Good Luck, Mrs. K.! - Softcover

Borden, Louise

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689851197 ISBN 13: 9780689851193

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2002

Synopsis

Mrs. Kempczinski -- "Mrs. K." to her third-grade students -- is everyone's favorite teacher. Exciting and dynamic, Mrs. K. knows sign language, celebrates Worm Day, and performs "homework dances." One day the third graders are explorers, learning about faraway places. Other days, they are poets or scientists or astronauts. Every day with Mrs. K. is different, and every day is fun.

Suddenly, though, Mrs. K. is not in school and Room 3 has a substitute teacher. The principal explains that Mrs. K. is in the hospital with cancer. The class writes letters and draws pictures for Mrs. K. One student, Ann Zesterman, tells Mrs. K. that she says "Kemp-chin-ski" for good luck when she plays basketball at recess. Another, A.J., wonders how many operations it takes to cure cancer, but no one has the answer. When will Mrs. K. come back?

Based on a true story, narrated by nine-year-old Ann and with lovely full-color paintings, this honest and forthright story addresses a subject of much importance and concern for young and old alike.

About this title

About the Author

Louise Borden graduated from Denison University with a degree in history. She taught first graders and preschoolers and later was a part-owner of a bookstore in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to writing children’s books, she also speaks regularly to young students about the writing process. Her books include Good Luck, Mrs. K!, which won the Christopher Medal, and The A+ Custodian. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and you can visit her at LouiseBorden.com.

Adam Gustavson is a graduate of Rowan University and the Master of Fine Arts Illustration program at the School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition to illustrating picture books, he currently teaches at Passaic County Community College and Seton Hall University. He lives and paints in West Orange, New Jersey, with his wife, their children, several guitars, and a ferret named Gracie.

From Kirkus Reviews

A third grader's happy year is interrupted when her beloved teacher gets cancer. ``Say it like this. . . KEMP-CHIN-SKI!'' the exuberant Mrs. Kempczinski counsels her students on the first day of school, and Ann Zesterman takes the advice to heart, saying her teacher's name over and over, as a litany. Ann loves everything about Mrs. Kempczinski, and under her enthusiastic tutelage the class learns ``a zillion facts about planets and penguins, poems and worms.'' One day, Mrs. Kempczinski isn't at school, and Ann and the other children learn that she has cancer. This tender tale ends on a touching but upbeat note with Mrs. Kempczinski coming back for a visit and the news that she returns the following year. But in real life this fact-based story didn't end so happily, and the book is dedicated to Mrs. K.'s memory. It's an affecting homage and Borden (The Little Ships, 1997) tells it simply and straight up. Gustavson's keen pictures have the expressiveness of Norman Rockwell's illustrations, with people's faces in warm flesh tones set off by a background of cool greens, grays, and blues; these scenes of a schoolroom in which learning and good hearts coexist subtly augment the book's message. (Picture book. 5-10) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0689851197
• ISBN 13: 9780689851193
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Gustavson Adam