Amanda Pig, First Grader

Amanda was all excited about the first grade and could hardly wait to get to school. There would be all kinds of interesting changes and the biggest one of all was that she would learn to read. Her friend Lollipop wasn't all that crazy about the whole idea and was worried about all kinds of things. Amanda tried to reassure her by saying, "First grade is going to be great!" They were going to be in Mrs. Mary Ann Pig's first grade room six and things looked promising. Promising things started to look kind of bad. Amanda really couldn't read (the words "I" and "and" didn't count). She didn't know her way around the school (lost is not good). She learned that big kids weren't all that nice at times (the big kids took their ball). Amanda Pig was a bit discouraged, but very soon things would start to look up for her! Amanda Pig, first grader, faced issues that many grade school children do. Children anticipate that everything will be wonderful, but the little things soon get in the way and can become quite discouraging. Jean Van Leeuwen's story of Amanda's school woes and the happy resolution will encourage and inspire many young children. Things usually do get better and brighter! Of course Ann Schweninger's illustrations always add just the right zing to make these stories even more charming and appealing.