Sorry, Grown-ups, You Can’t Go to School!

The creators of Buddy’s Bedtime Battery offer a hyperbolic riff on a common picture-book conceit: parents touting the joys of school to reluctant offspring. As Lady and Buddy’s mother flaunts her pink backpack, announcing, “I’m wearing it to school!” their father eagerly ties his new high-tops. The kids react with a rather flat refrain that’s repeated throughout: “You can’t go to school! Only kids and teachers! Only kids and teachers!” Soon, their grandparents arrive with their dog in tow—all wearing backpacks—and the grown-ups share what they’re most looking forward to at school. After putting the final kibosh on the adults’ plan, Lady comically assuages their disappointment by reassuring them that the grown-ups can pick up the kids at day’s end. A non sequitur brings the tale to a curiously anticlimactic close, as the girl proclaims, “Tomorrow we get to go to work with you!” High-energy art magnifies the story’s message: kids know best. Ages 3–7. [em](July) [/em]