Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4-8 this year. But how can a mere one week be adequate time to recognize and express gratitude for teachers? As we know, time in the classroom is only the visible tip of all that teachers do. There’s also preparing lesson plans, overseeing extracurriculars and trying to recognize the distinct needs and learning style of each student. Many adults can look back on a teacher whose influence was transformative. You might email or write that special teacher from your past—and do this with your children, encouraging them to do the same with a noteworthy teacher in their lives. From funny to inspirational, these books feature teachers who play a big part in a child’s learning and growth.
Tots – Age 7
“My Teacher Is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.)”
Peter Brown
Little Brown, 2014, $18.99
Through a playful mix of narrative and dialogue balloons, Caldecott Honoree Peter Brown explores the dynamics between student and teacher. Kids can experience teachers’ limit setting as extremely unfair, failing to realize that learning cannot occur in a chaotic classroom. Mischievous Bobby perceives Ms. Kirby as a monster when she denies him recess after he breaks a rule. But an unexpected encounter at his favorite park reveals common interests and her appreciation of him. At the end of the outing, Ms. Kirby has been fully humanized, in Bobby’s eyes. Young readers will enjoy charting her transformation in the illustrations from a hulking green creature to an ordinary woman.
“Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse”
By Kevin Henkes
HarperCollins, 1996, $19.99
Published 30 years ago, this gently humorous, wise picture book is a classic for good reason. Without being preachy, it models kindness, understanding and boundaries on the part of the teacher, which then allows the young protagonist to experience remorse and learn self-control. Lilly is a big fan of school and of her teacher, Mr. Slinger. Her kicky red boots fairly vibrate with enthusiasm the day she brings her new purple plastic purse to class. So eager is she to show off her new possession, though, that she constantly interrupts, prompting Mr. Slinger to confiscate her purse until the end of the day. Feeling angry, Lilly draws a mean picture of Mr. Slinger. She soon regrets her action, though, when her purse is returned, with a thoughtful note from Mr. Slinger. Lilly feels “simply awful.” Author/illustrator Kevin Henkes shows how Lilly makes amends by owning what she did and apologizing to her teacher.
“I Want to Be a Teacher”
By Laura Driscoll
Illustrated by Catalina Echeverri
HarperCollins, 2021, $5.99
Youngsters will be amazed at all the different types of people and activities that revolve around teaching. And you don’t even have to wait to be a grown-up to begin! In fact, this early reader opens with the child narrator, Noah, teaching new words to his baby sister. Readers also meet Noah’s classroom teacher, gym teacher, art teacher and swim instructor. Mom’s music teacher helps her to become a better tuba player. Even the family dog, Rocket, works with a trainer, who also teaches the kids how to teach their pup. This book reveals that teaching, in its many varieties, may be a fulfilling career path or volunteer opportunity.
Preteens
“The Teachers March!”
By Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace
Illustrated by Charly Palmer
Calkins Creek, 2020, $18.99
As well as imparting knowledge and skills, teachers can be important role models and change agents. This is certainly true of those involved with the January 1965 Selma Teachers’ March, a major turning point in the civil rights movement. How and why was it organized and by whom? This compelling historical picture book answers those questions. Black Americans in the segregated South were often threatened with violence and arrest or subjected to unfair tests whenever they tried to register to vote. To protest this injustice, Reverend F.D. Reese, a minister and high school teacher in Selma, Alabama, decided to organize a teachers’ march to the courthouse. Even though the teachers knew they could be jailed and/or fired, more than 100 showed up. They were turned away at the courthouse, forcibly, repeatedly. But their activism inspired their students to march, and other professional groups as well—barbers, beauticians, undertakers. Some were beaten and killed, others, like Reverend Reese, were the target of threats and bombs. But they persevered, and in August 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“Because of Mr. Terupt”
By Rob Buyea
Delacorte, 2010, $8.99
This instant classic, now available in paperback, is the first in a popular five-book series. It follows seven students over the course of their fifth grade year. They take turns narrating, and this shifting perspective and the short chapters propel the story and widen perspective. Each student is challenged and changed in a different, positive way by their teacher, Mr. Terupt. When a terrible accident threatens to derail their progress, how each responds reveals the depth of that change. Books two, three and four attend to these same students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Book five, “Because of Our Student Teacher,” will be published in September. This time, one of the students, now grown, is in the role of teacher.
Teens
“Dear Martin”
By Nic Stone
Crown, 2018, $12.99
A life-changing teacher might be a book or historic figure that deeply engages and challenges a young person. This is the case in Nic Stone’s powerful debut novel, available in paperback. Interspersed throughout a fraught contemporary story about 17-year-old Justyce McAllister are letters he writes to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In them, he reflects on the words and example of the slain Civil Rights leader. They help him to clarify his own thinking as he questions the systemic racism, injustice and violence he experiences as a Black kid at his mostly white prep school and in the world. The book’s thoughtful protagonist and unflinching exploration of the issues of young Black men earned it much acclaim. It has since become the first in a best-selling series, with the most recent title, “Dear Manny,” published last year.
Mary Quattlebaum lives in Washington, D.C. and is the author of 30 award-winning children’s books, most recently Queen Elizabeth II, an early reader biography. She teaches in the graduate program in writing for children at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, writes frequently for The Washington Post and is a popular school and conference speaker. maryquattlebaum.com
