Countdown to Kindergarten [Hardcover]

Alison McGhee (Author), Harry Bliss (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

It's just ten days before kindergarten, and this little girl has heard all there is to know--from a first grader--about what it's going to be like. You can't bring your cat, you can't bring a stuffed animal, and the number one rule? You can't ask anyone for help. Ever. So what do you do when your shoes come untied, if you're the only one in the class who doesn't know how to tie them up again?
Told with gentle humor by Alison McGhee and brought to exuberant life by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss, this lighthearted take on pre-kindergarten anxiety will bring a smile to the face of every child--and parent--having first-day jitters.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ten days before kindergarten starts, a dark-haired girl wakes up in a panic. "I've heard from a first grader that they have a lot of rules there," she confides, locking eyes with the audience. "You have to know how to tie your shoes. By yourself." Days nine, eight, seven and so on bring various shoelace disasters. The girl tangles the laces around her cat by accident; she drenches them with syrup on purpose. At dinner, her father jokes, "How's your bowl of shoelaces I mean spaghetti?" If all the girl's fears are for naught, at least they provide her with a conversation opener: at kindergarten, she commiserates with one, then two, then three new friends who can't tie their shoes either. In this witty children's debut, novelist McGhee (Rainlight) combines a puckishly structured counting book like Peggy Rathmann's Ten Minutes Till Bedtime with an amiable exploration of new-school anxiety. Bliss (Which Would You Rather Be?) makes skillful use of voice bubbles and cartoon gestures, surrounding the narrator with a teddy bear, a rag doll and a sympathetic, precocious tabby that recalls the bookish dog he created for A Fine, Fine School. Subtle details surface with every rereading. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

reSchool-K-Through the grapevine, an about-to-be kindergartner learns that there are lots of rules at school. Rules #3 and #2 prevent students from bringing stuffed animals or their cats to class. Rule #1 is a bit more serious. "You have to know how to tie your shoes. By yourself. You're not allowed to ask for help. Ever." Even a child who can count backward from 10 or feed her cat by herself can feel inadequate. As the 10 days before school wind down, she worries that she will be labeled "Velcro Girl" and finds endless ways to cover the gap in her skills through the destruction of her shoes and/or laces. Bliss presents the heroine with large-eyed innocence and humorous details. The pace varies nicely with changes in font size, full- and partial-page illustrations, speech balloons, and a daily countdown toward the big day. A strong dose of adult patience and a bit of peer support round out this youngster's first educational challenge.
Mary Elam, Forman Elementary School, Plano, TX
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; First Edition edition (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152025162
• ISBN-13: 978-0152025168
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Created Fears in my Happy Camper, August 25, 2003

By 

Christian Mother "gigamom" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Countdown to Kindergarten (Hardcover)

I got this book to help my 5-year-old son transition to kindergarten. It was a mistake! The book starts out with a little girl saying that she is in big trouble because kindergarten starts in 10 days (and she doesn't know how to tie her shoes). Each turn of the page is one day closer to kindergarten and the little girl grows more and more concerned because she is convinced that no one will help her at school (because it is against the rules).

I did my best to explain to my son that the book was supposed to be funny and that there was nothing to worry about... The next day he broke into spontaneous crying (very unusual for my normally cheerful, confident little guy) because he didn't know how to tie his shoes. He thought the teachers were going to be mean and maybe he wasn't ready for kindergarten after all. Oh boy!

Instead of this book, take a look at "Miss Bindergarten gets ready for Kindergarten." It is a much sweeter book about how a teacher gets the classroom ready with bright colors, games, blocks, puzzles, and special treats for the kids. The fact that it is also an alphabet book is a bonus.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars enjoyable for kids and adults, May 24, 2004

By 

Maatka (Baton Rouge, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Countdown to Kindergarten (Hardcover)

Other reviewers have discussed the content of the book, so I won't go into more detail on the storyline, but what I like best about the book is the ending: once the little girl actually gets to school, she and her classmates realize after conferring together that none of them know how to tie their shoes and that it's OKAY. Or, on a greater scale, you can think of it as a child's fear of feeling inadequate or behind his/her peers dissolving when he/she realizes that others are having the same troubles and fears. I think the book, besides being quite funny (she really is creative in trying to "lose" her shoelaces) shows that it's perfectly normal to be nervous about new situations, and if you are nervous you're not the only one. The comradery that develops between the kids in the class is really priceless: you mean YOU don't know how to tie your shoes EITHER?? :)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun!, September 3, 2003

By 

"donaldedits" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Countdown to Kindergarten (Hardcover)

School is approaching and kids are getting nervous? Who will be my teacher? Who will I sit next to? Will I be able to bring my stuffed animal? This book deals with these questions and a lot more and does so with a great deal of humor. The illustrations are wonderful and the book is well written. I couldn't recommend a better book for kids about to go back to school. Buy it, your kids will love it. And if you're looking for other titles for your kids or teenagers don't miss: The Little Prince (Saint Exupery); The Butterfly (Jay Singh) and; (for you!) The Alchemist (Coelho).