Author/illustrator Kate Berube’s Mae’s First Day of School is “a reassuring, gently amusing picture book for children anticipating (or remembering) their first day of school” (Booklist)—featuring bonus tear-out lunchbox notes.

As Mae’s first day of school approaches, she decides she IS. NOT. GOING. School is scary! What if the other kids don’t like her? Or what if she’s the only one who doesn’t know how to write? Or what if she misses her mom?

Mae’s anxiety only builds as she walks to school. But then she meets Rosie and Ms. Pearl. Will making new friends show her that they can conquer their fears together?

“Berube’s story takes its protagonist’s fears seriously, and even though young readers are likely to anticipate the story’s outcome, its respect for their emotions is clear . . . A sweet affirmation of jitters and comfort in numbers.” —Kirkus Reviews

Kate Berube is the illustrator of Second Banana and the author/illustrator of Hannah and Sugar, which was hailed as “a marvelous picture book debut with an achingly authentic story of fear conquered” in a starred review by Publishers Weekly. She lives in Portland, Oregon.