A Big Day for Migs!

PreS-Gr 1—On his first day of school, a shy mouse named Migs summons his courage by dressing up as a superhero (Mighty Migs) and racing around the room, ruining a puppet show, flinging a stuffed bear, and breaking a train set. He also accidentally destroys a classmate's painting and, despite his best efforts, realizes that some things cannot be repaired. While he feels guilty about upsetting Rokko and hides in a box, Migs eventually unites his class in a mission to bring Rokko's art to life. The charming, quirky animals are evocative of Richard Scarry's characters and Marc Brown's Arthur and friends. Delightful endpapers introduce each character participating in a fun school activity, and the bright colors and array of printed clothing create a lively, vibrant mood throughout. The rhyming couplets clearly and cleverly relate the familiar predicament of overcoming the first-day jitters, even though some word pairs don't exactly share the same ending sounds ("map/back" and "Mum/fun"). There are opportunities for incorporating this title into storytimes and lessons around classroom and social behaviors and working with others.—Whitney LeBlanc, Staten Island Academy, NY