My Teacher’s Not Here!

written by Lana Button

illustrated by Christine Battuz

My Teacher’s Not Here! is an endearing story designed to help children adapt to change, particularly the fear of a substitute teacher in the early childhood years. In so many cases, teachers become substitute parents and much more as they guide twenty or more students through a specially designed routine and know the needs of each student.

The teachers and children in this book are adorably depicted as a variety of animals. The story is told in predictable rhyming patterns from the viewpoint of a cute, apprehensive kitten. Their loving teacher has left a note for the children saying she is counting on them to help Mr. Omar (a giraffe), and so the little kitty overcomes her fears and does everything she can to be helpful.

I highly recommend this book for reading to a classroom. It will help allay anxieties and prepare students for that inevitable time when the teacher will be absent. Although the illustrations depict a preschool classroom, students in K-2 would also enjoy the message and the rhymes.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 5/5

Category: Children’s Fiction

Notes: Ages 4-8

Grades P-2

Publication:   April 3, 2018—Kids Can Press

Memorable Lines:

Smiling Miss Seabrooke should be here to meet me.

But my teacher is missing and NOT here to greet me.

Someone is standing 

in MY teacher’s spot.

He’s ginormously TALL.

Miss Seabrooke is not.