For readers of Alma
and How She Got Her Name and The
King of Kindegarten, this story will help kids just
starting school transform from timid caterpillars into beautiful
butterflies so they can love who they are.
On Vanessa’s first
day of school, her parents tell her it will be easy to make friends.
Vanessa isn’t so sure. She wears her fanciest outfit so her new
classmates will notice her right away. They notice, but the attention
isn’t what she’d hoped for. As the day goes on, she feels more
self-conscious. Her clothes are too bright, her feather boa has way
too many feathers, and even her name is too hard to write.
The next day, she
picks out a plain outfit, and tells her mom that her name is too
long. She just wants to blend in, with a simple name like the other
girls–why couldn’t her parents have named her Megan or Bella? But
when her mother tells her the meaning behind her name, it gives her
the confidence she needs to introduce her classmates to the real
Vanessa.