Becoming Vanessa

Get
ready to go back to school with this inclusive, empathetic story that will
help kids new to the classroom transform from timid caterpillars into
beautiful butterflies who love exactly 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. Perfect for readers of
Alma and How She Got Her Name and The King of Kindergarten.