Vera's First Day of School

Vera

by Vera Rosenberry

Tomorrow was Vera's first day of school. She was big at last.

Vera has looked forward to her first day of school for as long as she can remember. Finally the day arrives, and Vera is bursting with excitement. But when she sees the older children in the playground, she suddenly gets frightened and stays behind. Before she knows it, the bell has rung and the giant green doors of the school have closed. Now Vera is late. What will she do?

The first day of school can be both thrilling and scary. With charm and gentle humor, Vera Rosenberry explores all the different feelings associated with this important milestone.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, School

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Mortisha Cassavetes]

Such a cute picture book with bright and colorful illustrations. The story follows Vera and her first day at school. I highly recommend this book for kids of all ages.

[Melki]

Though she's been preparing for the first day of school for a long time, Vera loses her nerve once she actually gets there. Very cute and sweet story, with lovely illustrations by the author.

[Celine]

I honestly did not like this book but I reserve 1 star ratings for truly bad books. I just thought how things unfolded like Vera walking home from school just because she was late/the doors closed was absurd, I didn't like when the neighbors yelled at and threatened literal children with law enforcement??? while they were walking to school (it served absolutely no purpose and I don't think it was appropriate here). This just wasn't written very well (in terms of plot... the actual writing is fine) imo

[Samara Winter]

This book is about a little girl who attend school for the very first time. She's nervous but extremely excited. On the way to school she walks with her older sisters. Once she gets to school she is so overwhelmed that she doesn't interact with any of the other students but instead she focuses on the tree. She ends up missing the bell, not knowing what to do she walks home and climbs underneath her bed. Her mom finds her and takes her to school and then the day goes on as if nothing happened.

I think the illustrations are cool and extremely realistic. The illustrator does a good job with incorporating a lot of details. I can see every strand of Vera's hair and when she's admiring the tree I can see the strands of hair on the caterpillar. The colors used are not dark, they are very bright colors like green, red, yellow. I think it helps that the backdrop is white. It leaves a calm mood to the book. I love how clear the facial expression of the characters are, when they are happy you can notice it in their eyes and smile.

I think this would be a great book to read for children who are just beginning kindergarten. It shows that although things don't start off as they should that they can get better. By the end of the day Vera was just as excited about the first day of school as she was at the beginning of the day. The book doesn't have challenging words.

[Jasmine Bowman]

Vera was so excited to attend her first day of school! She had all of her supplies, her lunch was packed, and she finally got to walk to school with her older sisters. She had the entire day planned out in her head, but when she arrived at her school she was so afraid. Vera had never seen that many kids before. She was overwhelmed, so she discreetly retreated back home and cried under her bed. Her mom found her about an hour later, cleaned her up, gave her a pep talk, and took her back to school. This time she enjoyed her first day of school after meeting the teacher, making a new friend and painting a picture.

I would have my students create a venn-diagram comparing and contrasting their first day of school. They will include how they expected their first day of school to go, and how it actually went. Below this diagram, they will write how the first day of school changes as they get older. Is it easier, harder, less nerve-wrecking, fun, boring, etc.?

[Karyn]

Based on author's childhood experiences. Delightful and authentic.

[Savannah]

A good book to read for students who may be having first day jitters.

[Nikki]

What parent doesn't take their child to their first day of school?

[Carrie Gelson]

A great connect book!