Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A great prescription for kids who tremble at the thought of their first day of school.A young African American girl with deep brown skin, round cheeks, and an infectious smile spends her first day of school celebrating spirit in many ways. With her hair in two gigantic puffballs, she shows her school spirit with snazzy shoes ("STOMP, STOMP!"), her backpack ("ZIP, ZIP!"), and her "loud…clear" singing in class ("ABC, 123!"). Her spirit surfaces in onomatopoeic words on nearly every double-page spread, contributing to the high energy of the story. Morrison's vibrant oil paintings, reminiscent of those by artist and NFL player Ernie Barnes, feature close-up perspectives of the little girl and everyone she encounters while they reveal lots of diversity both in her neighborhood and at school. She even has a black male teacher-a rare demographic in American elementary schools-who captivates his class during storytime. Like its predecessors, I Got the Rhythm(2014) and I Got the Christmas Spirit (2018), this picture book establishes a sentence pattern that persists, one that will help nascent readers predict what comes next. Each line begins with a personal pronoun and an active-voice verb-"I share," "I breathe," "we sing," etc.-that exudes this protagonist's enthusiasm for school.If a school pep rally could walk and talk, this kid would be it. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A great prescription for kids who tremble at the thought of their first day of school.A young African American girl with deep brown skin, round cheeks, and an infectious smile spends her first day of school celebrating spirit in many ways. With her hair in two gigantic puffballs, she shows her school spirit with snazzy shoes ("STOMP, STOMP!"), her backpack ("ZIP, ZIP!"), and her "loud…clear" singing in class ("ABC, 123!"). Her spirit surfaces in onomatopoeic words on nearly every double-page spread, contributing to the high energy of the story. Morrison's vibrant oil paintings, reminiscent of those by artist and NFL player Ernie Barnes, feature close-up perspectives of the little girl and everyone she encounters while they reveal lots of diversity both in her neighborhood and at school. She even has a black male teacher-a rare demographic in American elementary schools-who captivates his class during storytime. Like its predecessors, I Got the Rhythm(2014) and I Got the Christmas Spirit (2018), this picture book establishes a sentence pattern that persists, one that will help nascent readers predict what comes next. Each line begins with a personal pronoun and an active-voice verb-"I share," "I breathe," "we sing," etc.-that exudes this protagonist's enthusiasm for school.If a school pep rally could walk and talk, this kid would be it. (Picture book. 4-8)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

The vivacious African American protagonist from I Got the Rhythm and I Got the Christmas Spirit returns in this ebullient follow-up, embarking on the first day of school with optimism and oomph. She discovers-and exudes-spirit at every turn, beginning at home (-I slip on the spirit in my shiny new shoes. STOMP, STOMP!- writes Schofield-Morrison) and continuing in the classroom (-We sing the spirit loud and clear. ABC, 123!-) and on the playground, where she finds a ball (-I kick the spirit high up in the air. KA-POW!-). At day-s end, she encounters a quieter and deeper spirit when she climbs off the school bus and into her mother-s open arms: -I feel the spirit in a big ol- hug. SQUISH, SQUEEZE!- The electric hues, constant motion, and winning smiles that fill Morrison-s oil paintings enhance the boundless vitality of this sensory celebration of school. Ages 3-6. (July)