First Day Jitters

by Julie Danneberg, Judy Love (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The first day of school can be scary! Get out ahead of it by giving this book to the young reader in your life before they go to school. It's a fun and friendly reminder that we all get the jitters sometimes.

Head back to school with a first day of school favorite! The perfect pick for new students and teachers, complete with a Certificate of Courage for First Day Completion and a First Day Memories Sheet.

Sarah Jane Hartwell has that sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach—she's nervous and doesn't want to start a new school year. She doesn't know anybody, and nobody knows her. It will be awful. She just knows it.

With a little convicing from Mr. Hartwell, Sarah Jane reluctantly heads to class. Shy at first, she's quickly befriended by Mrs. Burton and reminded that everyone at school gets the jitters sometimes.

A beloved and bestselling back to schools staple, Sarah Jane's familiar story and its surprise ending will delight seasoned students and new faces alike who are anxious about their first day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580890618
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	02/01/2000
Series:	The Jitters Series , #1
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	100,291
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD520L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

As a kid, when Julie Danneberg daydreamed or played at being grown-up, she never imagined herself as a writer. Instead she dreamed of being a famous girl reporter, a secret agent, and a teacher.

As an adult, she is a former middle-school teacher and the author of the bestselling Jitters series, including First Day Jitters and Last Day Blues. She lives in Colorado.

Read an Excerpt

"Sarah, dear, time to get out of bed," Mr. Hartwell said, poking his head through the bedroom doorway. "You don't want to miss the first day at your new school, do you?"

(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "First Day Jitters"
by .
Copyright © 2000 Julie Danneberg.
Excerpted by permission of Charlesbridge.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 3-Sarah is hiding under her covers as Mr. Hartwell asks, "You don't want to miss the first day at your new school do you?" From under the blanket she replies, "I'm not going." When he reminds her how much she liked her other school and asks her to think of all the new friends she'll meet, she imagines a classroom where a paper airplane is flying, a boy is pulling his neighbor's pigtail, and another is blowing a gigantic bubble. Mr. Hartwell finally gets Sarah to stumble out of bed, eat a bit of toast, and get into the car where she slumps down into her seat. At school, the principal cheerfully welcomes her and takes her to the classroom where she is introduced as "Mrs. Sarah Jane Hartwell," the new teacher. There is a bit of foreshadowing that Sarah is an adult, but as she is always partially hidden, the ending will come as a surprise to most readers. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations are full of action and maintain the lighthearted tone. A little subplot in the paintings shows the family cat and dog having their own contest of wills while their owner is trying to get his wife up and out. The joke provides a good laugh and children may find it reassuring that they are not alone in their anxieties about new situations.-Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

School Library Journal

You have no idea what Sarah Jane looks like until the very last page of the whimsical book, which suddenly delivers a sly and funny twist: Sarah Jane's the teacher.

Newsweek

"Every child who has moved to a new school or is simply reluctant to start a school year can identify with this wittily drawn and suspensefully told story. From the moment she awakens on the fateful day to the moment she steps into the classroom, Sarah Hartwell imagines the worst. Love's ink-and-watercolor illustrations add humor to Sarah's fears, which range from bratty kids to a police search when she doesn't show up. Mr. Hartwell's reassurances don't seem to be much help. The pictures mirror the jangled nerves and outsize expectations (the double-page spread of a looming, prisonlike school is priceless) everyone faces when they are new, all of which leads to a nifty surprise ending that is a delight. Funny and insightful."—Booklist

"First Day Jitters which was written by Julie Danneberg and illustrated by Judy Love, makes a great companion book to Wemberly Worried. In the opening pages, we meet a certain Sarah Jane Hartwell, who's in the midst of her own first-day-of-school-related panic attack. Sarah Jane is buried under her covers so far that you can't even see her face. In fact, you have no idea what she looks like until the very last page of the whimsical book, which suddenly delivers a sly and funny twist..."—Newsweek

From the Publisher