I had a similar experience when I tried to learn Smalltalk.
Pharo By Example is a thing. I haven't read it, but I assume it is forked from or inspired by Squeak By Example, which made things click for me (at least a little).
IIRC, Squeak By Example is heavily Morphic centric, which is going to immediately diverge from other language Getting Started sections. Not sure if one exists but a Getting Started that focuses on just the Workspace, the Transcript and data processing might be a better introduction to those with experience in more traditional languages.
Pharo By Example is a thing. I haven't read it, but I assume it is forked from or inspired by Squeak By Example, which made things click for me (at least a little).
https://books.pharo.org/pharo-by-example9/