First Day

by Dandi Daley Mackall, Tiphanie Beeke

The first day of school means new shoes, fresh crayons, and a fancy lunch box. It also means leaving Mom and Dad behind, a notion that's likely to rattle even the most eager new student--and this little girl is no exception. Her classroom seems overwhelming, and the older kids are awfully big. But she soon realizes that a friendly teacher and some new pals can help even the most reticent student move past the jitters and into the fun!
Perfect for any child starting school, Dandi Daley Mackall's simple rhyming text and Tiphanie Beeke's cheerful illustrations will reassure children--and parents--who are nervous about a first day.

Genres: Picture Books, School

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

A professional writer for over 20 years, Dandi Daley Mackall has written dozens of articles for popular magazines and published around 500 books for children and adults alike, with sales of over 4 million.

A frequent guest on radio and television talk shows, she lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, horses, dogs, & cats. Awards include the Edgar Award for Best YA Mystery, the Helen Keating Ott Award for Contributions to Children's Literature; Distinguished Alumni Award from Mizzou; ALA Best Book; Christian Children's Book of the Year, Amelia Bloom, Mom's Choice Awards. Her YA novel, My Boyfriends' Dogs, is now a Hallmark movie.

Reviews

[Kaylee Bauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl has new shoes, sharpened pencils, a backpack full, and is ready for her first day of school. It took some adjusting to, it looked like there were bigger kids and that was intimidating for the girl. She was very nervous when she found out her parents had to leave she wished her parents could say but found out that they had to leave her at school. She walks into her classroom, finds her name and her school day begins. She goes to lunch where she laughs and trades lunches with her new friends, she has story time and has so much fun at recess with her new friends. At the end of the day, she had a great day and was already planning for day 2.

I really enjoyed this book and think it would be encouraging for students who are starting school for the first time ever, maybe in pre-k or kindergarten. It could ease their nervousness about the first day.

[Shanshad Whelan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. The rhymes bored me to tears and my son too. I was trying to find a few books that could capture what it would be like on his first day of school, but this poetic offering is too bland and focused on rhyming to really capture anything specific.

[Hahnna Christianson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaving home to go to school for the first time is quite a scary experience. Starting the day with doubt and being unsure of what to expect from this new experience leaves any child in worry. As she goes through the day and recites the alphabet with ease, learns about recess, and shares crayons with friends, she realizes school is not so bad! Although the morning depart with her parents was tough, she is ready to come back to school for the next fun day. The First Day is a perfect coming of age book that shows kids that their first day will not be as bad as they think.

This picturebook is a wonderful example of a coming-of-age book within the contemporary fiction genre. The characters were all relatable and almost every child has experienced the fear of the first day of school. The pictures were vivid and perfectly illustrated the heart warming story of making new friends and realizing school isn't so bad and scary as it may seem. This is a great example for children to see that school is a learning experience and it should be something to look forward to.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much drama can roil a young student when "This is my first day" of school.

Clever rhymes and chipper pictures hint to readers like me that, however scary the new school adventure might seem, a happy ending awaits.

[Annika Weaver]

Interesting coming of age story about a little girls first day of kindergarten, Mackall describes her day with rhyme and simple language so that the reader is really drawn into the book. The colors of this picture book are eye-catching and visually pleasing to the reader, I really enjoyed this book because of the easy reading and bright colors that are throughout the book. The little girl is nervous for her first day of kindergarten but soon realizes how fun and exciting school can be! Mackall really does a fantastic job of describing the story of the little girl and her journey into kindergarten.

[Gracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book! This book would be perfect to read to kindergarteners on their very first day of school. It can help ease their nerves and show them all of the fun things they will get to do at school, instead of having them think it is scary. I might even read this to first graders too, so they are excited as well.

[Moriah Keen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book to read on the first day of school. I know when I was little I was nervous on the first day. This book can calm my students nerves and help them not be scared.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would be good to read to students from Pre-k- 2nd grade. This book just provides a rich use of rhyming that correlates to the activities and emotions of a child's first day of school. I could read this during the first week to expose the students to rhyming and then I would have this book featured for the first couple of weeks in my library.

[Sarah A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice rhyming story about the first day if school. It takes you from getting ready, through getting nervous on the drive and meeting new people, Learning the rules and where things go to home time with plans for the next day.
Nice simple rhymes that mostly work. Good pictures and covers some of the anxious parts of the first day well.

[Keegan Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rhythm and rhyme is cute. It's not exact, but it's easy to say in a whirlwind kind of way that feels like a day in the life of an active child. I could see reading this to my child before his/her first day of school to talk about what school will be like.