Beth Anderson, Children's Writer

It seems to be a perfect time to share a new “subversive” story for Perfect Picture Book Friday. Here’s an introduction to WE DON’T EAT OUR CLASSMATES by Ryan T. Higgins of MOTHER BRUCE fame. 

Title: We Don’t Eat Our Classmates

Written and Illustrated by: Ryan T. Higgins

Disney/Hyperion 2018

Suitable for ages: 3-5

Themes/topics: school, friendship

Opening:

Penelope Rex was nervous. It’s not every day a little T. rex starts school.

“What are my classmates going to be like? Will they be nice? How many teeth will they have?” This was very important.

Brief synopsis

It’s the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can’t wait to meet her classmates. But it’s hard to make human friends when they’re so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all. . . . Readers will gobble up this hilarious new story from award-winning author-illustrator Ryan T. Higgins.

Activities and Resources:

Draw a picture or write a story:

• Think of another animal child going to human school for the first time. What would be hard for that animal NOT to do? What problems would it have? How might that animal learn to understand how to be a friend to the others.
• Think of how it would be for you to go to another school where the class was made up of another kind of animal. How would you learn to behave appropriately in their class? What mistakes might you make?

Activity Pages 

Why I like this book:

These times call for a little subversive kid lit. You can tell from the title that there’s going to be some inappropriate behavior. And we all know people who make it hard to be their friend. And then the whole situation becomes awkward and off-putting. Who hasn’t been there? This story makes it easy to connect with both the dinosaur and a child in the class. I’m willing to bet adults and kids will get a chuckle out of this little dino. The illustrations add so much fun to this story about differences and fear and learning to be a friend. The cover says it all – a little T. rex standing there looking guilty, drool puddling on the floor around a lone sneaker. Oops. Did it again.

Visit author Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Books for a plethora of picture books listed by title and topic/theme, each with teacher/parent activities and resources.