MY FIRST DAY

Written in the first person in a rollicking rhyme, this look at a little bear’s first school day will reassure those just starting preschool or kindergarten.

Anthropomorphized animals attend this school, wearing clothes, bearing lunchboxes, and hanging their things outside the classroom on their assigned hooks. “Here’s my hook. / It’s my first day! // Here’s a friend. / Come on, let’s play.” Until lunchtime, a fox, a bear, and a bunny seem to be the only students of an owl teacher, and they engage in free play, have a snack, write a lowercase letter A (oddly, with a tail like a cursive A), paint, and play outside. Not all is sunshine, though—the bear falls down at recess and needs a bandage, but he recovers (and the bandage disappears on subsequent pages), and those are the only tears all day. During lunch, other animal friends join the trio, and their day concludes with a story and a song before the dismissal bell rings. Sparrow’s text suits her audience, with short sentences, a large font, and simple vocabulary. Similarly, Taylor keeps the artwork, which looks to be digital, simple with easily recognizable objects, geometric shapes, and bold, bright colors. The focus is on the activities the students engage in.

Ideal for new readers who are also new to school.