SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Book Discussion
  • Heavy Medal Mock
  • Process

December 31, 2021 by Steven Engelfried

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: HARRY VS. THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL by Emily Jenkins

December 31, 2021 by Steven Engelfried   18 comments

Introduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee member Lisa Levin.

Harry vs. the First 100 Days of School

HARRY VS. THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF SCHOOL is one of the more simple chapter books on the Mock Newbery list, relatable to young children, teachers and librarians as a fabulous read-aloud. Author Emily Jenkins writes authentically about what it is like to be a 6-year-old starting first grade. So much so that, as a reader, this book brings you back to your childhood with lots of funny and endearing moments. 

The characters are authentic and the language is precious. It is just like being in a classroom with first graders each day, using children’s daily conversations. Jenkins uses a diary format with 100 chapters using fabulous colorful and relatable illustrations by Pete Oswald (Bad Seed, Good Egg, and Couch Potato). Each chapter is short, full of great information and dialogue of daily life in first grade. We begin on the first day of school, September. 5, with the story ending on February 12 (the 100th day of school). (These dates are based on the school calendar of the 2018-2019 year, written in the author’s notes at the back of the book.) 

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Several themes are predominant in this book, such as families, communities, friendship, and empathy. This story includes various iterations of the types of families that exist today. Another theme is the social-emotional piece of communities and working together. The author creates a relatable story for children using smartboards in the classroom, tablets, and games, celebrating certain school holidays during the first 100 days of school such as Rosh Hashanah, Halloween, Indigenous People’s Day, and deals with the gratefulness piece of Thanksgiving instead of the story behind Thanksgiving and, lastly celebrating Martin Luther King. I love the author’s use of popular, real picture books relatable to curriculum themes. She references each title in the back of the book with her author’s note. 

Reading HARRY is like going back to our childhood and remembering what it was like to go to school. Who isn’t nervous when starting school at any age? The anticipation of a new teacher, making friends, where you sit in class, whether you will be liked, the bathroom location, will the teacher yell, and so much more. These thoughts go through Harry’s mind on his first day of first grade. Walking to school with his big sister, Charlotte, and their mother not far behind, Harry deals with everyday anxieties about what school will be like. Will Harry be able to sit in class? Will he be a super listener? Emily Jenkins, through Harry’s character, shows the natural innocence of young children. Most important in this story is learning to count to 100 and celebrating the 100th day of school by bringing 100 objects and having a big celebration, a major unit in first grade. 

Anyone who is a teacher will relate to this book. It is super sweet, endearing, and a joy to read. 

Heavy Medal Award Committee members and others are now invited to discuss this book further in the Comments section below. Please start with positive observations first; stick to positives until at least three comments have been posted or we reach 1:00 pm EST. Let the Mock Newbery discussion begin!

Filed under: Book Discussion, Heavy Medal Mock

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Emily JenkinsHarry Versus the First 100 Days of SchoolHeavy MedalHeavy Medal Award CommitteeHeavy Medal Book ListMock Newberynewbery 2022Newbery Award

About Steven Engelfried

Steven Engelfried was the Library Services Manager at the Wilsonville Public Library in Oregon until he retired in 2022 after 35 years as a full-time librarian. He served on the 2010 Newbery committee, chaired the 2013 Newbery Committee, and also served on the 2002 Caldecott committee. You can reach him at sengelfried@yahoo.com.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

January 2023

Who Will Win? 2023 Newbery Predictions

by Steven Engelfried

January 2023

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: THE LAST MAPMAKER by Christina Soontornvat

by Steven Engelfried

January 2023

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: BERRY SONG by Michaela Goade

by Steven Engelfried

January 2023

Mock Newbery Finalist: ATTACK OF THE BLACK RECTANGLES by Amy Sarig King

by Steven Engelfried

January 2023

Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: AIN'T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT By Jason Reynolds

by Steven Engelfried

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

Your 2023 Caldecott Comment Card

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Poems As Picture Books: Zetta Elliott Discusses the Upcoming A Song for Juneteenth

