Back to School: Pete the Cat And The Surprise Teacher by James Dean

Pete is ready for school.

"Where's Mom?" Pete asks.

"She has a surprise for you," said Pete's Dad.

And Dad is right. When Pete walks into his room at school, there's his Mom standing in front of the class.

"I'm your substitute teacher!" she says.

As a last-minute sub, Mrs. Cat needs some help from Pete and his class. She asks them what they are supposed to be doing first. Pete volunteers that Art comes first, and they all agree, so Pete's mom follows their directions down the long hall.

The line winds up in front to two big doors, with a sign that says GYM. But the gym teacher is cool with that change in the schedule.

"Stay and play!" says the gym teacher.

After a basketball game, Pete's Mom tries to get the class back on track. But the line stops at a door that says MUSIC. The music teacher smiles and invites them to stay and sing!

By the time all the songs are sung, Pete's classmates are hungry and it's time to fill their tummies. They lead Pete's Mom to the lunchroom.

It's all good, as Pete would say, but will his class get to Art before it's time to get on the bus?

The whole day is a surprise, especially for their substitute teacher, in James Dean's Pete the Cat and the Surprise Teacher (My First I Can Read) (Harper, 2017), in which Mrs. Cat at least gets to know the school. This inexpensive paperback book is perfect as a take-off point for a welcoming schoolwide tour to introduce new students, and as a My First I-Can-Read book, this one is just right for emergent readers to learn to read the school signs as well. For kids just venturing into independent reading, this is a welcome title in Harper's I-Can-Read library, now celebrating 60 years of launching new readers.

Back to School: Back to School Tortoise by Lucy M. George

SUMMER WAS ALMOST OVER.

IT WAS TIME TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL.

TORTOISE STARTED THINKING, "WHAT IF....?"

Each new school year is a step into the unknown, and Tortoise is wary of the unknowns ahead on the first day. What if he does something dumb, like stumbling in front of his whole class? What if the lunch is so bad he can't eat it? What if the kids in his new class are mean to him?

It might even be worse!

WHAT IF HE TRIPPED WHILE GETTING LUNCH, AND ALL THE KIDS WERE MEAN TO HIM?

"I CAN'T GO IN!" TORTOISE THOUGHT.

Tortoise takes a time-out outside the school door to think about it. The new class could be awful. It happens. But then...he looks at it from another angle.

WHAT IF IT WAS FUN, WITH HIS FAVORITE LUNCH, AND... LOTS OF NEW FRIENDS?

It might be too good to miss. Tortoise screws up his courage, picks up his backpack and pushes through the schoolroom door, with a brave smile for everyone inside.

"GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!" HE SAID.

"GOOD MORNING, MR. TORTOISE!" THEY SHOUTED BACK.

Even teachers have first-day jitters, and Lucy M. George's Back to School Tortoise (Albert Whitman, 2011) has a surprise conclusion that shows that opening-day anxieties are very much the same for teachers and their students, Merel Eyckman's gentle pastel pencil and watercolor illustrations help give a soft edge to this story of first-day-of-school fears.

For double read-aloud fun, follow up this one with Julie Dannenburg's First Day Jitters, which shares the same plot device, and see how long it takes little listeners to pick up on the partially concealed visual cues that reluctant scholar Sarah Jane is really Ms. Sarah Jane Hartwell, a new teacher about to face a brand-new class in her brand-new school.