Customer Reviews

Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner

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Sometimes having an older sibling to show you the ropes on the first day of school can be an advantage -- and sometimes it can be a liability! Annabelle's big sister, Lucy, is determined to teach her little sister all the insider secrets. Using their mom's make-up, Lucy teaches Annabelle the real names of the colors, like Raving Scarlet and Blue Desire. Having already taught her sister how to count past one hundred, Lucy seeds Annabelle's mind with the really important issues of math, like "[a]re there numbers less than zero. . . what's the number after infinity?" Armed with an extra dose of Lucy's advice and the admonition, "Remember, you're my sister," Annabelle sets out to conquer kindergarten. Somehow, the strategy doesn't quite work. No one else answers roll the way Lucy taught her to, or calls any of the colors anything even close to "Blue Desire." When Mr. Blum, the teacher, says it's time to do math, Annabelle isn't about to mention zero or infinity. But when Annabelle is the only kindergartner who can count the milk money, Lucy's lessons finally pay off. Annabelle gets to be milk monitor and deliver the money to the cafeteria. When the cafeteria lady asks her name, she proudly proclaims it the way Lucy taught her, "Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner!" Amy Schwartz does as good a job illustrating this story as she does writing it. I especially liked the interaction between the two sisters: Lucy wise in the ways of the world, lathering on her mother's "Blue Desire" eye shadow, and Annabelle gazing up at her in rapt attention.

Brief Synopsis: Annabelle is all ready for kindergarten. Her 3rd grade sister, Lucy, has taught her geography, counting, and colors. Lucy, also, made a name tag for Annabelle to wear on the first day of school. The name tag says: Annabelle Swift, Kindergartner. Annabelle's teacher is Mr. Blum. Annabelle arrives at school feeling confident as she meets him and her classmates. She is confident because of Lucy's good advice and training. It turns out that all of Lucy's advice isn't good. However, Annabelle winds up that first day as a success in her class.

Note to Teachers: The children's book would be wonderful to read on the first day of school. Children in grades K-3 would really love the story. It contains humorous passages and witty pictures. The book teaches the importance of being prepared for school. It teaches the importance of color distinction and the importance of counting. It,also, emphasizes the closeness between siblings.

This is a classic Kindergarten book worth reading on the first day of school...helps those little ones relate to each other and to Annabelle Swift! You may also like the "Miss Bindergarten" books!

I read this to my two girls (5 and 4 years old). My five year old is starting Kindergarten this Fall so we've been picking out a handful of K books to read to her because she's a bit nervous. The girls really enjoyed this book overall but I would warn about one part of the book: There are many times when the author refers to a little boy as the "chubby boy". After the third reference to the "chubby boy" my girls asked me why he is being called that and what does "chubby" mean. I explained the word to them but felt that I needed to follow up with "but please don't ever refer to someone in your class as "chubby" when you are speaking with them or about them. I told them it wouldn't be a very nice thing to say. Just be forewarned about this in the book. I think five year olds have a hard time differentiating between something that's okay to refer to in a book and something that's okay to reproduce in real life. It's okay to refer to him as the "chubby" boy in the book because that's how we know who she's talking about, but kids have a hard time understanding that, in real life, it's not okay to refer to people this way when speaking with them or talking about them to someone else. It did open up some conversation with them about this point and I guess I am somewhat grateful for that.

This is my five-year-old daughter's absolute FAVORITE book. A teacher suggested it; we fell in love with a borrowed copy. I purchased our own copy (library binding) and gave it to my daughter as a Christmas present. We've read it several times a week since then.

A Summary: The story is about a girl's (Annabelle's) first day of kindergarten. Annabelle struggles to overcome her nerves and find her niche in the classroom. It's a very empowering story for my little girl!

Why I Love the Book: Annabelle is a little girl who loves math. Through Annabelle's story, many academic concepts are introduced (adding money, first-second-third, etc.) Social skills are also taught (making friends, sibling interaction, meeting teachers, etc.) It is an entertaining and educational book. I actually enjoy reading it aloud.

I recommend it for all kindergartners and pre-kindergarteners!!