Jake Starts School

A laugh-out-loud look at one family’s first day of school dilemma on separation.

Children's Literature

It is Jake's first day of school. Although his parents try to cheer him up, his apprehension is evident. Adequate humorous rhymes describe his terror; he screams and flees when he meets his teacher, then attaches himself permanently to his parents' knees. This makes class activities difficult for Jake, from finger painting to playing on the seesaw, to using the bathroom. At the end of the school day, his teacher takes out a book to read to the class, one about a dog named Fred. This makes Jake turn around and note quietly that he has a dog named Fred. He is persuaded to let go of his relieved parents in order to hold the book while the teacher reads. Jake finally feels good inside. The cartoon-y characters seem to occupy a surreal world filled with mundane school buses, classrooms and children. The double-page, exaggeratedly humorous visuals, some quite outrageous, distinguish the tale from the usual first-day-of-school story. The brief, large-print text is supplemented with speech balloons and other asides. And of course the happy ending is reassuring to fearful youngsters. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Michael Wright is the creator of Jake Stays Awake, also published by Feiwel and Friends (Fall 2007). He has worked in advertising as a copywriter and art director creating some of the most memorable fish sticks commercials you’ve ever seen. More recently, he has worked designing animation and sets for television.

Michael lives in Manhattan Beach, California, with his wife, Cheryl, and three kids, Mason, Sloane, and Paxton, all of whom survived their first days of school.