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Rosie has been looking forward to the
first day of school for a month, practicing writing her letters and raising her
hand. But the night before the big day, she begins to have second thoughts.
“I don’t feel well,” she says the
next morning. “You just have butterflies in your belly,” her mother replies
with a hug. And sure enough, when a girl on the school bus asks her name, a
butterfly escapes from Rosie’s mouth along with the answer. Rosie’s trepidation
about new experiences tugs on readers’ hearts, but as the butterflies that only
she can see are released every time she participates in class, her expressions
grow more confident and joyful. Finally, Rosie uses her new confidence to help
another classmate who looks like she has a belly full of butterflies as well.
Colorful illustrations depict children of varying skin tones with surprisingly
expressive round black eyes; Rosie and her family present subtly Asian. Young
readers who are worried about school will find a reassuring way to put their
feelings into words, and the warm ending gives a wink to caregivers who may
also find themselves feeling nervous about the first day of school.
Silvestro and Chen take a common
figure of speech and transform it, literally, into a lovely expression of a
universal experience. (Picture book. 4-6)
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