Back to School: Foxy by Emma Dodd

IT WAS WAY PAST BEDTIME. TOMORROW WAS MONDAY AND EMILY WOLD BE STARTING SCHOOL.

SHE WAS WORRIED.

First-day fears are almost universal. After all, the first day of school is a big deal.

Emily has pre-school jitters all right, but she has something that the rest of us could have used--a magical mentor who, with the wave of his fluffy tail, can grant everything that a first-timer needs. At least, Foxy THINKS he can.

Emily worries that she doesn't have all the right school supplies. No problem, says Foxy. A pencil? Easy-peasy for Foxy's fantastical posterior appendage.

"VOILA! A PENCIL!" SAID FOXY.

"NO, SILLY! THAT'S A PENGUIN!"

A school bag?

"NO, SILLY! THAT'S A PIRATE FLAG."

"I GUESS MAGIC IS HARD!" SAID EMILY.

It seems Foxy's magic tail needs a lit-tle recalibration, but a do-over swaps the penguin-pencil and elephant-eraser for the right stuff. It's all there at last, finally packed up in a cute but conventional school bag. Now Emily's jitters shift to that all important first-day outfit. Foxy's fantastic tail conjures up clown shoes and a cowboy hat (purple!), and Emily decides that, um, she'll get creative with what's already in her closet after all.

Supplies--check. Clothes--check. Now Emily begins to think about the school work itself.

"WHAT IF I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH?"

Foxy can fix that! Emily's head is suddenly a-whirl with a dizzying data dump. Too much information!! she concludes.

"I THINK I'D RATHER LEARN THOSE THINGS AT SCHOOL!"

Now Emily is all set for school, except for one thing--FRIENDS!

And for that, Foxy knows, magic is not needed. Just Emily's already fantastic smile.

Emma Dodd's latest, Foxy (Harper, 2012) has all the right stuff ready for reading on the night before the first day, with just the right touch of worry-vanishing silliness that lightens the mood and helps with sweet preschool dreams.