ONE THURSDAY AFTERNOON is a heartbreaking tale of a girl who experiences a lockdown drill at school and is coming face-to-face with the realities of living in a time of so many school shootings. This book works both to help children work through or address their school-shooting-related anxieties as well as to show ways to address any anxiety. Highly recommend for any family with a child going through lockdown drills or anxious about being unsafe at school.

Ava leaves school one day feeling troubled. When her grandfather picks her up, he takes her to the park and provides her with painting supplies. This quiet act of kindness creates a safe space for Ava to share her fears about the lockdown drill they had at school. Her grandfather provides reassurance and validation, reminding her he is always there to listen and support her.

One Thursday Afternoon provokes conversations about managing fears stemming from traumatic school events, resilience, courage, and the importance of creating safe spaces for children to share their feelings.

Ava comes from school one afternoon...quiet, confused and uncertain. She doesn't want to talk about the lockdown drill that happened in school, which has provoked her fears- how can a place that she believed "safe" becomes a place to fear of?
Her grandfather doesn't say much. However, he redirected Ava's fear with a technique of gentle encouragement by explaining that although the world can be scary, it can still be a beautiful place.
"One Thursday Afternoon" clarifies that in an unpredictable and uncertain world, one can be afraid and confused. Furthermore, the stress of being fearful can be reduced or eliminated by opening up to discuss our big feelings to someone that we trust and love,
This is a vital book that needs to be added into our libraries as it discusses about a sensitive yet important concept. The author also includes suggestion for adults on how they can help children to overcome fears.

This is a story of bringing-up children in a way to let them learn how to overcome fear and every hurdle that they could face in their life. Ava was such a same girl who when faced the lockdown drill in her school for the first time, got confused for what to do and got scared too. She when picked up by her GrandPa from school on her way back home, told him whole story of the day and was encouraged by him to understand how this was just a thing in life one shouldn't be afraid of any such events. However, it was so hard to digest that the place you feel most safe becomes so vunerable at any moment and we must be ready for that.

This is an amazing story of resilience, bravery & companionship.

This book gently addresses children's fears about a school lockdown. Granddad does an excellent job of assisting Ava in dealing with her fear. The art style is soothing, and the color grading is lovely. It's really sweet, but I believe the plot could have gone a little deeper. Still, it's really a valuable resource for students.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Flyaway Books for the ARC.

This is such an important book. My god. It really hones in on the sheer terror that children feel even DOING ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILLS. Imagine the terror they feel when it's actually happening.

But what's even better about this, which feels so bizarre to even say, is how it focuses on the importance of having open communication about these difficult emotions with children today. It really opens up about how scary it really is and how to embrace the fragility of life and focus on the beauty surrounding us; even when we can sometimes be focusing so hard on the darkness and fear.

I think this belongs in every elementary through high school classroom and home.

Being on a sudden lockdown is not an easy experience. The fear, the endurance, and the faint hope of surviving is not an easy subject to brought up, or talked about. Being on a school lockdown herself, the author tried to help, with this book, on how to help one who passed through that moment. A moment of quiet, an offer to ease the scare is needed. This book can help you help those in need of comfort after such ordeal, or simply give them this book to know that someone too faced the same fear.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this title for review.

This is a beautiful and emotional picture book for children about dealing with realistic topics and receiving comfort and assurance from family.
The basic summary is that it's a story about one Thursday afternoon when Ava is picked up by her grandfather from school for a picnic and an art lesson Ava talks about her feelings about the lockdown drill they had at school and the anxiety she has around it. They book deals with this topic wonderfully.
However I am a Canadian and we do not have lockdown drills, and that is the reason why I wouldn't necessarily purchase this book for my library.

This was a unique story. It’s sad that we have to teach our children about lockdowns, but this story does help explain their purpose and let’s kids know it’s okay to have their feelings about the subject.

