Kayla isn’t too sure about the first day of kindergarten. What if she misses her mom? What if she can’t find the bathroom? But when Kayla meets Mrs. Muddle, it quickly becomes clear that Kayla’s problems are nothing compared to her teacher’s. Mrs. Muddle mixes up the kids’ name tags, takes them to the library instead of the gym, and can’t find the bathroom. She doesn’t even know how to use a slide properly! Clearly somebody needs to take charge. Soon Kayla is much too busy teaching her teacher to think about her own worries.

On the first day of school, Isla’s mind plays the what if game. Scary thoughts come, the world goes dark, and everything feels stormy. With Mami at her side, Isla takes a deep breath and blows her worries away in a big balloon. But as school gets closer, Isla’s worries come back like a tornado. Mami encourages her to imagine something happy, and Isla remembers there’s nothing she can’t handle. The storm might come again, but for now, her mind is quiet. In this thoughtful and reassuring picture book, Mónica Mancillas’s text and Betty C. Tang’s illustrations show how one child experiences anxiety and worry, providing different tools to practice mindfulness and strengthen one’s mental health.