Representation: 10
Story: 10
Illustration: 10

This is a sad and beautiful story. Much like the author mentioned, it is scary that a story about school safety has to be written. I cannot imagine what it must be like for children nowadays to practice lockdown drills, knowing that it might come a day they will have to experience it for real.

DiLorenzo's book allows children to feel safe to talk about being scared and adults to realize how important it is to listen to children's concerns and offer common humanity.

** Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review. **

These books, while unfortunately increasingly necessary, always break my heart a little. Lovely art, with a reminder that talking about the hard stuff is how we get through it.

Ava has had a bad day and wants to go home, but her grandad brought a picnic and paints for some quiet time together.

Eventually, Ava talks about the lockdown drill at school that day, and how scared she was--and still is.

Her grandad helps her remember to see and feel the beauty of the world around her, and that drills help people prepare "in case" something happens, while not letting fear take over.

Warning: Spoiler Alert!

Ava slowly accepts the healing of being listened to, and to have some quiet time to paint and enjoy nature. As they prepare to go home, she asks her grandad if they can do it again tomorrow.

Beautiful and soft autumn paintings (by the author) set the tone for this book that handles this important subject with sensitivity and empathy.

5/5 Stars

Thanks to Flyaway Books and NetGalley for the free preview of this uncorrected book pdf; the review is voluntary.

#OneThursdayAfternoon #NetGalley
#FlyawayBooks #BarbaraDiLorenzo
#ChildrensFiction
#ChildrensSchoolLockdownDrills
#SchoolDangerPreparedness
#ChildrensFears #ChildPsychologyandSociology
#ChildrenandGunViolenceinSchools
#KeepingKidsSafe

When we were in grade school, we only had drills for bombs and tornados. Today's kids (except for Ukraine and other hot spots) still have tornado (or hurricane) drills, but also drills about armed intruders. This is way scary, but the information in this lovely illustrated small book has some very useful ideas to support our children of today.
Every public and school library needs a copy!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Flyaway Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Holy shish kebab. Do not read this book without tissues, like an entire box of them. Powerful, moving and poignant, Ava's story will grip you from the first page and keep you firmly in it's grasp until the very end. This book reflects on and affirms the anxiety a child may feel from all the horrible acts. Grandpa is unconditionally supportive and validates her fears, but also guides her through the journey as she navigates these new experiences. He reminds her that even though there is lots of bad in the world, there is so much beauty too. We must try and remember to focus on that.

It is heart wrenching and beautifully written as Ava struggles to come to terms with lockdown drills and wrestles with knowing a place she once felt so safe no longer feels that way. I have so many words but also not nearly enough to perfectly capture this story. Every family should read this together. The content may be intense but it is an important read for children who are learning to deal with the darkness in the world.

This would be a great addition to a classroom library or for a school counselor. Families may also enjoy having this as a book to read aloud and discuss. Definitely one that children should read. This book is not at a lower level that beginning readers could read independently but advanced readers around the second or third grade level could tackle this on their own. Still, reading as a family or as a class will give an adult an opportunity to direct the conversation around this book since the themes and subject matter are so important.

<i>One thursday afternoon</i> is about Ava who is picked up from school by her granddad. But she’s sad, because something happened at school and she thought she was safe..

I thought this book was wonderfully made. The granddad doesn’t force Ava to talk about what’s sad, but offers her what she needs: peace and quiet. It’s so important to feel safe when you want to talk about something that bothers you. So, as adults it’s important to talk about that it’s okay to try and sort ones thoughts out before sharing, and no forcing a conversation. Listen.

Overall, a good book, that had illustrations that fit the story it was told. I recommend it.

In our school systems today, many frightening occurrences are happening and students have to prepare. One way for students to prepare is a lockdown. This book reflects on what students maybe feeling during these preparations. It also gives encouragement to parents, grandparents, or caregivers to ease these anxious feelings our students may have.

A good conversation to have with your children on how to process these feelings.

