A Day Off School
Review posted August 13, 2026.
Philomel, 2026. 44 pages.
Review written August 12, 2026, from a library book.
Starred Review
Herbie has the sniffles. He gets a day off school! Before his dad even checks on him, he eats breakfast in a sofa fort, plays Space Blasters, races his cars, draws a giant dinosaur, practices his yo-yo tricks, bounces a ball, and watches some cartoons. [Of course there are pictures to go with all of these activities.]
After lunch, everything seems boring. [I love the bored slump to his body in the pictures of his attempts at fun.]
Then... he starts thinking about school...
What if something really good happened there today?
Like an extra playtime?
Or a dog loose in the corridor?
From there, his imagination takes off. (And the pictures for this part are glorious.) So much so, that when his sister gets home, he wonders if that's a space helmet hidden in her backpack from the rides the aliens gave the kids on their spaceship.
The next day, he gets to go back to school. It's really boring.
Or is it?
As usual with Oliver Jeffers, the wild imagination presented in a matter-of-fact way strikes the perfect note. (Stuck is still one of my all-time favorite picture books.)