Play Day, School Day by Toni Yuli is a sweet story about two siblings spending the day together.
A younger sibling’s curiosity about school opens up a world of possibilities in this ode to the great outdoors.
Tomorrow is the first day of the new school year, and big sister Mona can’t wait to go back. “What do you do at school?” asks little brother Milo. As he listens to Mona recount the many things she does during the school week — riding the bus, practicing spelling and reading, learning about science, playing with friends — Milo’s activities illustrate that with a little imagination, nature itself can be a classroom. With delightfully naive artwork and a spare text, Toni Yuly shows that learning is play and vice versa, offering a gentle introduction to school for children who are just starting and a warm celebration for those who are going back.
This would be a great book to share between siblings when one of them has started school, and the other is still at home. Of course … that’s when there’s actually school to attend.
It may have been written in a pre-Covid world, but Play Day, School Day shows how nature & the world itself can sometimes be the best classroom of all. It’s a lesson that feels more important than ever right now.
This lovely picture book is available now. Thanks to Candlewick Press for the review copy.
Novel Novice 
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