SCHOOL DAY DRAMA

A comics primer dressed up in an odd-couple school story for new readers.

Before the story starts, Chi Chi the chicken and Pey Pey the penguin break the fourth wall to orient new readers to comics basics. They explain that some speech balloons have a “pointy end” to indicate spoken language, while others show thoughts as a “bubbly cloud with little circles pointing to them.” They also introduce the term panel and instruct children to “read the panels from left to right…and top to bottom.” Subsequent pages follow Chi Chi and Pey Pey as they separately anticipate the start of school and then attend their first day together. Their words and thoughts effectively guide readers through the scenes as cute, appealing cartoon illustrations provide visual cues to assist decoding. It’s immediately clear that the birds are opposites, with Chi Chi feeling anxious about school while Pey Pey isn’t a bit worried. Once in their classroom, the teacher, Mrs. Possum (who confusingly looks like a rabbit), pairs them as class buddies. “Find something you and your buddy both like. We will share it with the class,” she says. The titular drama ensues since Chi Chi and Pey Pey seemingly have nothing in common, but Mrs. Possum encourages them to overcome their differences, and they do so in an unexpected, playful way.

An early reader to befriend.