Customer Reviews

My Kindergarten (Booklist Editor's Choice. Books for Youth (Awards))

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

MY KINDERGARTEN takes readers on a learning adventure from September through June, following eight kindergarten students (Odysseus, Terrance, Diane, Emily, Martha, Otto, Louise, and Roger), as they begin their first year of school, and their first year of learning in Miss Cribbage's kindergarten class.

MY KINDERGARTEN is filled with fun activities for readers to participate in, that will make them feel as if they are a part of the story, right there beside the children of Miss Cribbage's class. Young readers will adore the illustrations, and stories by Rosemary Wells, and parents will love the fact that their little ones are learning the alphabet, singing songs, reciting poems, counting to 10, reading stories, and more. Kindergarten teachers, and homeschooling parents will also enjoy this book, as it provides an innovative new teaching method that will boost childrens eagerness to learn, while having fun.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

I have been a kindergarten teacher for 21 years, and I only wish I had been able to use this book from the beginning of my teaching career. I am reading it to my class right now, and we are playing "catch up" since our school library just obtained a copy recently. It has been like a walk down memory lane as we have remembered many of the fun things we have done this year. It has also given me some wonderful new ideas!! I highly recommend this book for kindergarten students and teachers. What a perfect gift for a brand new kindergarten teacher. It complements "Emily's First 100 Days of School", which my class hated to see end. Rosemary Wells is a gem!! Be sure to read all the Max and Ruby books, too.

This is a long book, to be enjoyed over serval days. It captures the exuberance, curiosity, and sensitive feelings of young children. This delightful book follows a kindergarten class of animals from the first day of school to the end of the year, as they collect weeds and seeds, play instruments, learn about maps, and do lots of other fun activities. It compassionately conveys the feelings of a little bunny who temporarily becomes overwhelmed and forgets every single number because there are too many, and another who would rather draw a picture of "blue greass" than dance to it. I adore the teacher, Miss Cribbage, a fluffy guinea pig, who tells her students, "If anybody's feet are wet, or they didn't sleep well, or they are in a bad mood, music will make it all better." These are words to live by!

Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD
author of 'What About Me? Twelve Ways to Get Your Parents' Attention Without Hitting Your Sister'

This is an excellent book that takes a charming cast of characters and their creative, enthusiastic teacher through their first school year. Along the way they engage in a wide variety of stimulating activities, experience the change of seasons, and learn more about their local community--in this case, Cranberry Island, Maine. (Which does exist--we looked it up online.)

The students learn about some basic ideas like numbers and letters. But they also apply geography to mapping their school and neighborhood, study their environment by collecting seeds and dividing items into animal, vegetable or mineral categories. They even learn about civics by observing a local referendum on whether a chain restaurant should open on the island. As mentioned, they also take an active role in their community through volunteer work and projects.

The overriding message is that the potential for learning and teaching young children is present in many different circumstances given their innate curiosity. It is also pointed out in several situations that not all children will enjoy or master every activity, and in each case this challenge is accomodated with kindness.

The writing style is lovely, full of good cheer and wry observations about different personalities and people. The pictures are charming. My daughter enjoyed this book at six and my son loves it just as much at four. For me it is a reminder of how amazing the world can be through the eyes of a child absorbing and experiencing it for the first time. It also encourages parents to be patient with their children through the examples it portrays.

I love almost everything Rosemary Wells has ever written, and this book is no exception! It follows Emily (a bunny) and her classmates through kindergarten, both in school and outside. While they learn, your child can learn, but not in a forced, worksheet type way---rather, just by observing what the talented Ms. Cribbage teaches her students. I love it that the kids are not all eager learners, and in fact one boy mainly likes cars and little else---that's reality! The page with the food ABCs alone is both the price of admission!

If your child have enjoyed Emily's First 100 Days of School, they will be happy to find the same characters here, but might be a bit confused, as I was, that although both books seem to cover a kindergarten year in the same bunny's life, they are not really the same story----in The First 100 Days, Diane Duck moves mid-year, and here she doesn't. This one is set on an island in Maine, which delighted me, as the map shows it to be just off the peninsula I grew up on! However, First 100 is set a totally different place, someplace that seemed to me on reading it like an affluent suburb near a city. Other subtle difference occur, but I can't say this really took away from my enjoyment of the book at all---it was just a curiousity, someone for the adults reading both to think about! An island in Maine really makes more sense, as it explains the extra small class size---that is just all the kids that age the island has to offer.

All in all, a WONDERFUL book!

I bought this book for my daughter who is a big fan of the Yoko books by Rosemary Wells. SInce she is entering Kindergarten I felt this was a wonderful new book for her. We were dissapointed to find that the character that looks just like Yoko now has a new name- Loiuse. Why would a characters name change when the author has written popular books with the same character a few years back? Other than that, the book is wonderful and addresses lots of age appropriate topics.

My son just turned 5 and starts kindergarten in a few months. He loves this book and asks to read it over and over. It's a little long for us to get throught the whole book some nights before bedtime, but it's broken out into 1-2 page chapters and he doesn't seem to mind stopping mid-way. The chapters are educational and fun. I bought a few other kindergarten books with good reviews on Amazon and this has been his favorite. Would be good for both girls and boys.

Emily, Roger and their classmates are having a fine kindergarten year: Miss Cribbage always has fun activities for them to do, and learning adventures they can take home to their families. The kindergarten experience comes alive for the entire family and readers receive a host of fun animal learners in the warm My Kindergarten by Rosemary Wells

MY KINDERGARTEN takes readers on a learning adventure from September through June, following eight kindergarten students (Odysseus, Terrance, Diane, Emily, Martha, Otto, Louise, and Roger), as they begin their first year of school, and their first year of learning in Miss Cribbage's kindergarten class.

MY KINDERGARTEN is filled with fun activities for readers to participate in, that will make them feel as if they are a part of the story, right there beside the children of Miss Cribbage's class. Young readers will adore the illustrations, and stories by Rosemary Wells, and parents will love the fact that their little ones are learning the alphabet, singing songs, reciting poems, counting to 10, reading stories, and more. Kindergarten teachers, and homeschooling parents will also enjoy this book, as it provides an innovative new teaching method that will boost childrens eagerness to learn, while having fun.

Erika Sorocco

I bought this for my niece who will be going to kindergarten soon and she loves this book. She is so excited about entering kindergarten and this book helps her out a little bit with what to expect. It's well written, the illustrations are fantastic and very detailed and the stories are simple but very helpful and educational. This book would be great for a boy as well.