Amanda Panda Quits Kindergarten

PreS-K—Amanda Panda is filled with excitement about starting kindergarten and has her entire first day planned. She will write her name in big, important letters on the blackboard and then wow the whole class by being the fastest runner. But as so often happens in life, things do not go exactly as she envisioned. On the bus, she is forced to sit next to Bitsy, a girl whose favorite color is "sparkles" and who seems intent on becoming Amanda's friend. Amanda does not feel like being kind and ignores this exuberant panda in pink. As if that isn't vexing enough, Bitsy proceeds to sit next to her in class, Amanda's block tower collapses in epic fashion, and worst of all; she trips during a race at recess. This is the end of the world, concludes Amanda, who decides to quit kindergarten and sneak off her to older brother's classroom. In no time at all, she realizes that the older grades don't have any of the kindergarten perks; the chairs are too big, the room is too quiet and worst of all, there is no building center. When Bitsy comes searching for her in tears, Amanda realizes she has made a true friend. And guess what? It isn't the end of the world after all. Grove's illustrations are the perfect medium for this story and she captures the young pandas' emotions expertly. Ransom has delivered a funny and relatable tale about how even when things don't go according to plan; they can still turn out okay.