Nugget and Fang Go to School, written by Tammi Sauer and Michael Slack, reviewed by Caroline Rabideau

Summary: Nugget (a minnow) loves his best friend Fang (a shark). They adore each other so much that Nugget wants to take Fang to minnow school with him. But Fang finds that he may not be so great at school subjects. He's not good at math, he's not good at science. Next thing you know, Fang is feeling very anxious about being at school. Can friendship save the day? 

Straight Talk for Librarians: I really loved this book, and I can see it being used in so many different ways. It would be a great back-to-school book, or a great welcome to school book. Fang has some anxiety about going to school and joining the group; a feeling many students feel on the first day, and I would imagine a fear many students have when joining mid-year. His initial fear is overcome when he realizes he's surrounded by friends. It would also be a great book about fitting in and finding your place. Fang finds out that, while he's not great at math or science, he IS a GREAT friend, and during story-time, he can talk about his friendship with minnow. It would be a good book to talk about anxiety. When Fang gets anxious, the text starts to swirl and changes color to an alarming yellow, representing how Fang is probably feeling about the situation. I think this was a great representation of what anxiety could feel like, and might be a great opener into a conversation about a student's personal experiences with anxiety. Ultimately, Nugget and Fang books are a great testament to friendship. Nugget and Fang may incur trials to their friendship, but they find a way to work together to overcome it.