly staring into his cereal bowl, an apple sitting on the table.  The lines used to create Oliver are soft, delicate, sketch-like; making him all the more endearing.  The same holds true for his alligator.  Readers will want to hug them both.

Throughout the book Schmid alters his layout and perspective making liberal use of white space, along with a gray, the turquoise, the alligator green, the lavender, the rosy red, introducing a lime green and spots of pale yellow.  Every time Oliver speaks the "Munch, munch!" words with the girth of his alligator expanding, Schmid's portrayal of the loyal companion gets funnier and funnier.  The paper stock coupled with the medium and artistic techniques make the reading of this book a very tactile experience.  My two favorite illustrations are of Oliver resting on his alligator's stomach after the teacher and little girl have been consumed and the alligator alone spread across the gutter after Oliver wonders if all the students can fit inside his friend, They could.


Oliver and his Alligator written and illustrated by Paul Schmid is one of those books you wish you could give a copy to every new student entering your building.  It speaks directly to those fears, apprehensions, children have.  Paul Schmid is attentive to children's feelings and he knows how to make everything okay.

It would be interesting to read this title to any age, asking them to write or draw what they would bring to school on the first day (or another time they might be frightened) to give them comfort.  I think it might be a good idea to have the first day of school be Bring Your Stuffed Animal Day.  There are days I wish I still had my sock monkey.

Please follow the link embedded in Paul Schmid's name above to access his website.  Follow this link to an interview at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  There's lots of artwork.