This is a great book for kids these days. I really liked how grandpa didn’t push for Ava to talk and allowed her the time she needed. This is a great message to kids that they are allowed quiet time to think and it is safe to come to an adult when ready. This validates their feelings. I will be purchasing this book!

This is a great book to help students navigate big feelings. I love that children can see that even though scary things can happen we can still find beauty. I also really loved that her grandfather didn't push her to talk, she was able to come to her own conclusions about what had happened at school.

We live in a world where we have to unfortunately have these conversations with your kids about bad people. It can be a hard conversation to have and difficult to start. This book can/will make the talk a little easier.

Ava is sad whenever her granddad picks her up from school and doesn’t wanna go on a picnic.

She had a bad day at school and wanted to be alone, but her granddad knew that she didn’t need to be alone.

Ava had to do a lockdown drill at school that made her sad and scared. Her granddad comforted her and told her that “even though the world is scary, it’s also a beautiful place.”


As a parent, it’s our job to listen to kids, and talk to them about things that scare them, while also comforting them. I loved how her granddad comforted her with his words and hugged her. Hugs and showing a person you love them simply by being there for them is simply beautiful.
Listen and answer with love.

First of all, I think the existence of this book is important, and I doubt there are many like it, so I appreciate the author's willingness to address how lockdown drills affect children in school. In her author's note at the end, DiLorenzo's empathy shines through as she reflects on the reason for writing this book.

One Thursday Afternoon follows the story of Ava, a young girl who's just experienced the fear and disorientation of a lockdown at school and struggles to grapple with these emotions as she spends the afternoon with her grandpa at the park.

Let's start with what the book does well:
- The setting felt like the right choice. Illustrated in soothing shades of green and orange, it felt like exactly the kind of environment that offers safety for processing emotions.
- The grandpa exhibits humility in admitting that he doesn't know exactly what Ava is going through but offers his presence and support instead. In reading this to children and grandchildren, parents and guardians can be invited to embrace the same level of empathy.

That being said, the implementation of the idea could have been strengthened. Starting at the end of the school day, the book didn't make clear the nature of the context we were dropped into, and we didn't learn until a couple pages in that Ava was upset or why. The illustrated facial expressions hinted at it, but they were too subtle to really get the point across.

Also, the response of saying, "yes, the world is scary, but it's also beautiful" felt unearned, like it didn't acknowledge the complexity of Ava's emotions or the situation. I know children might not be able to comprehend it all, but I do believe they can hold a bit more complexity than was offered.

We had a moment where she began to lean on her painting as a way to release some of the tension, and I would've liked to sit there longer: How can painting, or art in general, or other activities help us see the world as a beautiful place, to make good on that earlier claim?

All in all, I'll reiterate that this is an important book, but I would've liked to see more development of the concept. Still, I'm glad it exists nonetheless.

What a beautifully illustrated, thoughtful book.
Because these drills have been normalized in schools, it is so important to have them reflected in current literature.

Excellent book about active intruder drills. Sad that we live in a world where this is necessary for our students and children, but this book will be such a help.

This was such a thoughtful and nuanced look at the complex problem of school shootings and the trauma of the most routine lockdown drills. I also appreciated the intergenerational aspect of this story and the way it helps show caregivers how they might hold space for their children. We've added this to our library collection and immediately put it on display.

This is a hard topic that should be in discussion more. Students don’t realize that it is okay to feel scared during these drills and this book demonstrates that it’s okay to feel. I would use this for my kids who have trouble during lockdowns because they are scared or nervous.

I volunteer at my son’s library and I’ve had this conversation with the media specialist. This isn’t a conversation anyone wants to have but unfortunately it’s one we have to have. This book is a wonderful gateway to that hard conversation.

One Thursday Afternoon is such an important book in today's world. I'm in my second year as a teacher and while we haven't done a lockdown yet, I have had students ask questions and I struggle to find the right way to address their questions without shutting them down. I think this book did a great job of addressing students' concerns and feelings about a lockdown without sugarcoating it or being demeaning. I would love to use this in my classroom to help start conversations and help my students.