Still Sal

Still Sal

Kevin Henkes

HarperCollins US, 2026

256pp., pbk., RRP $A19.99

9780063389632

The first day of first grade is just around the corner and Sal is very excited.  She believes school doesn’t really start until you reach first grade – kindergarten is just a warm up.  She’s excited about being in the same class with her friend Griff, using her special horde of school supplies of glittery pencils, cupcake erasers and books with animals on the covers, and all the other things that being a first=grader brings.

But things start to sour when her friend Griff receives a letter to tell him he will be in 1A with Ms Flowers, and Sal’s letter says she will be in 1B with Ms McCormick. Sal automatically forms a picture of Ms Flowers because of her name, which is reinforced when she sees the 1A students being handed name tags to wear while she has to search for her name on a desk – and it’s wrong!  She is Sal, not Sally.  And from there, things go from bad to worse…

This is a thoroughly readable book that would be an ideal read-aloud either at the beginning of term or a little later as we get children to “remember when…” to show them how much they have grown and changed physically, mentally and emotionally since those very first days.  Sometimes, when things don’t come as easily as anticipated and the negative voices start to creep in, reflecting on “I couldn’t then… but I can now” helps the child realise just how much they have achieved, whether it’s learning to manage at school or, like Sal, share a bedroom with a younger sibling, having her long, tangly hair cut, and worst of all, see Griff start to make other friends. Sal, herself, feels there is so much change in her life that she is “not Sal anymore.” 

In the past, I have reviewed a number of picture books by Kevin Henkes, including Wemberly Worried,  which also has a starting-school theme, and this is a stand-alone in the Miller Family series which explores and reflects those everyday issues that all families experience but done with the craftmanship of Henkes’ storytelling. 

It’s feel-good story about  family, friendship, social and emotional growth, resilience, and adapting to change that kept me reading and which will help all Sals in our care understand that despite all the changes, they are “still Sal.”