Lena’s Shoes are Nervous – a first day of school dilemma

Written by: Keith Calabrese

Illustrated by: Juana Medina

Published by: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Ages:   4 – 8 years

Theme: Bravery, empowerment, fear

Opening Lines: Today is a big day. Today, Lena starts kindergarten. Lena is very excited.

Synopsis: In the tradition of School’s First Day of School, debut author Keith Calabrese and Pura Belpré Award winner Juana Medina share a sweet, universal story about a clever little girl whose shoes are nervous about the first day of school.

Lena doesn’t want to miss out on her first day of school, but she can’t go without her favorite shoes! How can she convince them to be brave?

Why I like this: A simple universal theme of first day of school jitters this has been cleverly pointed out not in Lena but in her shoes. Although Lena is excited about starting kindergarten her favourite shoes are not. Lena’s encouraging father allows Lena to think of solutions in solving the problem giving her empowerment while supporting her. Lovely mentor text through out with clear lined illustrations.

Resources/Findings:   Here are some great before first day jitters tips for teachers, students and parents…..     https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/shari-carter/tips-tame-first-day-jitters/

I’m always pleased to be able to bring you some more special books that have come my way and be able to share them with you and join other great writers over at Susanna’s Blog, where there are literally hundreds of book reviews to view.  So pop over  and visit the lovely author, Susanna Leonard Hill’s blog and find the tab for Perfect Picture Books.    Her blog is full of resources links and activities associated with books reviewed by many authors