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

2023 ALA Youth Media Awards

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

FREEWATER wins the Newbery Medal, live reactions from Heavy Medal bloggers

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

A Conversation with Kendare Blake about BUFFY, THE NEXT GENERATION

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

A Book 25 Years in the Making: Marla Frazee Visits The Yarn

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

A Grateful Michaela Goade Makes Caldecott History

2021 Youth Media Awards Winners

Ringing in the Newbery (and Caldecott): An awards-trivia smackdown with Betsy Bird and Travis Jonker

Children’s Publishing World Reacts to Michaela Goade's History-Making Caldecott Medal, Rest of the YMA Winners

A Long Time Coming: Angeline Boulley's 'Firekeeper's Daughter' Takes 2022 Printz Award

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rox Anne Close says

    December 31, 2021 at 12:03 pm

    This book was a delightful read, it was both comical and heartwarming to watch Harry’s growth throughout the school year. Jenkin’s strong writing style, wry humor and insightfulness of kids’ experiences in first grade kept me engaged and laughing. I loved how in-depth I got to know the personalities of each kid that sat at ‘goat’ table, from their anxieties about school, to their recess games, antics at lunch, bad jokes and talk of boogers. It matches the real experiences of first graders. The plot, characters, diary-type style and theme work well together in this book. And as Lisa stated, this book is super sweet, endearing, and a joy to read.

  2. Emily Joan Smith says

    December 31, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    This story is so endearing, with well-delineated characters and setting and lots of relatable ideas to comfort young readers and stir nostalgia in adults. Since it would be unusual for a starter chapter book to win the Newbery, I think I’m guilty of underestimating this one. As an elementary librarian, I was too busy thinking about all the great connections you could make using at as a classroom read aloud, such as reading the other great books it references, doing the apple activity, making fluff creatures, etc. Seems with this one that I missed the forest for the trees!

  3. Stephanie Saggione says

    December 31, 2021 at 4:02 pm

    As a veteran first grade teacher, I enjoyed the realistic details in this story. It made me smile to see how a teacher’s plans are interpreted by the six year olds. It made me realize how often teachers gloss over the tiny idiosyncrasies of each individual student in the class. I think this book would be a fun winter read aloud in school and can imagine many first graders trying to read it independently after hearing it. I wondered about the ways the teacher chose to address complicated topics like the history of Thanksgiving. Was the author honestly painting the teacher character as someone who was trying her best to be sensitive or was he trying to show how unprepared most teachers are to handle these topics?

  4. Amanda Bishop says

    December 31, 2021 at 4:45 pm

    This was such a sweet and unexpected book. I absolutely loved Harry and I felt like Jenkin’s really wrote him with a first grade mind. He seemed so authentic and I could easily imagine him being one of my own students. I think kids will really relate to Harry and what he is going through. This will definitely be a wonderful read aloud for any 1st grade classroom and perfect for more advanced younger readers who can handle the length of this book.

    This book really stands out amongst the other titles because so rarely do we see books of this length with such young protagonists. This is a wonderful contribution to children’s literature and that has a lot of potential to win the Newbery.

  5. Aryssa Damron says

    December 31, 2021 at 5:12 pm

    I loved how realistic and rooted in the school experience it felt! The backmatter was so fun to see

  6. Rox Anne Close says

    December 31, 2021 at 5:27 pm

    A discrepancy I was concerned about was that Harry’s spelling seems very sophisticated compared to his reading level. In Harry’s journal writing for November 8, (a picture on page 105), he was able to spell ‘cake’, ‘card’, ‘disappointed’, ‘mean’ and ‘friend’ correctly, and understands how contractions work (that’s). In journal writing for December 14, (a picture on p. 151), Harry spells ‘never’, ‘horses’, and ‘makes’ correctly. Yet on January 7, (p. 169), Harry struggled with reading higher level books with digraphs ‘CH’ and ‘SH’ sounds and more silent ‘E’ words. In my experience learning to read and write vowel combination words such as ‘mean’ or ‘r’ controlled words such as ‘card’, ‘never’, ‘horses’ and diphthong words such as ‘disappointed’ comes later in the reading/writing process than digraphs and silent ‘E’ words.

