Chapter 1

THE BIG DAY

At last! The sun rose on the first day of school. Stella the Mouse was so excited!

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” she called to her friends.

Nico the Toad grumbled. Delilah the Spider yawned. Bo the Parakeet ruffled his feathers.

“The children come back today,” said Stella. “Get up! Get up! Get up!”

Nico, Delilah, and Bo stretched. Then they got up and joined Stella. Now that they were awake, they were excited too.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” squeaked Stella.

The friends rushed to the doors. Children poured out of the buses. They wore fresh fall clothes. They carried bright backpacks and lunch bags.

Their shoes clomped down the hallway. Loud chatter filled the halls.

The kids were just as excited as Stella for the new year to start!

Well, most of the kids were excited. One girl scuffed her shoes along the hallway. Another boy dragged his new backpack.

“That girl looks sad,” said Nico.

“That boy does too,” said Delilah.

“I think some of the children are worried,” said Bo.

“But why? School is WONDERFUL!” Stella said.

“Maybe they don’t know that yet,” said Bo.

“Do you think maybe they are new?” Stella asked.

Her friends shrugged. They didn’t know.

But they did know where to go if they had questions. They rushed to the media center to ask Goldie.