Teacher
- When we dive into this story, we learn that our main man Billy is a worrywart. Yep, he's about to start second grade and he's nervous as all get-out.
- Plus, he's not just worried about school.
- You see, a couple weeks earlier Billy was on a family trip to see a statue of the Jolly Green Giant (he's the mascot for all those green veggies). Billy is a big ball of excitement about getting to see this huge green man with his Mama, Papa, and little sis, a three-year-old sass-machine named Sally, though you can call her Sal.
- But when Billy's hat flies off at the statue and he falls trying to catch it, the trip takes a serious turn. Yikes.
- The great news is that Billy isn't actually hurt at all. He's just got a big fat lump on his head, which he thinks is pretty cool. And so does his best bud, Ned. But the stinky news is that Billy's parents are worried that there's more damage than meets the eye. And you can bet that has Billy's stomach in knots.
- And that brings us back to the first day of second grade and all those nervous jitters. As Billy eats breakfast before school, we learn some quick facts about three super important people in his life:
- Quick Fact about Mama: She's a high school English teacher.
- Quick Fact about Papa: He's an artist who also stays home to watch over Sal. Plus he makes art out of "found objects" (1.1.26) that he gathers from all over, and Billy thinks that's just the best.
- Quick Fact about Ms. Silver: That's the name of Billy's new second grade teacher. And she sounds swell.
- Papa reads part of a letter that Ms. Silver wrote to all of her students, and Ms. S says that this is the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese calendar. Fingers crossed that this means Billy is going to have a seriously good year.