Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Categories
Children’s picture books

MING GOES TO SCHOOL

Maja Löfdahl Deirdre Sullivan

A quiet and reassuring picture book for preschoolers (3-5), this is a wonderful going-to-school story that can be read both at home and in the classroom or childcare center. The illustrations provide a lot of diversity of characters, making this feel like any classroom in any school in the country.

Ming goes to school, where she learns to say hello and good-bye. She meets new friends and introduces them to old friends (including her favorite teddy). She builds sandcastles and makes snow angels; she traces, glitters, and glues. She is so fearless that when held at sword point, she even walks the plank! And when she’s playing in the mud, she reaches out and touches the worms with her bare hands. But despite those brave deeds, she isn’t quite ready for the big red slide—not yet. This is a very sweet story with soft, evocative watercolor illustrations that will help kids to grow comfortable with the idea of starting preschool. Ming is curious and playful and ready for adventure, but even she gets scared of new things sometimes. Kids will relate to her desires and fears and will be excited to see Ming at the top of the slide by the story’s end. Deirdre Sullivan grew up in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from Le Moyne College with a degree in psychology. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, with her husband, four daughters, and black lab. Maja Löfdahl grew up in Sweden, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom. She studied painting at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and three daughters.

Available products
Book Published 2016-07-05 by Sky Pony Press

Comments

Exquisite watercolor paintings and warm, affirmative descriptions take any sting from the prospect of a new school year in“Ming Goes to School”. . . These activities, quotidian as they are, become both precious and elegant in illustrator Maja Löfdahl’s delicate tableaux.

Sullivan and Löfdahl debut with a cozy portrait of the everyday discoveries and accomplishments that school can bring. Their heroine, with a red jumper and pigtails that stick straight out, dives right in to preschool activities like show-and-tell and, later in the year, making snow angels outside; other things take time (the playground slide is daunting at first). Ming appears to be of Asian descent, and her classmates are from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Sullivan’s text offers poetic reflections on school (“It’s where magic fairy castles are built from sticks . . . and growing up takes time”), which Löfdahl captures in graceful and subdued watercolor scenes of dress-up tea parties, muddy spring explorations, and more. Best of all, Ming exhibits a quiet confidence and independence from start to finish, which ought to prove inspiring to children who are about to trade days spent at home for ones in new territory.

The symbiotic nature of the text and diffuse watercolors carries this quiet offering, distinguishing it from other school stories and making it one that should be shared.This beautiful tale with gentle illustrations is an ode to the milestone of attending school for the first time and all it entails.

The subtle magic of “Ming Goes to School” lies in the bittersweet feelings it conjures when the words and images work together. The quietly sophisticated storytelling shows how everyday pleasures and discoveries distract from the passage of time. But when you close the book and lift your eyes to look at the child in front of you, you are able to appreciate, even for a moment, the way time flashes forward even when you were sure you were paying attention. Read more...

It’s lovely to find a book about a small child’s first encounter with school that treats the experience with spareness, grace and even a touch of reverence. . . In each simple accomplishment we see a little person constructing herself, with Lofdahl’s wavery, shimmery watercolors casting an enchanted sheen over it all. Read more...

Featuring peeks at common classroom sights and activities, this empathetic tale could also be a discussion starter about growth and readiness.