Off to First Grade (review)

It's that thrilling, nerve-wracking first day of first grade for twenty-three newcomers to Mrs. Miller's class. Their progression from home to school is documented in snippets of prose with ragged-right margins, with the speakers (named before each entry) proceeding alphabetically from eager young Anna to principal Mr. Zimmerman (Mrs. Miller and the bus driver Xavier fill out the roster for full alphabetical representation). The sequence is gentle yet genuinely perceptive in its documentation of the varying responses to the dramatic transition from home to school: some kids revel on the school bus together, some receive guidance from siblings, some clutch a parent's hand, and emotions range from glee to trepidation, so odds are good that audience members will find their own feelings reflected. Rankin's watercolor illustrations are tender, characterful, and slightly silly, with the cast all animals but their poses and lives resoundingly human (Otto, a pug puppy, gets red sneakers from his doting cloche-hatted grandmother, while bunny Yoshi clings to her floppy-eared dad, who hops along in comfortable sweats); colors are delicate but enjoyably juicy, and landscapes sport finely brushed detail that gives a little texture and backbone to their soft prettiness. Kids will find this a reassuring aid to imagining the unimaginable or a prompt to tell about their own first-day experiences.