Princess Posey and the First Grade Parade

May 3, 2010
Readers anxious about starting school will identify with the ingenuous heroine of Greene’s (the Moose and Hildy books) novel, first in a series. Fancying herself the “Pink Princess,” Posey dreads the first day of school: she can’t wear her beloved tutu, and her mother will be dropping her off outside instead of escorting her to the classroom. She accuses her mother of abandoning her, then credibly lashes out at her brother (“It’s all your fault.... I was the baby till you got here”). After the boys next door tell her that a monster haunts the school, Posey’s grandfather assuages her fears, but it’s her teacher who has the solution to both problems, inviting her students to wear their “favorite clothes” to start the year with a dress-up parade. Greene’s simple sentences are distinguished by punchy dialogue and sentiments that do justice to a range of emotions, from frustration and nervousness to unadulterated glee. They should go a long way to easing the worries of readers embarking on a new stage in their school life. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 5–8. May)