On the First Day of Kindergarten

It’s Christmas in July (sort of) as Rabe adapts “The Twelve Days of Christmas” to a kindergarten setting. As she and Hughes follow a girl with a ladybug backpack through the first 12 days of her school year, Rabe maintains the cumulative structure of the original carol, but skips the counting lesson. Thus, the second day of kindergarten features “making lots of friends,” and day five is all about “singing a song” (a line designed to be belted out à la “five golden rings”). Hughes mixes pencil, paint, and digital media as she creates a rough-and-tumble cast of scruffy-haired kindergartners in brightly colored outfits, who take part in a footrace on the fourth day of school, paint pictures on day nine, and head to the zoo for a field trip on the 12th day. It’s an upbeat, readily sing-able portrait of the fun side of kindergarten. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Marisa Corvisiero, Corvisiero Literary. (June)