Customer Reviews

Countdown to Kindergarten

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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?? :)

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).

My 5 year old daughter has some interesting fears about going to Kindergarten in the fall. She enjoyed this book and how things turned out in the end. Good book to share with your child that has fears about Kindergarten.

Both of my girls loved, loved, loved this book. It's very similar to another book worked on by Harry Bliss entitled, "A Fine, Fine School". In both books, the illustrations tell a whole side story, complete with little side jokes that every adult will enjoy. After several readings, my kids started picking up on all the little jokes in the pictures, too. Basically, a young girl is worried about her first day of kinder, particularly the fact that she hasn't mastered the art of shoelaces. Her worry about being known as "Velcro Girl" is quite hysterical. In the end, all her fears and anxieties vanish as she discovers that there are plenty of kids who can't tie their shoes. It's a great teaching tool to reinforce the idea that we tend to worry about things that do not need our worrying, which is a great lesson to teach right as they enter the world of social worry---SCHOOL. Her tragically hip cat is a blast as well.

Chris Bowen
Author of, Our Kids: Building Relationships in the Classroom

What a clever way to get the message of starting Kindergarten across to little ones! Each day was used to explain that this little girl could not tie her shoes, something she was SURE she had to know how to do before the first day. Of course, once she started school, no one else knew how either! It is fanciful, yet sweet; truly, a darling book, written with humor and enjoyable to the adult who is reading it. Another way to quell the fears of the child who is starting school. I would highly recommend this one!

A fun book to encourage confidence in your five year old for starting school! My son loves this book.

So I just received this book along with "the night before kindergarten". These books came 1 day before scheduled delivery, so thumbs up. I like how the book is large. The illustrations are cute. But I thought this book would be more about preparing for kindergarten. Instead it was about a little girl that didn't know how to tie her shoes, but it all became OK after realising it wasn't a bad thing. Not my personal preference. I am no longer buying kids books from amazon. I'd rather go to a store and read through before buying. Also on the other book there was damage from shipping and/or packaging. Just not worth the hassle buying kid books from amazon.

Our nameless heroine with wide Orphan Annie eyes has 10 days until the start of kindergarten and she is terrified that she will not be able to tie her shoes without help. The pictures are in bright, saturated watercolor and black ink. The narrative, all told from the five-year-old girl's point of view is fairly simple and straightforward, conveying a mounting panic as the first day of kindergarten draws ever nearer. The illustrations abound with hilarious in-jokes for adults and children. The book slyly includes quite a bit of counting backwards as well. The tongue-in-cheek humor of the story highlights how silly her fears really are. After hiding her shoe, the girl's mother finds them in a haystack and declares, "Looky here - the missing shoes and that needle I've been searching for!" The young girl also frequently imagines an army of adults (school officials chief amongst them) repeating, "You can't ask us for help. Ever." Many hand lettered comic book style speech balloons are incorporated throughout the text. Those nervous about getting ready for kindergarten will find this story very reassuring. The girl in the story never does figure out how to tie her shoes by the end of the story, but she is reassured that she doesn't need to be perfect, especially on the first day of school. Kindergarten teachers might enjoy this as a first day read-aloud in order to dispel fears of what is expected at school.

Not only did my 5-year-old daughter and I love this funny story of all the anxieties that kids feel before the first day of school, we laughed out loud at the fantastic illustrations. The pictures of the girl and her cat were so clever and humorous!