A special thank you to Flyaway Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

This book addresses a very serious and scary topic, particularly for you people in the US. I am not from the US and it's been a very long time since I've been in school, but as a mother I was able to connect to the emotions in the story.
This book talks about Ava and her feelings she had after a school lockdown drill. She talks about how scary it felt and how scary it is to see all the stories on the news.
The book addresses how scary the world can be, but if you look around, it's also beautiful and we have to take them together. I really like how this book gently encourages children to open up about how they feel while acknowledging that it's hard to do and it's okay to not want to. The story helps validate feelings and respect how others choose to feel their own feelings.
For me, this isn't a book that I would purchase or read to my children, but again, this is because this particular situation isn't an issue where I live. I do believe it is a good book for places that, unfortunately, do have this problem.

A book which very nicely and delicately depicted the impact TALKING and LISTENING can make and ease things up. Sometimes we look out for people who can just listen to our rant and don't judge in those cases we can stay close to someone you trust and love, and can offer companionship when required.

Thank you to Flyaway Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I wasn't drawn to the title as it didn't provide much information; however, in looking at the cover image, I could see lockdown on the board, so that helped. I think that there is a very important message in this book. There are not many books out there, for children, about lockdowns and other emergencies that can happen at school; however, I wish there was more information about lockdowns and strategies on how to cope with this scary event.

The artwork is beautiful! I enjoyed the book as it was a nice easy read. It would be good for younger children to discuss the big emotions they may feel during drills like this at school - especially in the Preschool to 1st Grade range. I also like how the grandfather respected her feelings and allowed her to process her emotions without bombarding her about her day.

This beautifully illustrated picture book tells about a girl and her grandad having a picnic and painting at the park after a scary lockdown drill at school. Ava has a hard time bringing up her feelings but eventually shares them with her grandad who validates the feelings, tells of his own experiences with "duck and cover" drills and offers the strategy of painting using all of her senses as a way to deal with the feelings she is experiencing. The illustrations are so beautiful, they look like paint with a sponge to create a fall park in the background. I love that the book teaches about using all of your senses because that is important for art, but it is also important for mindfulness. I think that this book offers children the opportunity to talk about lockdown drills or fears about safety at school while also offering opportunities to discuss mindfulness and mental health strategies that young children might enjoy, whether or not they needed them as a strategy that day. As a grade 3 teacher, I have had to teach about lockdown drills which can be really hard with young children, they wonder why a bad guy would want to come into their school and how would be survive if that happened. Their questions get to be a lot! I could see this book being a nice resource for teachers who are teaching about these drills. I also like that it is set in fall, a time when we seem to review a lot of these protocols. I also like that the illustrations are artistic and the book is about creating art. I could see the book being an inspiration for creating art as well. I would recommend this book to families and teachers of children in the Kindergarten to Grade 5 age range. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this great book!

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read an ARC of this important book.

"One Thursday Afternoon" is about a little girl who is struggling with fears after a lockdown drill at school. This is something that all school aged kids have to deal with now. Unfortunately sometimes the violence is real and kids are put in harmful situations that should never happen. When I was little there wasn't many drills until 9/11 happened. After that day, drills became more frequent and we would have to turn off the lights, the teacher would lock the classroom door, and we would get under desks, tables, or in the closet. The principal and other staff members would go around to each door and try to open them. It was always such a scary noise even though most of the time we knew it was just a drill. Thankfully, I never had to experience an actual intruder in any of the school's I went to. It's such a sad thing that kids have to go through. The world can be a real scary place especially for little ones who don't fully understand what is going on. This book shows the importance of talking about your feelings and fears. Being open and honest to someone you love and trust can be very beneficial and can help ease some of the fears the children have. I recommend this book to little ones just starting school. Preparing them will help them be less afraid when the time comes that they have to have emergency drills at school.

When I was going to elementary school, we had atomic bomb drills. You know the kind, where you duck under the desk, and face away from the windows, because of course that will save you if they happened to drop the bomb while you were in class. Then, later, after the Sylmar quake, we had the same drills, but they were now for preparation in case there was an earthquake while we were in class.

In this picture book, the children do not have drills of things that could never happen, or that won’t help them, they have active shooter drives (known as lockdown drills in the book), where they have to hide in the and be very, very quiet and still. We don’t see the drill, in the story, we just have Ava being picked up after having experienced one, where he tries to help her feel better.

The author said she felt she had to write about this, after she spoke at a school where they had such a drill, and she could only imagine how terrifying it was for the children. Her gentle story talks about how bad things might happen, but in the meantime, there is a lot of good int he world.
It is too bad there is a need for such books, but I’m glad they are out there.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>