Batter Up for the First Day of School!

by Bethany Hegedus, Nomar Perez (Illustrator)

Overview

A playful, baseball-themed first-day-of-school adventure!

Wake up, Sluggers. It’s time to . . .
Batter up for the first day of school!

It’s the first day of school at Grand Slam Elementary, and there is much to do before the Twins can step up to the plate! After putting on their uniforms, fueling up for the day, and doing an equipment check, the kids are ready to slide into first period. Opening day is full of curveballs, but the innings fly by until the kids return to home base, excited to do it all again tomorrow!

With plenty of punny prose and playful baseball terms, this humorous read-aloud is the perfect way to get little sluggers ready for the first day of school.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593526637
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/13/2025
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.81(w) x 9.75(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Bethany Hegedus is an award-winning author of picture books and middle grade novels, including Grandfather Gandhi and Alabama Spitfire. A former educator, she teaches widely and enjoys mentoring young writers. Hegedus is the owner and creative director of the Writing Barn, a writing workshop and retreat center. She lives with her family in Austin, Texas.
You can visit her online at BethanyHegedus.com or follow her on Instagram @Bethany.Hegedus.

Nomar Perez is a Puerto Rican illustrator, author, and designer for children. He has earned several awards for his work, including the Pura Belpre Honor for his author-illustrator debut, Coqui in the City. He studied computer animation and painting at Bowling Green State University. He lives in Ohio.
You can visit him online at NomarPerez.com and follow him on Instagram @Nomars_Illustration.

Editorial Reviews

★ "This is a peppy first day of school story to knock game-day jitters out of the park." —School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

2025-02-01
It’s the season opener for twins Hank and Erin, avid baseball fans ready for the first day of school.

The youngsters’ bedroom contains a bat propped up by the foot of the bed, pennants on the wall, and a planner marked “Game Day” alongside a “Back to School” reminder. Although Hank and Erin aren’t exactly raring to go, once they have breakfast and set off for school, they get into the groove. It helps that everything seems to be baseball-themed, starting at home with their parents’ call for the “sluggers” to awaken and continuing through a series of “morning drills” (brushing their teeth and combing their hair). And it doesn’t stop when they arrive at Grand Slam Elementary—the day is broken up into innings, a spilled container of milk at lunch is a “foul ball,” and their savvy teacher refers to the classroom as a dugout, with sporty rules and expectations clearly laid out (“Be kind to every player”; “when you hit the field, safety first”). When the kids are called up to the blackboard for a spelling exercise, they initially get it wrong (“It’s a swing and a miss!”) before triumphing: “And the crowd goes wild!” The fast-paced text and lively digital paintings give the book energy to spare. For these youngsters, it’s a promising start to the school year, er, season—hot diggity dog! The curly-haired tots and their parents are tan-skinned; their classmates are diverse.

All the bases are loaded for a great back-to-school read.(Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews