Herbster Readers: The Most Unbelievable First Day Of School
Written by Cecilia Minden and Joanne Meier, Illustrated by Bob Ostrom,
Page 1
Herbie Bear's
alarm clock
woke him up.
BRRRRNNNNG!
"It's time to get up,
Herbie," called Mom.
"You don't want to be late
for the first day of school."
Herbie burrowed under
the covers. He was excited
for the first day of school,
but he was also nervous.
He had lots of questions!
Would he know anyone in his class?
Would his new teacher be nice?
Page 2
"Oh," thought Herbie, "I wish I could go back to sleep." Herbie's little brother Hank jumped on the bed with a big THUMP!
"Herbie, Herbie," he sang out. "Time for peanut-butter pancakes with honey!"
Page 3
"Mmmmm,” said Herbie. “Peanut-butter pancakes.”
He tossed the covers aside and quickly got dressed for school.
He decided to wear his favorite new shorts and his coolest shirt.
Page 4
Herbie sat down just as his mom was setting a big plate
of peanut-butter pancakes on the table.
Herbie loved anything with
peanut-butter - especially
peanut-butter pancakes!
"Big day today!"
said Herbie's dad.
"As I always say,
'A new school year
is a new chance
to learn new things!' "
Page 5
"Maybe," sighed Herbie as he squeezed some sticky, gooey honey all over his pancakes. Herbie's dad was a teacher at the high school. He loved everything about the start of the new school year. Herbie, however, wasn't so sure.
Page 6
"What if I have lots of homework this year?" asked Herbie. "What if I don't have any friends in my class?"
"I'm sure you'll have a great day, and you'll meet lots of new friends, too," said Dad. "But, Herbie, let's give your new teacher a little time to get used to your imagination."
Page 7
Herbie smiled. He had a big imagination. He could start thinking about something and before you knew it, he would be off on an imaginary adventure. Sometimes Herbie's daydreams happened when he drew pictures. Sometimes it happened just by thinking about a fun thing to do.
"There he goes again," his family would say, and Herbie would just smile.
"Herbie, finish your pancakes!" said Mom. "And your lunch is on the counter. Don't forget to put it in your backpack."
Page 8
After breakfast, everyone scrambled for their bags and shoes.
Dad helped Hank get ready for preschool. Mom gathered
her files for work and gave Herbie and his older sister,
Hannah, a big goodbye hug.
It was rush, rush, rush,
to get off to work
and school
on time!
Page 9
Herbie and Hannah walked to the bus stop. Most of the neighborhood kids were already there. Herbie's best friends, Michael and Kim, were happy to see him.
"Hi, Herbie!" said Kim. "Isn't the first day of school exciting? Hey! What happened to your arm?"
Page 10
Herbie looked down at
the bandage on his elbow.
He had scraped his arm
on the kitchen table, but he wished
he had a more interesting story to tell. He touched
the bandage softly, and then he began to daydream.
Page 11
Herbie imagined that he and Michael were skateboarding in the park. All of a sudden, a swarm of bees zoomed out of the trees. Buzzzz! The bees were really angry!
Page 12
Herbie and Michael
skated faster and faster,
but the bees were right
behind them. Herbie and Michael zipped
past the slide. They zoomed past the swings.
Just as they were about to give up, they saw the pond.
Herbie and Michael jumped in! They hid quietly in the cattails.
Buzzzz! The bees flew right past them and back into the trees.
Whew!
Page 13
Herbie realized he had been daydreaming.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," he said to Kim. "I just scraped my arm on the table yesterday."
Page 14
Along came the big yellow bus. Beep-Beep!
"Good morning, children from Honeycutt Court!"
boomed the bus driver. Everyone liked Mr. Clark.
He told funny stories about Pickles,
his pet frog. He sometimes
sang funny songs, too.
Page 15
Everyone took their seats on the bus. Herbie and Michael looked for a seat where they could sit together. Herbie hoped they wouldn't have to sit near Ken Coyote. Ken liked to tease other kids, and today Herbie was already nervous about the first day of school.
Page 16
Herbie and Michael found
an empty seat near Kim.
Herbie looked around.
Whew! No Ken Coyote in sight.
The yellow bus rumbled down the street.
"What did you bring for lunch?" asked Michael.
Page 17
"Mmmmmm," said Herbie. "I think my mom packed me a peanut-butter sandwich."
He opened his backpack - and froze. Herbie had forgotten to grab his lunch bag off the counter!
"Oh, no!" gasped Herbie.
His tummy grumbled at the thought of his forgotten lunch.
Page 18
Herbie looked out the bus window.
"Maybe I could turn my backpack into a jetpack," he thought.
Herbie began to daydream again.
Page 19
Herbie imagined that his backpack was really a rocket-powered jetpack. He pictured himself hopping off the bus and zooming high above the trees.
Page 20
Whoosh!
Herbie flew home quick
as a wink. He grabbed his
lunch and flew all the way
back to school. He was so fast, he even beat
the school bus! Herbie realized he had been
daydreaming again. He watched out the window
as the bus bounced down the street.
