Back to School: You Are My Wonders by Maryann Love

I AM YOUR TEACHER.
YOU ARE MY SCHOOL.

I AM YOUR BLANK PAPER.
YOU ARE MY WORK OF ART.

A teacher greets her class on the first day of school, the year ahead a blank canvas on which everything is yet to be drawn. The new students sit in a story circle, for the moment a circle of quiet, waiting to see what their teacher is like, what their school year is going to be. It's quite a moment--that one just before the new teacher begins to speak and the school year begins.

Maryann Cusimano Love's teacher pilots a reassuring take-off as her new little class gets off the ground. Her latest early childhood book, You Are My Wonders (Philomel, 2012), soft pedals the first day of preschool/Kindergarten, with a series of metaphors which might mystify a real group of kids, but in its easy couplet cadence is gently reassuring to school newbies. Her teacher is a comfortably rounded elephant, and her students are shown as plush animal personalities in a series of cozy, pastel illustrations in the well-known style of Satori Ichikawa, made famous in their best-seller, You Are My I Love You.

I AM YOUR STORY.
YOU ARE MY WIDE EYES.

Ms. Elephant seems to relish the good moments, but she has obviously been around this particular block a few times and knows that there will be some chaos ahead.

I AM YOUR CALM.
YOU ARE MY THUNDER.

Still, it's a soft sell, as Love and Itchikawa offer a spoonful-of-sugar approach to first day fears in this super-sweet look at the activities--crafts, storytime, recess, plant and hamster time--that make up the early childhood day, made easy by a teacher who obviously believes in her students.

For a more intense, more realistic look at the whole first-day thing, try Joseph Slate's classic, Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten (Miss Bindergarten Books).

School Days: Countdown to Kindergarten by Alison McGhee

I'm in big trouble. I'm going to kindergarten in ten days.

I've heard from a first grader that they have a lot of rules there. . . .

Rule #1: You have to know how to to tie your shoes. By yourself. You're not allowed to ask for help. EVER!

The heroine of this story can count backwards from ten to zero, but she CAN'T tie her shoes! As she counts down the days until the fearful first day of kindergarten, she really tries to learn how to tie a bow. Her dad is sympathetic and helpful and reassures her that lots of kids can't tie their shoes, but her attempt to learn ends in despair, tangling up the cat, who tries to help in the way cats always handle shoestrings. Next she tries to get rid of the shoes themselves, hiding them in a haystack, where Mom finds them with a cheery "Looky here! Here's the missing shoe AND that needle I've been searching for!"

All of her amusing ploys to lose her shoes or laces are foiled by her ever-optimistic parents, whose reassurances that she won't be the only non-shoe-tier in her class fall on deaf ears. The girl visualizes herself as a kindergarten flunkee with a sign labelled VELCRO GIRL around her neck.

The days dwindle down until two days before K-Day, and the whole family is so absorbed in the shoestring crisis that even Dad, taking her out for her favorite dinner to keep her spirits up, asks, "How's your bowl of shoestrings--er, I mean spaghetti??" I"M DOOMED! she concludes.

But when the dreaded day comes, our heroine discovers that Rule #1 doesn't actually exist: there are lots of kids who can't tie shoes in her class, and her teacher promises that the first order of the day on Monday will be a lesson in shoe tying for everyone!

I guess I'm not in such big trouble after all!

Alison McGhee's Countdown to Kindergarten, with her young drama-queen's conjured-up fears shown effectively in Harry Bliss's humorous illustrations, helps to put first-day anxieties into context for kids whose imaginings are worse than the reality. For stories of other kids with start-of-school hangups, combine this one with Kevin Henkes' wonderful Wemberly Worried, Chrysanthemum, (rpkg) and award-winning Owen. (Caldecott Honor Book)

Back to School: Wow! School! by Robert Neubecker

Neubecker's supersized, child's-eye view of the first day of school is an ebullient and energetic look at the positive side of back-to-school time.

The author-illustrator uses a rough-hewn black line and computer-generated color to portray the opening day enthusiasm of Izzy, a mountain girl who is making her first ride from "the top of the world" down to her new school and into a whole new experience.

Following the outsized format of his ALA Notable Book Wow! City! and Wow! America!, we see Izzy's reaction as she takes in the exciting sights of a primary school, spanking clean and all decked out to greet its new students: "Wow! Classroom!, Wow! Teacher!, Wow! Books! Wow! Music!, Wow! Numbers!" and ending with "Wow! Friends!" as Izzy and her new friend run for the bus together.

Neubecker's framed spreads are crammed with eye-catching items of interest and some cute touches. For example, on the "Wow! Books!" page we see copies of Bemelmans' Madeline and Shannon's No, David!, and Neubecker even sneaks in his own Wow! City! in another layout. The "Wow! Numbers!" page shows a pet rabbit and dozens of bunnies which the kids dutifully attempt to tote up. The "Wow! Science!" layout shows a room decorated with planet mobiles, shark posters, pets, computers with dinosaur games, books, and yet another rabbit.

For preschoolers who may have have some jitters about moving on to Big School, this exuberant perspective on what goes on inside that large building may ease the transition.