LIVE@MTM: Kevin Henkes in Conversation with Doug Moe

About the Book

A stand-alone companion to two-time Newbery Honor author Kevin Henkes's award-winning and acclaimed The Year of Billy Miller. With themes of family, friendship, and resilience, this very funny school story focuses on Billy's little sister, Sal, and her first day of first grade. For fans of Ramona, Ivy + Bean, and Dory Fantasmagory.

Sal has been looking forward to first grade for a long time. But her excitement quickly turns to disappointment when she learns that her best friend Griff is in the other first-grade classroom and has the most popular teacher. Then Sal's name is spelled wrong on her name tag; she trips in front of the cool fifth graders; and her self-portrait doesn't turn out the way she wanted it to. In fact, everything about school is an absolute disaster. Poor Sal!

Luckily for Sal, she has understanding parents, a terrific new teacher, and empathetic friends who remind her that it takes time to adjust to change. And after a few days, Sal feels like herself again.

Still Sal highlights themes of family, friendship, social and emotional growth, resilience, and adapting to change. The fourth stand-alone book in the Miller Family sequence includes black-and-white illustrations by Kevin Henkes on almost every page and is an excellent choice for early elementary grades, for readers ready for a short novel, and for family and classroom read-alouds.

About the author

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children's Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive's Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

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