Goblin walk Book

A young girl, on her first day of school, is terrified that she'll spend the day lonely, unliked, and uninterested. Only when her mother promises to stay at school with her forever does she agree to get dressed and give kindergarten a chance.

True to her word, Mrs. Beekman stays all day with her daughter, despite the little girl's enjoyment of that first day. The teacher reminds Mrs. Beekman to go home, but the mother returns every day in increasingly preposterous disguises while her daughter struggles with the promise made early in the story. Eventually, Mrs. Beekman is convinced to leave, but her intentions are never clear. Did she want her daughter to be absolutely convinced that she can go to school alone? Was she an over-protective, hovering parent who wouldn't listen and wouldn't back off?

The story's ambiguity doesn't contribute to the plot, the characters, or to any moral that the author might have intended. The illustrations, although colorful, also don't add significantly to the story.