    Maybe he could correctly spell ‘cake’ in the November 8 journal entry and ‘makes’ in the December 14 journal entry as it states on November 7, (p. 104), that Harry is learning to read silent E words, “He picks a book and practices sounding out words, speaking softly to himself. Silent E makes cub into cube. It makes fin into fine. He is going to remember that and not think about Diamond at all.”

    Maybe the teacher corrects all spelling in journals, but it states on p. 105, that the kids don’t have to worry about spelling except for sight words. Maybe all the above words are already on the Word Walls, as the author states in the AUTHOR’S NOTES that sight words are added weekly. (Note that Harry spelled ‘friend’ correctly on November 8, (p. 105), and the word ‘friend’ was not put on the word wall until December 14, (p. 150).

    I know this is very nit-picky, but I think getting learning levels right seem pretty important in a book that is all about first grade. Maybe non of these elements would have an impact on the reader, but as a teacher, (nine years teaching first grade), I couldn’t get past this discrepancy.

    This book is distinguished as far as plot, characters, style, theme, and showing the emotional realities of first graders, but in my opinion I would mark it a little lower for presentation of information (accuracy).

    • Leonard Kim says

      December 31, 2021 at 10:00 pm

      We’d touched on this issue before, and my current thinking is: there are two sorts of information here: 1) how 1st-graders spell words 2) how words are actually spelled. You can’t get both right at the same time, so there’s just no way to win the “presentation of information” game here. It is my own opinion that the child reader is better-served if 2) is chosen over 1). That is, I’d personally penalize a book more for “presentation of information” and “excellence of presentation for a child audience” if words were misspelled in a realistic way.

      • Rox Anne Close says

        January 1, 2022 at 4:01 pm

        Leonard, I do not think the discrepancy is spelling alone, how 1st graders spell words or how words are actually spelled. To me the mismatch is Harry’s reading level, as Jenkins has stated in this book several places, compared to his spelling level in his writing. It appears that Harry is able to spell words correctly that he actually can’t read. I think Jenkins could of solved this problem by showing Harry’s writing (in pictures) using ‘invented spelling’ incorporating the concepts that Harry already knows how to read, then in her text write the interpretation of Harry’s writing, and that would make the reading/writing discrepancy more accurate. The emotional realities of first grade are so accurate in this book, and I would like to see the reading/writing realities to be more accurate.

    • Sarah M. says

      January 6, 2022 at 3:39 pm

      Rox Anne, I had a similar issue with accuracy. A couple of times, it’s mentioned that Harry’s friend Mason is turning 6. He has his birthday party over the winter break, and Harry thinks that he’s excited to turn 6. But the kindergarten cutoff in NY is December 1st! Harry and Mason wouldn’t be turning 6 in December or after, they’d be turning 7! This would have been such an easy thing to get right and it really bothered me! Especially because in general, I do think this book is a great portrayal of 6-7-year-olds. I have a 2nd grader who just turned 8 and I wish this book had come out about 2 years ago, because she would have loved it then.

      • Leonard Kim says

        January 6, 2022 at 4:26 pm

        Sarah, this issue was raised in the earlier discussion here about this book. When I looked this up on the internet, it seemed that although New York state generally may have a December 1 cut-off, New York City’s cut-off is December 31, so this is not an inaccuracy in this book as far as Mason’s birthday goes. On the other hand, it is a little odd that there is then no mention of Harry turning 6 in December.

  7. Megan Howes says

    December 31, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    I’m so glad I read this for HMAC, because I don’t think I would be aware of this book! It was so touching to see a realistic first grade classroom and see Harry grow in his confidence as a student. I particularly loved the social emotional lessons in this book, especially when Harry learns to voice his feelings in a healthy way and solve conflicts with his friends and classmates.

  8. Michelle School Librarian Lettus says

    January 1, 2022 at 10:38 am

    Harry Vs. The First 100 Days of School is not one I would say would be my first choice as a Newbery contender. I do not think there was enough of a plot for this book- it ended up being very repetitive where Harry does not like something, a person or experience changes his mind, and then he likes it. If this had been a series meant for actual first graders, that would be fine, but I think kids who could read this title would get bored very easily. Harry and his friends do not sound like actual first graders, at times they sound too mature and at other points they sound immature. Overall, I think this book is missing some key points of the Newbery Criteria.

