Written and Illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins
I absolutely loved this picture book about a boy, Frank, who gets a new dog named Lucky. The story parallels the things both of them learn together and separately and help teach each other about the world around them. It explains and gives examples of what different subjects are really about. For instance, “Lucky was very interested in Science. Who isn’t? Science is when you wonder about something, so you observe it and ask questions about it and try to understand it. Lucky wondered about ducks.” The illustration then shows a picture of Lucky swimming with ducks, and running around outside playing and observing snow, rain, mud, ponds, squirrels, etc. When Frank comes home from school Lucky is covered in ticks and burrs. This is how Frank learned about Botany, which is science about plants, and entomology, which is Science about bugs. Other subjects they study are astronomy, chemistry, reading, history, geography etc. They even learn about languages when they make a new Spanish-speaking friend.
The ending is fascinating, as the ways different subjects really are intertwined is explained. The illustration of a snail can teach you about art and math, and math can tell stories. Everything has a lot of everything else in it.
The descriptions about what the subjects really mean and how every day activities and experiences teach you make you realize that we are constantly learning. This is an excellent book about educational experiences, friendship and the wonders all around us.
Review by Terrie Bishop, Academy Park Media Center
Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Interest Level: Grades 2-6
Frank and Lucky Get Schooled
Written by Lynne Rae Perkins
Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
32 pages
Release Date: June 14, 2016
A review copy was provided by the publisher.
I hadn’t been paying attention to it, but after this review I’m quite excited to take a look at this book now and probably share it with my kids.