This picture book about the first day of school, featuring a frog, a duck, a mouse, and a snail, combines a story in rhyme with colorful graphic rebuses, making it a fun book for parent and child to share in the reading. Children about to enter kindergarten or first grade who long to be able to read will get a sense of accomplishment by "reading" the little rebus pictures in the story. Judy Sierra, author of Wild About Books, uses bouncy rhyme and rhythm as cues for the child to name the pictogram rebuses. Preschoolers will enjoy following the animals and their teacher, Tom Burkey (who is a turkey), through a happy first day of school.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 3-7 years.

There are 24 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2016 by Random House USA Inc .

Judy Sierra holds a Ph. D. in folklore from UCLA. She is the author of many esteemed children's books, including Nursery Tales Around the World, winner of the Aesop Prize from the American Folklore Society, and Good Night, Dinosaurs. She is also the reteller/compiler of several books of folklore for teachers and storytellers. Ms. Sierra lives in Northern California.