Super Milly and the Super School Day

PreS-Gr 1–Milly excitedly dresses for Superhero Day at school, but she is anxious about her lack of actual superpowers. How will she save the day without them? Once at school, she uses her positive character traits like kindness, humor, and courage to solve a series of problems for individual classmates. Lauded by the other children for her helpfulness, Milly realizes that the personal qualities she put to work are her superpowers. Digital illustrations in a palette heavy on yellow and blue include classic comic background design elements, like pointy speech bubbles and wide rays emanating from Milly. The characters are mostly white like redheaded Milly, though two students are depicted as people of color. Bold onomatopoeic words add pizzazz, even if they don’t always nestle precisely into the narrative. The book is not only about playing to one’s strengths to help others but is also about creative problem-solving, which in this story does not require adult assistance. Though some of Milly’s solutions perhaps employ one-shot heroism over the kind of helping that’s based in relational, socioemotional aptitude, the overall message is positive and ends with a sweet invitation to kids to consider their own “superpowers.”