Getting By With A Little Help From My Friends! We Will Rock Our Classmates Ryan T. Higgins

Penelope was the only T-Rex in her school. Sometimes that made her stand out a little. And sometimes Penelope's classmates didn't see her at all. They just saw a dinosaur.

Like when Penelope wants to play dentist, her playmates get to be the dentists and she gets to be the ... dinosaur in the dental chair.

And the kid dentists are pretty picky about her dental hygiene.

"Have you been flossing? William Omoto's backpack is stuck in your teeth!"

But when their teacher Mrs. Noodleman tells them it's time to sign up for the big Talent Show, Penelope knows just what she wants to do. She wants to rock her crowd with her guitar! It'll be great--if she can just screw up the courage to sign up under the gaze of their class pet, Walter the Ferocious Goldfish!

But when she does sign up, she overhears her classmates wondering aloud if a dinosaur could even play guitar! Onstage she freezes up and fails the audition. Maybe dinosaurs can't rock and roll.

That night her parents notice that she's only eaten 54 burgers. The next day she sits alone on the bench during recess. Dinosaurs probably can't play Duck! Duck! Goose! either. She slips into the classroom and erases her name off the sign-up sheet.

But her dad guesses what is wrong, and pulls the old family photo album and shows her photos of her uncle the figure skater and her mom the marathon runner, and her dad the Champion Hamburger Eater of the World. All the family were dinosaurs, but they did lots of other stuff, and so can she!

"You're kind and caring and creative!" Dad tells her.

And the next day, Penelope puts on her pink tutu and cowboy boots and puts her name back on the sign-up sheet. Soon she has a fabulous four playing with her band  and rocking the whole school down as Penelope and the Mustard Seeds. She doesn't even mind coming in second to Mabel Haysting and Her Tap-Dancing Pony. Mmmm! Ponies!

Kindergarten is very educational, in Ryan T. Higgins' latest, We Will Rock Our Classmates (Penelope Book 2) (Disney Hyperion Books, 2020), the sequel to his hysterical best-seller, We Don't Eat Our Classmates! (Penelope Book 1). It's not Your Mama's Kindergarten with Penelope the T-Rex in the story circle, and kids will love to adjust to Kindergarten along with Penelope and all her delish, er, delightful classmates to get to know.

Ryan T. Higgins is also the author of the best-selling hilarious series about a grumpy bear and his imprinted flock of goslings in the Mother Bruce (Mother Bruce, Book 1) (Mother Bruce Series (1)).

Back to School: On the First Day of Kindergarten by Tish Rabe

It can be scary, going off to the first day of "big school,"and it is important that youngsters know what's going to happen on that important day.

On the first day of Kindergarten I thought it was so cool.

Making lots of friends,
Riding the bus to my school.

Not all kids take the bus, but all of them come to that moment when they and their parents wave goodbye, and they are on their own, but not alone. And in Tish Rabe's jolly sing-along version based on "The first day of Christmas," On the First Day of Kindergarten (Harper, 2018) new students get a preview of school days to come, singing their way through the doings in the first twelve days of school.

Rabe's varied classmates chat excitedly on the bus, and Rabe's young Kindergartner, with her ladybug backpack, twists around in her seat to see the other riders as the bus pulls up to the school, where they are greeted and led into their classroom by their teacher, and their first day begins.

Soon the various touseled-haired moppets are busy doing new things, and adding each new day's events to their song.

On the sixth day of Kindergarten,
I thought it was so cool....

Sliding down the slide,
Singing a song,
Running in a race,
Counting up to ten,
making lots of friends,
and riding my bus to school!

And there are plenty more activities to come, with chances for all sorts of students to shine--painting at easels, laughing together at lunch, and learning new skills in gym--in the days to come in this cheery sneak preview of the opening days of Kindergarten recounted in author Rabe's familiar rhymes and rhythm and artist Laura Hughes' cute ink, watercolor, and digital illustrations of all kinds of kids making messes and working hard at their lessons.

Share this one with the classics, Natasha Wing's The Night Before Kindergarten and Joseph Slate's look at first days from the teacher's point of view, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten (Miss Bindergarten Books (Paperback)).

Rebel Without a Cause! Super Saurus Saves Kindergarten by Deborah Underwood

Kindergarten was starting in two days.

"No kindergarten in the universe can hold me," said Arnold.

"I am SUPER SAURUS!"

Arnold doesn't want to let his twin sister Emily know he's anxious about starting Kindergarten, so he assumes his superhero identity and makes preparations for the big day. He packs his snorkel, a jar of peanut butter, and his homemade boat.

Arnold climbs into their sedan, which transforms instantly into a submarine, with Mom and Dad in the front seat, driving their prisoner relentlessly onward to the sinister towers of Dino Tykes Elementary, which Arnold envisages as the lair of the evil Mr. Zorgo. Along the way he dons his Super Saurus Scuba Suit, and makes a brief escape before Dad blocks his path.

"Time for Plan B," said Super Saurus.

Super Saurus whips out his jar of peanut butter and converts his sneakers to Sticky Shoes.

"They'll never find me... on top of this skyscraper,"

The skyscraper looks a lot like the twisty slide, and Arnold is again snagged by Dad and brought to the very door of the evil Zorgo's lair.

"The teacher is Mr. Zachary," says Emily, trying to explain.

The seemingly mild-mannered Mr. Z. invites Arnold inside, where the other kids are sitting on the floor.

But Arnold is having nothing to do with sitting on that rug. It's a popular trap, but one that Super Saurus has planned for. He pulls out his escape vehicle and prepares to blast off into outer space.

But then he heard howling.

One of his peers seems to be having a first-day meltdown. A true Super Saurus would not abandon helpless preschoolers to the clutches of the evil Zorgo, would he?

Duty calls, and Arnold returns to protect the weak. He shields his fellow students from the Vacuum Viper and defends them against the terrible KROK, (a.k.a., the class pet lizard.) At art time he creates a colorful poster advertising the services of Super Saurus. Super Arnold saves the day!

"I'm glad you were here today, Super Saurus." said Mr. Z.

Deborah Underwood's Super Saurus Saves Kindergarten (Hyperion, 2017) offers a super look at the first-day-fears of a very imaginative kid, ably assisted by artist Ned Young, who portrays the riotously inventive Arnold's ingenious scenarios in bright acrylic illustrations. For kids worried about being able to boldly go when they've never gone before, share this one with Planet Kindergarten (see review here.)

"Imagination as a coping mechanism equals lots of superpowered fun," says Kirkus Reviews.