Tool School

by Joan Holub, James Dean (Illustrator)

Overview

"Meet five little tools who love to learn, with big ideas and energy to burn!"

Get ready young builders to twist and turn with laughter!Join a hammer, screwdriver, tape measurer, saw, and pair of pliers on their first day of school. Together, they make puzzles and play games, but when it's time to build something it's suddenly every tool for itself. Working alone, each tool soon realizes that to make something great all need to cooperate!Young children will love the irresistible bold artwork and fun rhyming text as they learn that a little teamwork can make a big difference. Tool School introduces some of the most basic household tools, and cool tips explain how to successfully use them with the help of a grown-up!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545685504
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Joan Holub has authored and/or illustrated more than 130 children's books. With Suzanne Williams she is the author of the popular Goddess Girls, Heroes in Training, and Grimmtastic Girls series. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and can be found at joanholub.com.

JAMES DEAN's art has sold in more than ninety galleries and shops across the United States. He has devoted his paintings to Pat le chat for fifteen years and has turned his natural love for cats into his life's work. He illustrated his first self-published children's book, Pat le chat : J'adore mes souliers blancs, in 2008. James lives in Savannah, Georgia, with his wife Kimberly.

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2017
Holub and Dean, the team behind Mighty Dads, hammer home a message of cooperation in a story about five tools that learn to work together. After each tool—a hammer, pair of pliers, saw, screw driver, and tape measure—introduces itself, it’s off to school, where their independent building projects don’t work out until they combine their skills. There’s nothing wrong with the premise or theme, but the story falls flat. Holub’s rhymes are often halfhearted and obvious (“Know what you need? It could save the day:/ Cooperation. Say it now, okay?”) with uneven rhythms, and Dean doesn’t capitalize on the excitement that tools and construction hold for many kids. With their small smiles, static poses, and half-lidded eyes, his dashed-off tools barely look like they’re awake, let alone engaged in what they’re doing. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Liza Voges, Eden Street Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Deborah Warren, East West Literary. (July)

Publishers Weekly

08/01/2017
PreS-Gr 2—The characters of this brief, rhyming tale head to school on their very first day. Their destination is Tool School, presenting five young personified tools—Hammer, Screwdriver, Pliers, Saw, and Tape Measure—experimenting with their skills and finding their way around a builder's classroom. Cartoon illustrations feature their wide-eyed excitement for learning, frustration as they try to work independently for the first time, and cubbies filled with enough wood, cardboard, screws, nails, glue, and clamps to satisfy their every experiment. Young readers unfamiliar with basic tools will find an introduction to each character, a description of the tool's purpose, and how each works. Led by their teacher Ms. Drill, the tools practice safety and skills, working first alone and then learning together to explore the value of cooperation. Text includes a bit of onomatopoeia—the sounds of constructing a toolbox—while speech bubbles highlight a busy conversation. A final spread presents "Cool Tool Tips" and the reminder to work with a grown-up and wear safety goggles. VERDICT A must-read for budding makers in all libraries, measuring up to the need for early introduction to creative tools, and entertainingly illustrated for the very young.—Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

School Library Journal

2017-05-15
Five tools—Hammer, Screwdriver, Tape Measure, Pliers, and Saw—go to school for the first time to learn to build on their skills.After a rhyming introduction for each tool, they board the bus and are on their way to meet their teacher, Ms. Drill. Dean's tool characters sport eyes, sometimes glasses or eyelashes (if female), and some have simple, line mouths. Their classroom has many of the same things kids will see on their own first days—desks, crayons, cubbies, scissors, pencils—and the activities are much the same as well: doing puzzles, decorating name tags, singing rhymes and songs. It's when the building starts that the trouble begins. Each tool tries to make his or her own project, and none of them can complete anything alone. Ms. Drill says, "Working by yourself can be fun galore. / But sometimes a job takes two or more. / Know what you need? It could save the day: / COOPERATION. Say it now, okay?" The tools dutifully chime in, work together, and build a tool box. A spread of tool tips, focusing on safety and picking the right tool for each job, rounds out the book. Uninspiring, pedestrian rhymes and didacticism plague this effort, and the tools have expressions that are limited to happy or sad: up- or downturned mouths or open or half-closed eyes. Doesn't measure up. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews