Friday Fun - In Praise of Mr. Wolf's Class

One of the finest children's graphic novels out there

Mr. Wolf’s Class is a children’s graphic novel written by Aron Nels Steinke and published by Scholastic. The books are, as the name suggests, about a teacher, Mr. Wolf, and his elementary school class. Each of the books are loosely organized around a major event: Mr. Wolf joining the school, a field trip, a biking accident, the formation of a mystery club, a snow day.

All Minnesota-based VanHeuvelens love Mr. Wolf’s class. It has been enjoyed by our kids beginning at age 4 and going at least to age 9 (going on 10). Below are the reasons why I think these books are fantastic.

They Feel Like School

Steinke is a former elementary school teacher, and you can feel his experience in how he writes his books. He identifies many of the exciting and unstructured moments that a child feels in class, such as going into the halls during class time. And he captures the drama and rhythm of a school day, from going to lunch to going to recess to doing particular academic activities to going to the bathroom.

My kids really locked into these books after they started going to Kindergarten. I think they really appreciated seeing these school day rhythms represented.

The Books are Beautiful and Set in a Beautiful Place

I am fairly sure that the location of these books are inspired by Oregon. The drawings and the scenery are lovely. Great Escapism.

A Full Cast of Kids, No One Star

There is not one star of the novels. The class itself is the protagonist, and the stories move between the different children, their interactions, and their homes. Much in the same way that kids process and make sense of the 20 other children in their classrooms in real life, we get to do the same in these graphic novels. Very nicely done, and a very different approach to story telling from the vast majority of other kids books (where you have a single protagonist that the child is meant to project themselves onto).

They Do Diversity Well

This is a weird one, and I didn’t set out to get my kids these books to teach lessons about living in a diverse situation. Let me begin with a foil - there are many kids books that operate as PR for the concept of diversity, very bluntly talking about it and showing it, so that one cannot walk away without thinking that it is the most noble thing in the world. They explicitly describe concepts and then stretch their illustrations and plots to bluntly represent those concepts. Kind of like a manager ordering you to think that this required Macarena dance break at work is very fun.

In contrast, Mr. Wolf’s Class shows children living within diversity. It is in the background, kids make sense of it, all characters are full, and the kids all treat each other with a basic dignity and worthiness. In the above strip, Aziza is annoyed and lashes out at Sampson, even though she is depicted as a Muslim character. And the thing is - that’s totally fine! She has bright moments as well, and moments where she feels mistreated. The kids grapple and deal with days where everyone deals with a mix of both. The kids briefly process the fact that one of the characters has two moms but do not dwell on it nor fully articulate the concept of gay marriage. The focus is on kids going to school and getting along with each other. And getting along with a diverse set of peers who are all equally worthy of respect simply sits in the background. Pretty insightful, pretty cool.

The Drama is Kid Drama, the Whimsy is School Whimsy

Drama occurs in ways that kids experience drama - feeling like your friend is being a ball hog, fighting about the rules of foursquare, riding your bike down a steep hill, feeling worried about your brother’s surgery. These dramas are intermixed across the kids as they go through the main plot of the graphic novel. It really works.

There is a lot of whimsy that feels like the special things that kids like about their schools - magic rats that take food, special bushes, a forest behind the school where all the old lost balls are. Going outside by yourself.

Overall, great books for early elementary aged kids. I love them. My spouse loves them. My kids love them.