Woo-hooo! Today is the #BookBirthday of Stephanie Henson’s NO SCHOOL, MY RULES,
illustrated by Mai Tran (Tielmour Press)!
Sincere apologies and condolences to teachers, librarians, and students who are definitely NOT talking about going back to you-know-where… but THIS book!
“A validating, encouraging voice for kids with school-related anxiety.
Verdict: GET IT“
Kirkus
This lyrical story moves between student anxieties of back-to-school and the images of life withOUT it.
Hmmm… (No spoilers.)
Meet the author:
Let’s ask Stephanie Henson some questions!
Q 1. What was the inspiration for NO SCHOOL, MY RULES?
SH: I had really bad school refusal as a child and it was very distressing to both me and my parents. We did not know it at the time, but I had undiagnosed anxiety which made it very hard to make sense of the things I was feeling.
Fast forward to when my son was in 3rd grade, and he experienced much of the same anxiety related symptoms that I did regarding school so we knew how to help him.
The inspiration behind the book came from these shared experiences and when my son said one day that if Elsie (our dog) didn’t have to go to school then he didn’t have to go either. That is actually one of the spreads in the book!
Surprise!
Q 2. What surprises did you discover while writing this story?
SH: I was surprised how hard it can be to stick to a story structure when writing a Picture Book.
I wanted the words to flow and the ideas to come to life but there needs to be consistency in the way you present the information, so making sure the writing was tight and the structure was adhered to was important.
Sometimes people think writing picture books is easy. I feel it’s so difficult for those reasons and because you have a limited word count to work within and it has to be written in a way that kids not only respond to, but understand. I admire ALL picture book writers!
Illustration Questions
Q 3. What is your favorite spread?
SH: Well, I love the cover and the expressive nature of the little girl who does not want to go to school. It’s written all over her face and Mai Tran, the illustrator, captured it perfectly. But I also love the very first spread when you open the book and see the sprawling birds splashed across the page in vivid color. It’s just so pretty.
Q 4. What surprises did debut illustrator Mai Tran bring to the book?
SH: Mai is amazing and I love how she personified the objects that did not have to go to school. Her watercolor artwork is beautiful. She gave my words literal life and I will be forever grateful to her.
Takeaways
Q 5. What do you hope readers will take away from NO SCHOOL, MY RULES?
SH: I hope that readers know that anxiety and situations that affect going to school such as bullying are normal. Hopefully this book gives kids a different perspective when approaching school. I’d love it if they also realize –by reading the playful scenarios, internal logic, and ultimately the conclusion– that school and education are important.
Up Next…
Q 6. What’s next for you? Anything you can share?
SH: I recently won a scholarship through SCBWI Eastern PA Chapter for their next networking/writing event in September. It will be my first in person event and I am super excited about that.
I’m also very close to booking my first Highlights Foundation in-person retreat and I am so looking forward to that.
In addition, I’m working on another upper Middle Grade novel in verse so I hope to have that finished and on sub by this Fall.
Finally, look for me interacting with the kidlit community on social media and cheering everyone on in their journeys at:
@stepha_henson TwitterX
Stephahenson Instagram
stephanie-henson.weebly.com Website
Happy Book Birthday to NO SCHOOL, MY RULES!
BONUS : Back-to-School Book Pairings & Links…
FIRST NIGHT OF HOWLERGARTEN Benson Shum
ISABEL AND HER COLORES Alexandra alessandri / Courtney Dawson
GET READY FOR SCHOOL Janet Nolan / Maria Neradova
LONG GOES TO DRAGON SCHOOL Helen Wu / Mae Besom
K IS FOR KINDERGARTEN Erin Dealey / Joseph Cowman
THIS IS A SCHOOL John Schu / Veronica Miller Jamison
Did we say #Giveaway?
YES! Stephanie has offered to giveaway a signed copy of NO SCHOOL, MY RULES and a fun swag set.
US only.
To be eligible, Follow her on Twitter/X and Repost. @stepha_henson with the hashtag: #NoSchoolMyRules.
Deadline: Weds August 21st. Midnight PST.
Happy (almost or already!) Back-to-YOUKNOWWHAT to all who…um …celebrate?
You’ve got this, friends.
Up Next:
A STAR SHINES THROUGH written and illustrated by Anna Desnitskaya (Eerdmans BFYR).
Congratulations on your new book! This Sounds like a great way to address a topic that you have a long-time personal connection to. I loved school and fortunately so did my children but as a teacher, I’ve experienced this firsthand.