Back to School: Back to Dog-Gone School by Amy Schmidt

FIRST DAY JITTERS

I am ready for school.
It's my first day.

I see the bus

Heading my way!

Even an adorable golden Lab pup has holidays, and when it's time for back-to-school days..., well, things can get a little scary and hairy.

Well, who wouldn't have the jitters? Will he miss the bus? Will the driver fuss?

If not, will he get a seat? Will his teacher be sweet? Who's he going to meet?

And even if old friends Simon and Ralphie are in his class, will math be too hard for him to pass?

Will he remember the alphabet? Who will be the teacher's pet?

Will the water fountain be too tall? Will he find the Boys' Room down the hall?

This little Lab has a lot to think about on his first day of school, in Amy and Ron Schmidt's easy reader, Back to Dog-Gone School (Step into Reading) (Random House, 2016), which offers a vicarious run-through of the first day of school for kids with the opening-day willies. Poet Amy Schmidt provides the pup-themed verses, and Ron Schmidt provides the cute canine photos (the boys' bathroom door has a fireplug icon to make it easily recognizable) in this rehearsal of that epic day, including math class, lunchroom sharing, know-it-all golden girls, and the best part of the day. D.E.A.R. --Drop Everything And Read!

Random House, the pioneer of the I-Can-Read genre, offers a bit of school orientation for nervous new scholars in this title in their Step-into-Reading series, Level Two, which offers controlled vocabulary, visual cues, and rhymes to ease the way for practice for newly independent readers.