  9. Michelle Lettus says

    January 1, 2022 at 11:42 am

    Harry Vs. The First 100 Days of School is not one I would say would be my first choice as a Newbery contender. I do not think there was enough of a plot for this book- it ended up being very repetitive where Harry does not like something, a person or experience changes his mind, and then he likes it. If this had been a series meant for actual first graders, that would be fine, but I think kids who could read this title would get bored very easily. Harry and his friends do not sound like actual first graders, at times they sound too mature and at other points they sound immature. Overall, I think this book is missing some key points of the Newbery Criteria.

    • Lisa Levin says

      January 1, 2022 at 12:22 pm

      I agree Michelle. I enjoyed the book and it will be a great read-aloud.

    • Leonard Kim says

      January 1, 2022 at 1:49 pm

      I see plot threads being realistically developed over many different timescales. For example, take only Harry’s relationships with each member of the goat table: each develops at its own pace, with varying amounts of conflict, and delicately tuned to the personalities and circumstances of each character. Harry’s relationship with Diamond does proceed the way you describe, but Abigail’s arc is relatively extended, and Wyatt’s develops across the entire book, probably matched in length only by the becoming-an-expert theme. And I think that long arc makes Wyatt more heartbreakingly and complexly rendered than any of the bullies or antagonists in PITY PARTY, STARFISH, BEATRYCE, GENIUS, and maybe even JUST LIKE THAT. That Jenkins can do that under the constraints she works under is strongly distinguished in my opinion.

  10. Rox Anne Close says

    January 1, 2022 at 4:14 pm

    Leonard, I agree that the realistic development of the plot threads of Harry’s relationships with each member of the goat table is one of the strengths of this book. That each develops at its own pace, with varying amounts of conflict and delicately tuned to each personality and circumstance is hard to achieve in-depth in a chapter for early readers. Jenkins is able to nail this!

  11. Tamara DePasquale says

    January 3, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    This book is a conundrum for me! There are many things to praise, yet I’m not committing a Newbery vote – honor at best – until I have reread all the titles up for consideration. For me, that already works against a title.

    The narrative structure of the daily journal is lovely, and it gives young readers an opportunity to visit another classroom and observe genuine feelings of insecurity, fear, anxiety, frustration, and anger. This is all nicely balanced with very real celebrations of accomplishments, humor, and everyday pleasantries.

    I agree with those who praise the level of empathy demonstrated in Ms. Peek-Schnitzel’s classroom. But it feels like the classroom that we all want for our children. I would have appreciated the empathy realized through more realistic challenges. Perhaps Wyatt could have taken a bit longer to work out his challenges?

    Having spent a lot of time in elementary classrooms, I tend to agree with Michelle and others who struggle with the contrasting behaviors and voices of the same character. I can easily see multiple levels of maturity among the students, but there is an inconsistency here that I find distracting. There were moments that the dialogue felt more like an opportunity or “lesson” for the reader to hear model students handling a checklist of social and emotional challenges within a classroom. The voices felt a little too “spot on.” Even Charlotte feels a bit too perfect for an older 4th grade sibling. When Harry asks her to purchase a bag of cheese puffs (p. 207-208), she happily agrees, “ruffling his hair.” Do 4th grade siblings find their younger brothers adorable enough to ruffle their hair? It feels like an adult response.

    If this was the actual committee, the book would come up against discussions of Billy Miller Makes a Wish and Maybe, Maybe Marisol Rainey – equally endearing titles for this age group. Is this a book that I would recommend for classroom read-alouds? Sure! Is this the book I’m ready to give a precious Newbery ballot vote to? I don’t think so.

    • Sarah M. says

      January 6, 2022 at 3:34 pm

      I have a second grader and a prekindergartner and I do think my oldest would ruffle the younger one’s hair! And then hit her in the head, probably, haha.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • Other Mock Newbery Sites

    • Anderson’s Bookshops
    • For Those About to Mock
    • Good Reads Mock Newbery
    • Northport-East Northport PL
    • Rhode Island OLIS
  • Resources

    • Jen J's Starred Reviews Spreadsheet
    • Newbery Manual
    • Newbery Medal & Honor Books
    • Newbery Terms & Criteria
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023