This week marks Teacher Appreciation Week, with Tuesday, May 5, being National Teacher Day. Don't forget to #ThankaTeacher (probably virtually). And especially to those teachers (including teacher librarians!) who are also parents and still trying, from home or in-person, to teach their own children and ours...there are no words.

If it wasn’t obvious before, the importance of educators in our children’s lives is inestimable, and now -- during these weeks/months/won’t-go-there of school closures and remote learning -- we are painfully aware of the loss of their day-to-day influence. Even for those kids who are thriving with color-coded schedules, online enrichment experiences, and Pinterest homeschooling activities, the community that a teacher fosters in their classroom can’t be virtually replicated. Parents may be their children’s first teachers, but most of us need the professionals to step in at some point.

Teachers, we miss you, we need you, we see you, and we are grateful for everything you’re doing on the other side of the screen to give your students a sense of normalcy and continuity. You were heroes before this; you’ve definitely earned your superhero capes.

Follow our “school stories” and "teachers" tags for more teacher appreciations, and visit Lolly's Classroom for more by and about teachers using trade books in the classroom.