An gorgeous ode to teachers. Expressive and child-friendly illustrations by Nancy Carpenter pair perfectly with Deborah Hopkinson's honest, insightful, and loving prose. Wonder at the emotions in child and teacher's faces on the cover: the girl's head is tipped in curious wonder, the teacher, complete with pencil in hair, is totally focused on the child. "I stood there ornery and dripping, just sure I'd get in trouble. But instead you grinned at me. 'Good morning! Look at you, standing there like Mary Kingsley just back from canoeing up the Ogooue River.'" Just the right words to hook a reluctant child. This would be the perfect gift to a child's favorite teacher or to a new teacher. ( )

This book highlights the relationship between a student and their teacher. It is so sweet! It really captures how big of a difference a great teacher can make in our lives and how we still remember the effect they had on us years later. It made me recall how much I absolutely loved my elementary school teachers, which I think is a powerful thing for a book to be able to do!

Her teacher is there for her time after time again. She seems to always know what to say or what to do, and she always seems able to get the girl interested in learning again. The teacher even gives her a book about an explorer that she had compared her to before in order to get the student interested in reading! The student doesn't quite know how to say thank you for all that her teacher has done, so she creates what she calls a "memory quilt" that illustrates the story of their second grade year together. The teacher is touched by the thoughtful gift and promises to never forget their class. The student grows up, and she writes a letter to her second-grade teacher. She writes to her the night before her first day of work, thanking her for everything that she helped her explore and for encouraging her to always try her best to be like the teacher. The letter thanks her for being her teacher. ( )

This book was adorable. This is probably one reason there are some teacher. Some teacher out there took time to understand and help their student, so their student became a teacher and can now do the same. This book is a letter to the second grade teacher who made it the best year ever for the author. ( )

This was such a sweet book. I loved how it showed what teachers go through with our challenging students, but through it all they showed love and patience. It showed that your hard work truly does pay off and that you really do make a difference. ( )

I love this book. It shows us that teachers really impact children lives. This book is about a young girl who has or had behavior problems and as a child and she realizes when she got older how much her teacher help her through life. This girl writes her old teacher a letter and tells her how much she has helped her become the woman she is today. ( )