The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Scanlon, Liz Garton , Vernick, Audrey

Dear Substitute

40 pp. | Disney-Hyperion | June, 2018 | Trade ISBN 978-1-4847-5022-3 $17.99

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Chris Raschka. With her teacher out sick, a girl writes a series of letters throughout the day, beginning: "Dear Substitute, / Wow. This is a surprise. / What are you doing here?" Scanlon and Vernick capture with humor and sympathy the indignation some kids feel when life doesn't go as expected. In his watercolor and gouache paintings, Raschka makes the mundane school setting fresh with unexpected twists.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2018