I Really Want to Be First! (Really Bird Stories #1)

Ziefert (It’s Time to Go to Sleep) and Foster (Take a Hike, Miles and Spike!) launch a dialogue-driven early reader comics series starring Really Bird—a feathered friend who feels things most emphatically. “When I’m happy, or sad, or thirsty, or scared, I’m REALLY happy, or REALLY scared... or REALLY thirsty!” Always feeling third in line behind friends Cat and Pup, Really Bird announces that this time, “I’m the LEADER!” When the pals acquiesce, Really insists they follow to the top of a tree—a climb for which Dog is just not built. Amid the leaves, the mammals become stuck and frantic... and Really Bird shrugs off the responsibilities of having placed friends in a sticky situation, and of helping them down. Really’s yearning to be first should resonate no matter where opinion lands on the bird’s leadership qualities, and Foster’s stripped-down but emotionally operatic cartooning tempers this familiarly touchy interpersonal matter with just the right goofiness, starting with Really himself: a bright blue circle with stick legs, finger-like wings, and an oversize orange beak. A “Think About/Talk About” page invites reader discussion. Publishing simultaneously: I Really Want a Bigger Piece. Ages 5–7. (Apr.)