The Class with Wings

Newbery Medalist Fleischman follows a teacher helping students to imagine themselves as veeries migrating from Brazil to Wisconsin, where the classroom is. Every afternoon at 2:30, Ms. Lee closes the curtains and turns off the lights, while the classmates place their heads on their arms and shut their eyes, readying to “become birds.” Ms. Lee narrates the migration’s launch: “You’d normally pick out a branch to perch on... but tonight will be different. You’re ready.” The voice of a student takes up the narrative: “My arms become wings.... I’m flying!” Salyer (Ancestory) works in loose, dreamy, digitally finished colored pencil and gouache spreads, imagining a flock of golden-brown veeries taking flight, each one bursting forth from a child at their desk. Throughout, as Ms. Lee narrates (“You always fly at night when fewer hawks and falcons are around”), individual students compare the bird’s circumstances with their own. “Schoolkids have bullies,” one thinks; “Veeries have raptors. Except raptors eat you.” The educator’s success at bringing the migration to life, the children’s excitement, and Salyer’s artwork—especially portraits of students sharing in communal and individual wonder—combine affectingly in this quietly informative interspecies adventure. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Back matter includes more about avian life. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Stephen Barr, Writers House. (Oct.)