Synopsis
"I'm off to kindergarten now.
I'd better take my bear.
He likes to sit beside me so
I'll take a little chair. . . ."
So begins the long list of things Bill absolutely needs for his first day of school. Along with his pillow and some cookies, he also plans on bringing his sandbox, some digging moles, and a moving truck!
A touching story of first-day jitters and hopes, Tony Johnston's rhyming text is paired with Melissa Sweet's delightful illustrations!
Rachel G. PayneCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal
PreS-K
In first-person verse, a young boy preparing for kindergarten decides to take along his teddy bear, snacks, books, art supplies, and a host of other objects. His mother informs him that his teacher will have everything he needs. Just before mounting the school bus, he exclaims, "I leave my piles of stuff at home./I sing out, 'Doodle-eeeee!'/I'm off to kindergarten now,/And all I take is-ME!" While the premise of this tale is on the mark, the verse is sometimes strained and awkward as Johnston seems to select some words and phrases solely for their rhyming capacity. Sweet's full-page pencil and watercolor drawings are fresh and childlike, but they can't make this title competitive with the plethora of starting kindergarten books available.