On My Way to School

May 26, 2014
Sometimes just making it to school is an accomplishment, as evidenced in this companion to On My Way to the Bath and On My Way to Bed. Maizes’s heroine, Livi, gradually morphs from slugabed to confident school-goer in a series of imagined transformations: emerging from bed as a bleary-eyed snail, “I move sooooooooo... sloooooowwwwwwww”; digging for underwear, she is “a pirate digging for treasure.” Under the weight of her backpack, Livi imagines that she is climbing Mount Everest, and when she arrives at school, it’s as a movie star and a queen. Livi’s vibrant imagination and abundant energy leap off the pages. Ages 3–6. Author’s agent: Helen Breitwieser, Cornerstone Literary.

Starred review from June 1, 2014
Livi, that master of imagination who finds ingenious ways to make transition times fun, must tackle getting ready for school in the morning.As in other books about Livi's dawdling (On My Way to Bed, 2013, etc.), her mother's voice is a speech bubble originating off the page, this time prompting her step by step to get ready for school. Livi is a slow snail oozing out of bed. She is a pirate digging for pirate booty (or just something to cover her own booty). She is a chef at breakfast, an elephant warning her sister away from the watering hole where she brushes her teeth, a Sherpa climbing Everest with a gigantic backpack, a kangaroo playing hopscotch. When the bus arrives, it's a covered wagon, until the page turn, when it's back to a bus, and Livi is back to Livi...until she sees her best friend, and her imagination once again takes flight. Livi does finally make it to school, where, while she continues to fantasize, she is a proper pupil. Paraskevas' digital artwork truly captures an inventive young girl whose spirit cannot be contained or squashed, and Livi's tongue-in-cheek comments are sure to provoke a chuckle or two from parents and children alike.Would that every kid had an imagination like Livi's so that getting ready for school was always this much fun. (Picture book. 4-7)

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July 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 1- This third offering featuring Livi the imaginative dawdler picks up where On My Way to the Bath (Walker, 2012 ) left off. This time the child's mother is struggling to get her out of bed, dressed, fed, and packed up before the school bus comes, but Livi has other ideas. Searching for clean underwear becomes a pirate's hunt for treasure, with her toy Froggolini as first mate. Carrying her backpack turns Livi into a sherpa leading explorers to the top of Mount Everest. Even walking from the bus to her classroom finds her sashaying like a movie star while her adoring fans ask for her autograph. Unfortunately, this time Livi's dawdling feels more forced and less endearing than in her previous books. Her reluctance to go to school veers toward sounding bratty: "School is for people who need to learn stuff. I have gone to school a hundred times, and I already know lots of stuff. I will stay in bed." On a brighter note, the adult voices still amuse, particularly when bus driver shouts, "Sit down back there!" after Livi jumps up from her seat pretending to be a lemur. As with the other titles, the digital illustrations are spot-on, full of vivid color, expressiveness, and humor. Readers who found Livi's earlier adventures hilarious will most likely enjoy her latest stalling tactics, even if the formula has begun to grow a bit tired.-Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library

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