John Schu

　　recipient Lauren Castillo celebrate the power of finding the perfect book.

　　This is a word on a page. This is a page in a book. This is a book on a shelf ... waiting.

　　With a seahorse kite in their hand, a child heads out with Dad to the library. On the way they stop at a park, joining lots of people, some of whom are flying kites, too. At the library, a person toting a big pile of books hands over a story on a favourite subject: the seahorse. All around, there are readers poring over books, each with their own questions, ideas to explore, hopes for the future ... and imaginations ready to spark.

　　With a warm, lyrical text and expressive illustrations, John Schu and Lauren Castillo invite us to imagine the myriad of ways that books can foster connection and understanding – and how they can empower children to transform the world.

　　John Schu is the creator of the popular blog Mr. Schu Reads (mrschureads.blogspot.com), was the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic Book Fairs, a part-time lecturer at Rutgers University, and a former classroom teacher and school librarian. He has visited schools all over the world and has met with over 130,000 students, teachers, and administrators as he advocates for the people and things he cares about most: kids, books, schools, and the libraries — and librarians — that connect them. This Is a School is his picture book debut. John Schu lives in Naperville, Illinois. You can find him at JohnSchu.com and on social media at @MrSchuReads.