ALA Booklist (Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2021)

Wildwood Elementary really lives up to its name least, if you credit the claims a reluctant new student makes in his diary that all of his teachers and classmates are animals. His parents are understandably skeptical, but in the comically disheveled illustrations, Patton, at least, takes him at his word, setting the unhappy, moon-faced lad amid creatures like Charlie, a hyperactive crocodile who nips the hand that offers him a cupcake; George, an ape who picks through his hair looking for bugs; and Betsy, a beaver who chews on his pencils. Savvy readers will see through his complaints to the underlying fact that these are actually efforts to make him feel welcome, and he changes his tune from the early "Reasons Why I Hate Wildwood" to a list of "Things I Love about Wildwood," just before eagerly dragging his shocked-looking parents into the school's multispecies open house. Along with being a good choice for children anxious about their own upcoming "first day," this offers a nifty exercise in reading between the lines.

Kirkus Reviews

Wildwood Elementary School is full of wild animals.A child is trying the deep breaths and happy thoughts recommended by Mom and Dad to prepare for the first day of school, but so far it isn't working. At school, the child is surrounded by wild animals: a stinky desk mate (skunk), a biting locker buddy (crocodile), and an "unbearable" ursine teacher. The child tries pretending to be sick to avoid going back, but Mom and Dad don't buy it. As the days go on, being dropped from the monkey bars by the monkeys, being picked over by a gorilla, and being invited to eat lunch with a crocodile give way to friendlier experiences. The things that made the child hate Wildwood Elementary are transformed into positives-friendships and helpers. The only challenge left is parents night! The text is written in a first-person narrative as diary entries in a faux handwritten type set on notebook paper. The protagonist, a child with huge glasses, tiny eyes, and energetically unkempt straight hair, is visibly transformed from a constant worrier to a happy kid. The protagonist and parents, the only humans in the story, present as White. This story has an amusing tongue-in-cheek quality in which the text can be read as exaggeration but the pictures bear out the child's perspective. For children accused of having wild imaginations, this is an affirming treat. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Just might convince complaining children that their school isn't so bad after all. (Picture book. 3-8)

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

Stuart, a freckled, pale-skinned, redheaded child with glasses, is nervous for their first day of school at Wildwood Elementary-only to face a beastly surprise. The class is made up entirely of unruly animals: the monkeys drop Stuart from the monkey bars onto Patricia the porcupine, Betty the beaver whittles through all of the child-s pencils, and Charlie the crocodile eats their science experiment. But slowly, Stuart begins to adjust to the new environment with the help of their mouse teacher and a friendly crocodile classmate. Scharnhorst-s humorous narration is presented on each page as Stuart-s diary entries on notebook paper inserts. Animal humor aplenty enlivens the tale, while Patton-s mixed traditional and digital media art amplify the comedy with dynamic scenes and cartoonish characters. An encouraging new-kid narrative told from an entertaining perspective. Ages 4-8. (July)