Customer Reviews

First Day Jitters

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a brand-new teacher (first grade), I thought this would be a great icebreaker and nerve-soother to read to my kids on the first day of school. None of them expected the surprise ending. The book helped both my criers and the rest of the class -- I talked to the criers about jitters, and how I had them, and how most everyone has them on the first day of school. I was able to use the book as an example to those better-adjusted kids, explaining that some people have worse first-day jitters than others. It was a great book to ease the kids into school again!

I recently read this book at a teacher training class that I attended. This book really helped to put me at ease for the first day of school, as I am sure it will for children of all ages. Who doesn't get first day jitters? Children do (even if they say they don't), but why not read this book to show them that teachers get jitters too?

This is a very funny story with a surprise ending. A must for every parent and teacher of young children!

As this delightful picture book shows, first day jitters aren't just for kindergarteners. The first day in a new school has Sarah Jane Hartwell ducking for the covers. Mr. Hartwell tries to ease her nerves with calm reassurance and wise advice.

But Sarah Jane is convinced that staying home in bed is the answer to her general fears about a new school: she doesn't know anyone, no one will like her, it's just too hard and besides, she hates school.

Kids will identify with Sarah Jane's free-floating school anxiety, even if this isn't their first year in a new school. Love's richly-colored ink and watercolor illustrations help build anticipation for the surprise ending to Danneberg's story, a twist that will delight kids and give them a new perspective on the first day of school.

Perfect late August reading for everyone heading back to school.

Julie Danneberg's "First Day Jitters" ought to be mandatory reading for all preschoolers and kindergarteners before they go off to school the first day. Sarah Jane Hartwell is snuggled down tightly under her covers, not wanting to go to her new school, while Mr. Hartwell urges and cajoles her into moving along. Mr. Hartwell drives her to school, where the principal, Mrs. Burton, kindly meets Sarah Jane at the car and personally escorts her into the classroom. And on the last page is a wonderful surprise that is guaranteed to put a smile on the face of any young child who's concerned about that all-important first day!

Judy Love's vivid ink and watercolor drawings have a great sense of movement and are pleasingly colorful. She does an especially fine job of hinting at the surprise to come on the last page without giving it away via the illustrations.

Well, this is a superb book for children on the first day of school. The story tells about Sara Hartwell and how she does not want to go to school. She is worried that no one will like her and is extremely nervous about all the things people get nervous about on the first day of school. Mr. Hartwell with much fighting gets Sara to school as the princial is waiting on her to take her to class. When he shows her to the room you find out that Sara is really the teacher! It definitely a new perspective! This is a great way to start a discussion with students about how adults also get nervous and scared and share how they deal with those feelings. I use this book as a great story starter and have my first grade students write about what they have ever been nervous about and have them share and learn from each other's stories. Excellent job Julie Danneberg and Judith Dufour Love!

How would you manage a whole new class every year? In First Day Jitters, by Julie Dannenberg it happens. It's about a person who doesn't want to go to school. She wonders "Will they like me?" You find out. I liked this because it was a surprising book. I also liked it because it wasn't obvious what the surprise was. You know its not only kids that are scared. Find out the surprising ending, you never know what you might discover.

Favorite characters: Sarah, Mr. Hartwell, and Mrs. Burton

Everyone has had it, the fear of that first day of school. This is what First Day Jitters is all about. But this book puts a humorous twist on those fears. The ending will warm your heart, no matter if you're eight or eighty years old.
Colorful pictures that follow that first day of school you remember, only this time with a surprise ending. This is a great book for kids that are nervous to go to school, or adults who want to read books about their childhood. You really can't go wrong with a book like this.

This book is wonderful! The whole way through, you have no IDEA that the main character is not a child! At the end you find out it is an ADULT - AND that she is a teacher, afraid of her first day of school. As a teacher myself, I thought the book was ingenius! :)

What a wonderfu twist to the "first day of school jitters." This is a wonderful book to read to kids who are headed to school for the first time and it is a wonderful book to give as a gift to the first time teachere. It teaches us that we are all human no matter how old we are. The illustrations in this book are very good, well exccuted and a delight to the eye. The text is great and goes very will with the illustrations. This is one every teacher of younger children keed keep in her or his class room and read from time to time. Recommend this one highly.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book. I bought it several years ago for my nephew who was starting kindergarten and he found it interesting and reassuring to know that grown-ups get nervous, too, and that his teacher was probably as nervous about meeting him as he was about meeting her. Now that my own daughter is starting kindergarten, I got the book for her. She loves the illustrations and was surprised and delighted at the end of the story to find out that the teacher was nervous about going to school. I am working on my master's degree in teaching and when I get my own classroom, I intend to read this to my students on the first day. It is a delightful book! I'm surprised by the reviewer who was actually returning the book. I can't imagine how she could possibly be disappointed in it. Yes, it does use the word 'hate' but just in the way an average child might use the word. How many of us have heard our young children say "I hate peas?" - I know I have. This is a great book. I highly recommend it.