A boy walks readers through his concerns about his first day of school: "Now I'm in the belly / of this monstrous bus. / The driver's a zombie / who won't talk to us." The story follows the expected school-isn't-so-bad path, and the rhymes (translated from the Spanish) drop the odd beat, but elevating the affair is the surrealism-tinged art reflecting the kid's imagination.

A child-s imagination inflates school fears in Mexico-based author Núñez-s first English-language book. The child-who wears round glasses and has a swooping cowlick-doesn-t believe the hype: -Mom says I-ll make friends,/ that the place is so cool,/ that I-ll learn new things,/ that I-ll really like school!- Instead, the child says -No!- to school, believing that -The teacher-s a monster/ with big claws and four heads,/ jaws that can crush you,/ and eyes that turn red!- In sophisticated pen-and-ink and photographic collages, Brazilian illustrator Brasil renders the teacher as a hydra and the school bus as a horned monster, and sharp-featured students wear expressions of wide-mouthed terror. When the child-s frightful fantasies turn out to be unfounded, readers may find it-s a little bit of a letdown. Even so, Núñez is effective at conveying the sense of doom that ruminating on the unknown can bring, while Brasil-s art blends creaturely details and photographic accents to stylized effect. Ages 3-6. (July)