"Lilli, are you coming? Breakfast is ready," calls Mum from downstairs. Lilli swallows. She has a big lump in her throat and absolutely no appetite. Today is her first day at the new kindergarten. Her big brother Steven will be starting at a new school soon, but his first day is still a week away. "He’s lucky!" thinks Lilli as she goes down to the kitchen.
Mum and Steven are sitting at the table. Sunlight streams through the window and Lilli’s big brother is already tucking into a bowl of cornflakes. "I'm not hungry at all!" says Lilli as she slides onto her chair. "No way! That's impossible!" says Steven. "How can you not be hungry?" "But darling, we talked about the new kindergarten yesterday," says Mum. "I'll take you there and stay while you have a look round and get to know the other children. Please have a small portion of muesli and then we'll go."
Half an hour later, when Mum and Lilli arrive at the kindergarten, Lilli is still a little frightened. But her teacher Nina already looks quite friendly. Nina shows Lilli her hook on the cloakroom and then takes her and Mum into the group room. "Right, Lilli, I'll show you everything now and introduce you to the other children. Look, this is Imke, she is five years old and will help you a bit at the start." Standing in front of Lilli is a girl who smiles at her. "Hello Lilli. Look, we have almost the same hair colour!" She holds one of her long red strands of hair up to Lilli's face. "That's true!" says Lilli and breathes deeply. She immediately likes Imke. Mum and Nina are still talking by the door, but Imke pulls her further into the group room.
"We're playing vets," explains Imke. "Look, these are Milla and Elise. If you like, you can join in." "Are you the new girl?" asks blonde Milla. "Yes," replies Lilli, "my name is Lilli and I moved here a week ago because my dad has a new job." "Do you like animals?" asks Elise. She is holding a cuddly tiger. "I like big cats best. At the vet I'm the helper and I hold all the cats." "I like small animals — rabbits, hedgehogs and squirrels," explains Lilli. "Really? You like rabbits? Me too!" says Imke. "For my birthday I got two real rabbits called Muckel and Stupsi."
Nina claps her hands. "Children, quiet please, I have something to say!" she calls. "Come here everyone. We're going to sit in a circle now and I want to introduce you to Lilli, our new child in the Star Group." The children fetch a chair and sit in a circle around Nina. Lilli is allowed to sit between her Mum and Imke. First Lilli says a little about herself and the move to the new house. She finds that quite hard… but Mum helps a bit and it's easier together anyway. Then everyone sings a song and afterwards Nina reads a story. Mum stays sitting in the circle the whole time, and gradually Lilli feels a bit better.
After the breakfast break they go out into the garden. Imke shows Lilli the slide, the swing and the playhouse. "Now this is us! This is our police station," says a boy in a red hat. "That's Matze — he always plays police," explains Imke. "Sometimes he's a bit wild, but he can also be very nice." Behind Matze stands a girl wearing red dungarees with white spots. "You can't join — our gang is full!" says Felicitas. "Never mind!" replies Imke, and she walks on with Lilli, "we wanted to look at the flowers and vegetable plants anyway."
In one corner of the garden there are a few beds. "Look Lilli, that's my friend Mali, you already saw her in the circle," says Imke, pointing to the girl who is watering the courgette plants together with the teacher Saskia. "Can we help with the watering?" she asks. "Sure, no problem," says Saskia and gives Lilli and Imke a small watering can each. "We've planted sunflowers over there," Mali says, "and radishes and carrots are growing over there." Lilli is amazed: in her old kindergarten there were no beds. So she is very pleased because she likes gardening.
When they have watered all the plants, the girls go back towards the building with Saskia. "So, how do you like it here with us?" asks the teacher. "Really great!" replies Lilli and goes over to her Mum, who has sat down on a bench beside the sandpit. "Tomorrow I can stay here by myself," Lilli tells her. "I've got Imke, who will help me a bit. And the other children are all quite nice too." Lilli's Mum smiles with relief: "That makes me happy, my darling! Shall we go home now?" Lilli nods, and so her first day at the new kindergarten comes to an end. She is already looking forward to tomorrow and to her new friends.