Page 21
At school, Herbie sadly got off the bus. He wondered what he was going to do for lunch. Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
Page 22
"You might need this,"
said Hannah as she handed Herbie his lunch bag.
"Thanks, Hannah!" said Herbie. "You're better than a jetpack!"
"A what?" she asked. Herbie just smiled.
Page 23
Herbie, Michael, and Kim went into the school building. What a commotion! Teachers and students were scrambling everywhere, and they all seemed to be looking for something. Herbie saw the very worried looking school librarian.
"What's going on, Mrs. Garcia?" he asked.
Page 24
"Oh! Hello, children," said Mrs. Garcia. "Someone let all the
classroom pets out of their cages! We've got
critters everywhere, and just when everyone is
arriving to start a new year. What a mess!"
Page 25
Just then, a little mouse scurried across the hallway. Michael recognized it as Snowball, the class mouse from the kindergarten room.
"I'll get him!" Michael said, and sped down the hall.
Page 26
Kim turned to
see a big frog
hopping toward
the gym.
She knew that frog -
it was Pickles,
the bus driver's pet.
"Pickles!" Kim called as she
raced after the hopping frog.
Page 27
"Herbie," said Mrs. Garcia. "Please come with me to the library. I think Mr. Stone's guinea pig might have scurried in there!"
Mr. Stone was Herbie's new teacher. Herbie began imagining what Mr. Stone was like. But there was no time for daydreams right now - Herbie had a guinea pig to find!
Page 28
Herbie and Mrs. Garcia stopped at the library door.
"Where should we look?" asked Herbie.
"Maybe we should try the Mysteries section," said Mrs. Garcia,
"so we can find out who opened up all the cages!"
Page 29
Herbie tiptoed up and down the rows of books. He listened carefully for any sounds that might be the missing guinea pig. Herbie was just going past the Sports section when he heard a funny noise. "Crunch, crunch, munch," went the sound. It was so soft, Herbie could barely hear it. "Crunch, crunch, munch," it went again.
Page 30
What could it be? Herbie pushed some books aside.
There sat a fluffy brown guinea pig. He was chewing
on the corner of Touchdowns and Tackles!
"I found the guinea pig!" said Herbie.
He was sure Mr. Stone would be
happy to see his pet again.
"Maybe Mr. Stone will
make me student of the
week! This will be my
best year yet!"
Herbie whispered
to himself.
Page 31
Just as Herbie reached to pick up the guinea pig, Ken Coyote showed up.
"That's what you think, Herbie Bear. Why do you think I opened all the cages?"
Page 32
"I'm going to find all the animals.
Then I'll be named Student of the Week.
I might even be Student of the Year!"
Ken grabbed the frightened guinea pig
and headed toward the door.
Page 33
Just then, Mrs. Garcia came around the corner. "Not so fast, Ken Coyote," she said. "I heard everything. So you're the one who opened all the cages!"
Page 34
"You and I are going to the principal's office.
You have a lot of explaining to do!"
Mrs. Garcia handed the guinea pig to Herbie.
"Herbie, please take the guinea pig back to Mr. Stone.
Thank you for helping me solve this mystery."
Page 35
Everyone helped gather the rest of the missing pets and return them to their cages.
Page 36
The kindergarten teacher was happy to have
Snowball back safe and sound.
Mr. Clark was so happy to see Pickles,
he told Kim she could honk
the bus horn each morning.
Page 37
In Herbie's classroom, Mr. Stone told Michael, Kim, and Herbie
how proud he was that they were able to
catch three of the missing pets.
Page 38
Mr. Stone called Herbie to the front of the room.
"Herbie, I was going to have a contest to name our classroom pet. But since you rescued him, I think you should get that honor. What shall we name him?"
Page 39
"Well," said Herbie, stroking the guinea pig's fur. "When I found him, he was nibbling on a book called Touchdowns and Tackles. I think we should name him Football!"
Page 40
"What do you think, class?" asked Mr. Stone.
"I think it's a great name," said Kim. "He sort of looks
like a football."
"I think there's another reason
to name him Football," said Michael.
"He was able to run and dodge
and weave his way into
the library just like
a real football player!"
Everyone agreed that
Football was the perfect
name for the guinea pig.
Page 41
At dinner that night, Hannah, Herbie, and Hank had lots of things to share about their first day of school.
Page 42
"We're going to learn about ancient Egypt
this year," said Hannah.
"That sounds exciting!" said Mom. "Let's go to the library this
weekend and find some good books about Egypt."
Page 43
"I can count," shouted Hank,
"1, 2, 4, 5, 17, 22, 10!"
"Good start!" laughed Dad.
"It sounds as if you know a lot of numbers!"
"How about you, Herbie?" asked Mom.
"How was your first day of school?"
Page 44
"It was awesome!" said Herbie. "All the classroom pets were running everywhere. Michael, Kim, and I caught three of the pets. We were all heroes!"
And then Herbie remembered his bee escape and the superfast jetpack trip. It was a good day for imaginary adventures. He began to get that faraway look in his eyes.
Page 45
His family all sighed. "Oh, Herbie, you and your imagination!"
