Stanley's school /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

It's another busy day for Stanley and friends at the schoolhouse!

Ding, ding, ding! It's time for school with teachers Stanley and Hattie. Stanley takes attendance and reads a story to students Little Woo, Sophie, and Benjamin. Outside, everyone has fun in the garden, and Stanley's lemonade and Hattie's lovely fruit salad are delicious snacks for lunch right before a nice nap. Things get a little messy during art time, though...uh-oh!

Accessible text and brightly colored illustrations helpfully convey school routines for toddlers who love equipment, tools, and vehicles. After a hard day at work, Stanley winds down his day with a familiar supper and bath routine that makes this series a great pick for bedtime reading!

William Bee's beloved Stanley series is a trusted model for basic preschool concepts like colors and shapes, kindness and teamwork, jobs and daily routines. Toddlers will love hanging out with this adorable cast of friendly neighborhood critters in any of the available series titles. Help your little one collect them all!

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Toddler-PreS-This cheerful little book is the sixth in the series about Stanley, a hamster who does a variety of things that will be engaging for preschoolers. This installment features Stanley as a teacher. The children put their things away as they enter the school, hear a story, have playtime, work in the garden, have lunch, have a nap, paint exuberantly, and then everybody goes home. There's even a small focus on natural consequences: one of the characters forgets to water his sunflower. The digitally created pictures are flat-lined drawings with bright colors. The pictures are inviting and help to move the story along. There are ample opportunities for readers to identify things they might find in school in the pictures, such as blocks, slides, and rulers. Some readers might make a connection to the "Miffy" books by Dick Bruna, which has a similar feel to the pictures and the gentleness of the story. The padded cover and limited text will be perfect for the smallest readers. VERDICT An engaging addition to any preschool library collection.-Debbie Tanner, S D Spady Montessori Elementary, FL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Stanley the hamster, who changes his occupation in each volume of the series, now teams up with Hattie (another hamster) to run a school for Benjamin (a brown mouse), Sophie (a little white mouse), and Little Woo (possibly an aardvark). In the morning, the children don dress-up costumes: Sophie becomes a dragon, Little Woo a knight, and Benjamin a princess. They listen to stories, play outdoors, and water their sunflowers in the garden. Staff and students lunch together, take their naps, and work on a large painting. After the school day ends, Stanley returns home for supper, a bath, and bedtime. The story closes with a line now familiar to series fans, Goodnight, Stanley. Order, balance, and contentment seem fundamental to the charm of this amiable series for young children. An English artist and designer, Bee keeps the text straightforward and, in a good way, predictable. In the artwork, white backgrounds intensify the strength of the bold drawings and the brilliance of the bright, flat colors. A pleasing addition to this popular series.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist

Horn Book Review

This time around, hamster-of-all-trades Stanley (Stanley's Garage and others) is a teacher at his very own school (enrollment: three animal tots). Lap sitters will enjoy watching a typical preschool classroom's action unfold, including Stanley reading to his students and overseeing a messy painting project; they'll also have no quibble with the spotless digital art throughout, in which Stanley wears a jaunty, green mortarboard befitting his station. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

Stanley the hamster welcomes a cast of preschool rodents to his school as they enjoy a day of fun and learning together.Hattie, Stanley's assistant (also a hamster), rings the bell and ushers the children in. Stanley, wearing a green mortar board, takes attendanceSophie and Benjamin (mice) and Little Woo (a mole?)before reading a story, the children donning costumes to match the tale: Sophie's a dragon, Little Woo's a knight, and Benjamin's a princess (in blue crown and tutu). During playtime, the three act out the story, but Benjamin, now equipped with a sword but still tutu-clad, changes the ending. In the garden, the children measure their beautiful sunflowers, but Little Woo's forgotten to water his. Both his disappointment and Stanley's empathy are plain. Lunch, nap time (for the adults, too!), and painting round out the day before Hattie rings the bell again and the students board the bus. Stanley heads home for the series' typical ending: supper, a bath, and bed. The digital illustrations are done in a graphic style, with clean, sharp lines and solid, neon-bright colors. Bee isn't afraid to break gender stereotypes, though Sophie does still sport a purple bow in her tail and Hattie, a flower in her ear.Fans of the gentle hamster will want to know: What occupation will Stanley tackle next? (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

William Bee is an artist and commercial designer who has worked for renowned fashion houses, including Issay Miyake and Paul Smith. As well as writing children's picture books and board books, he races a vintage sports car, is an international skier, and when at home tends his lawns and meadow. He lives in England.